Why I Almost Missed The Deadline To Submit This Blog

Written by Psalm One. Published: Friday, August 6, 2010.

Last night I met a friend, Encyclopedia Brown, at my art studio, located in Chicago’s Wicker Park Area. Wicker Park is essentially the social hub of the city, and there is always a variety of things to do. My friend and I decided to leave the studio and walk across the street to the Sub-Terranean Nightclub. Sub-T has been a staple in Chicago Hip Hop for as long as I can remember, and one of the few venues in Chicago that is known for it’s support of the local emcee.

When I walked in the bar I noticed it was packed. Good sign. Then I noticed the pit: the rapper pit.

See, we were essentially at an open mic. An open mic means there are hungry rappers present whose sole purposes are to eat–to eat other emcees.

Now, Encyclopedia Brown and I are seasoned so we can smell bland rappers. While our sole purposes in life aren’t to eat emcees, neither of us passed up the meal. We ate a few emcees and their mics.

It was, you know…fun.

Psalm One - Woman At Work Vol. 3 (Album Art)After my hearty meal I knew it was time to make an exit… I just released the third installment of “Woman at Work” this week (which is available now for Free Download), and I am touring with another of my legendary hip hop friends, Open Mike Eagle this weekend. So I wanted to return to my studio to finish this blog, and get myself set up for the upcoming events.

No dice. Before I could leave, my friend Mr. Brown told me I couldn’t bounce without a dance. Chicago is a House town, but people don’t really dance here anymore…

I started thinking, and realized I hadn’t actually danced to House really since San Francisco… San Francisco? That was 2008.

But it’s 2010, so without anymore contemplation, I joined him on the dance floor. The music pulsated, was quintessentially Chicago, and made my ass shake. Maybe even violently.

Subt -T is also quintessential Chicago, as is Wicker Park. I’ve spent the last year or so in Wicker Park, making music and churning out these Woman At Work projects. Culture Vultures lurk prevalent in this neighborhood and I often sit, in my second-floor studio, overlooking it all. I love it sometimes, but I also hate it sometimes.

I observe from a distance more than join in the festivities, and I can tell you anything there is to know about this place. You can get a Vespa, a mochafrappachino and antique records in this neighborhood. The coolest, and the lamest, people are here.

I like to do my business here, but I do try to remain anonymous. Sometimes that’s impossible.

You see, we, as Chicago, can’t be a city that never sleeps. We need our sleep; at least a couple hours of it. We’re the city that sleeps for 2 hours and then works for 22 hours. Indeed.

So in true Chicago fashion, I danced the night away. There was lots of dancing, rapping and imbibing. Several Heinekens later, after discovering “Heineken” rhymes with “Fine Hymen”, putting Mel Gibson in a rap, and doing the Percolator better than anyone in there, I finally left Sub-T.

I made my exit, turned the corner and bought a Chicago Style Hot Dog from Underdog;

No ketchup. Relish, Onion, Mustard, Sport Peppers, Tomato and Seasoned Salt come on the dog. I held the tomato. The casing didn’t snap but rather it plucked easily. Not too bad. A quintessential Chicago ending to a quintessential Chicago evening.

And I’m a Chicagoan, born and bred. I will never be anything other than supremely proud of the city I call home.

I’m a hometown girl with a runaway mind and a loyal heart… The scientist in me wants to experiment, so I explore other cities with my friends and I try to compare them to Chicago, but nothing compares.

And that’s precisely how I feel about music. Music is what feelings sound like; nothing compares to the joy I receive from preparing it. The path of making music, my path, is paved with many obstacles, but has rewarded me in ways that most can only dream of.

I look at myself, and know I am blessed and lucky, but must remain vigilant. I sometimes look out the second-floor studio window at my city, and I am confused and bewildered at what I see.

There are many reasons to worry, to gripe, or even to lash out at others, but we can’t give in to these temptations. Last night, the city opened itself up to me, and I took it in. If you open yourself up, and take it in, it may hurt sometimes but it is worth the pain.

This morning my body hurts, but all I can think about is doing it again. I need to call my friend Mr. Brown when I come back from the road so we can do it all over again.

I danced last night to the music of my city. And that’s why I almost didn’t meet the deadline for this blog.

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