Artists, managers, & producers: It sounds simple, but being organized can get you ahead of 99% of people in the music industry. Here's exactly what I mean:

This fall I’m going on tour in support of my new album “I Can See” ! North America & UK/EU tickets on sale now: nickhakim.com/#tour Tour Poster by Eddie Mandell & Chase Shewbridge / METALS

Be chalant. Care deeply, speak openly, express things fully. The internet made everyone believe sincerity is cringe and emotional distance is maturity. Meanwhile the people actually enjoying life are the ones allowing themselves to be excited, emotional, passionate, invested. Existing like you are too cool to care about anything is such a dull way to experience being alive.

Q-Tip & The Beastie Boys performing "Get It Together" at the 1996 Tibetan Freedom Concert

Masterpiece.

MUSIC INDUSTRY PRO TIP – The industry is smaller than you think. Like...really really small lol. Everyone knows each other and the intern today might be a power player tomorrow. I've watched it happen multiple times. How you treat people on the way up is how they’ll remember you when they’re up.

Effort creates meaning. If your life feels meaningless, you might consider finding a challenge.

KURIO by the great @ohbliv OUT NOW via @thegroovesj 💥💥💥

The form of “music discovery” I always see people neglecting is the good old fashioned comprehensive label deep dive which is weird because it’s also literally the best and easiest way to level up

Great masters are done w/ great mixes. Great mixes rely on great arrangements. Great arrangements (or sound choices), Are a result of great production. Yet, none of it matters, if… The SONG fails to MOVE anyone. Emotionally or Rhythmically

Album of the day. In preparation for the premiere of Questlove's documentary on Earth, Wind & Fire, I've been exploring the superlative productions of EWF founder Maurice White and producer-arranger Charles Stepney and recently circled back on this gem from legendary pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis. 1976's Sãlongo brings to mind a missing link between Earth, Wind & Fire and Head Hunters-period Herbie Hancock. In fact, based on the fact that this was helmed by both White and Stepney gives a solid idea of what this is: a lavishily produced jazz-funk odyssey with layers of Afro-Cuban rhythms, soulful Fender Rhodes grooves, and electric fusion overtones. Along with plenty of Ramsey's striking piano solos flashing up here and there, he's backed by a number of great players, including drummers Steve Cobb and Ndugu Leon Chancler, saxophonist Ernie Watts, Ron Harris on bass, and former Pharaoahs member Derf Reklaw on reeds. A dynamite ride from start to finish.

i wanted to tell you how we made the visuals for nerve-bloom i did it with Natalia Kleszczewska and Natalie Liu . Natalia Kleszczewska is a painter , she painted the creatures and the backgrounds . Natalie Liu is a computer graphics director , she shaped the digital dimension of the work . my role in it was a creative director , bringing in the singer-songwriter tradition , where emotionally precise things happen inside the structure of a song . i guided colour pallettes , textures and the environments the music happens in . to make this possible , during the process , natalia often had to paint many shapes and sizes , different textures and layers of colours . natalie then developed the visuals, designing and overseeing CGI elements , and finding ways for the digital to sit organically alongside Natalia’s world . and include my dramaturgy and creative direction. we spent 7 months talking and working together , dedicated to relish in the craft of blending hand-made visuals with digital experimentation , 3D design and commit it to physical display technology . a lot of time was spent on researching different tools and techniques to find what worked best at each stage in the song . like i’ve done before , i wanted to merge old things with tech , giving it soul & a meaning . to paint a painting is an analog craft but computer programming is craftmanship too !! and both can co-exist , .....encouraging each other to bloom even further towards a mutual world . there is a tradition in pop music for the mucisian to choose a video director . in the art world , this is called “curation” , but where we came from , it was natural that the musician would have strong opinions on what your song needed , which mood , colours , textures & storyline . today this is called “creative director” and it is something we didn’t credit ourselves with in the 90s , but i am starting to understand this better now . i don´t think of me as a visual artist . because my heart is music . everything i do comes from a sonic point of view . this is something i have called “sonic symbolism” , sound made visual , a reverse synesthesia . when you listen to a song for the first time , it is like swallowing a whale , you need to feel the whole musical sculpture in one go . the structure of a song has always been extremely important to me : what shape it is . this is part of the craft of being a singer-songwriter ........... we are tune sculpturors ....... since i am talking about the visuals for nerve bloom it is impossible to not mention the avatars in my music videos . they have replaced the storyteller with anattempt to connect to the more universal element of music , through animation, avatars , puppetry both digital and analog . for me they are marionettes in a puppet-theatre , hopefully in a similar realm as the jungian archetypes ( which we all can act out the characteristics of ...) .... i feel nerve-bloom is a natural continuation .... an animated avatar archetype singing you a song ––––– Avatars, animation and archetypes: Nerve Bloom (remix) – on display at Listasafn Íslands / National Gallery of Iceland until September 20th 2026. The production of this film was made possible with the generous support of #bottegaveneta.

top 20 jazz albums of all time: 20. Steamin’ 19. Cookin’ 18. Bakin’ 17. Livin’ 16. Laughin’ 15. Lovin’ 14. Movin’ 13. Shakin’ 12. Settin’ 11. Workin’ 10. Takin’ 9. Blowin’ 8. Thrustin’ 7. Walkin’ 6. Huffin’ 5. Rippin’ 4. Smokin’ 3. Ptah, The El Daoud 2. Moanin’ 1. Relaxin’

I tell the rogues to read, read, read. Those who read own the world; those who immerse themselves in the internet or watch too much TV lose it... Our civilization is suffering profound wounds because of the wholesale abandonment of reading by contemporary society. Werner Herzog

Happy 100th Miles

Sonny Rollins, one of the most influential Jazz musicians of our time, died this afternoon. He was 95

D'Angelo performing a cover of "Do That Stuff" by Parliament-Funkadelic -- as seen in the 2012 documentary, "Finding The Funk."

Strings

This shit is blowing my mind

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