Highlights of CTR2, Part 1: Walnut & Mara Bettencourt

Check The Recipe 2 is my latest mixtape which features 18 musical talents from the 781 area and beyond. I'll be giving some background info on two of the people involved in CTR2 in this entry. Sit back and take in some insight on the Recipe.

From left to right: Walnut, G. Jonz and Blak C admiring the beauty of Mara Bettencourt.

Walnut is a veteran in hip-hop culture. For over 20 years, Da Lyrical Geni has solidified in his name in the Boston area as one of the most diverse and conscious lyricists to ever hold a mic. CTR2 isn't the first time that Walnut and Sunspot have crossed paths. Walnut made an appearance in C.Luk's Extradimensional album as well as the critcally-acclaimed short film, "Captain Asian America." G. Jonz and C.Luk also lent a hand in producing two songs ("Next On the Mic" and "You Need to Stop") from Walnut's 2011 release - "Love Is In Your Face." C.Luk performs on "Next On the Mic" along with Big Brotha Sadi and Zullo Crew.

During the calendar year, Walnut hosts a series of Community Building parties where artists of all genres come together and promote positivity, have jam sessions, and generally have a good time. This is how G. Jonz met the vocalist/musican/songwriter Mara Bettencourt.

The Chef brought up the idea of making a second mixtape and explained that he wanted to expand his skills as a producer and delve into pop. Bettencourt agreed to help with this and stated that she wanted a sound that would be reminiscent of a "celestial" dance pop sound. About a week later, the beat was brought to Mara and the aural artist of Azores went to work on creating the lyrics. Soon, Love At First Sight was created and was instrumental (ha.) in leading the pop sound on CTR2. Mara's newest CD is scheduled for release sometime in January 2013.

You can listen to Walnut and Mara and get free downloads right now! Keep checking for updates as I highlight the remaining 16 voices of Check The Recipe 2!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, this happened:

July 16, 2011 - A Night Out With Sunspot:

Since then, we released The Morning After and now, we're getting ready for the next evolution in G. Jonz production. A new mixtape compilation: Check The Recipe 2.

We're bringing hip-hop. We're bringing R&B. We're bringing pop. We're bringing new material from artists like The Right Hook, Runna, P.O.E.S. and The In$idaz. We're bringing artists that are working with Sunspot for the first time such as Balán Braxton and Mara Bettencourt.
Also, we got surprises... PLENTY OF SURPRISES!!

Tuesday, July 31st is the date - GET READY FOR A HOTTER SUMMER!!

When No One's Looking, I Be Doin Some Thangs...

...like this. GoAnimate.com: CTR2+promo1 by GJonz


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

For more singles from Check The Recipe 2, click below or click this link and press play! Free downloads too! Tell the WORLD!

Some Music Insight and Reflection

As I prep the finishing touches to Check The Recipe 2, I was listening to songs from the Morning After album. It's always a fun challenge producing songs. This is especially the case with R&B and pop. The artists, writers and producers must pay attention to differing cadences, levels for all singers, finding the right keys for harmonies and layers... It's a lot to juggle.

Let me be clear, this is NOT me complaining about the song-creation process. As challenging as it is to make all the elements work in a song, it's also one of the best parts. When deciding what to add/not to add to a song, certain thoughts float around:

"Will the audience understand the point I'm making when they hear this line?"

"Ooh! I can't wait until they get to THIS point of the song! They're gonna be ROCKIN to that!"

"When [insert a specific person in your audience] hears this, she's never gonna think about Oreos the same way! Ha!"

Creative juices are pumping from the moment the first kick drum is inserted into a project file to make a beat, to the writing, to the recording, all the way to the final listen of the song. It's an adrenaline rush!

Check The Recipe 2 is going to be amazing. I promise you that! A promo vid will be up shortly, but for now, listen to the song that inspired me to write this blog: "Milky Way" from 2011's The Morning After by Runna & Right Hook.

Dear OOMF

... I know WAY too much about your life. You're an idiot to complain about people getting all in your business right after you finished airing out your dirty laundry.

... Stop complaining about your baby mama/baby daddy drama. Nothin you say on Twitter is gonna help your situation. Keep your mouth and your legs closed. Kthxbye.

... You have like 3 inches of clothes on in your Twitcon. You do NOT have 5000 followers because they care about your thoughts on the latest #KKTNY episode... But they'll care as soon as you post a new pic.

... What did you do before you shook your head as often as you do now?

... Is it really that much of an emergency if you have time to tweet/post about it before the issue is resolved?

YOOO!!!! I ALMOST DIED JUST NOW! --Let me post this on FB real quick, though.

...And to the millions AND MILLIONS of you deep-thinkers who post quotes every 5 minutes...

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

...Finally, I probably lost a few Twitter followers and FB fans/friends from this post. If you haven't stormed off to find that pic that says "This is my profile and I can post what I want," then I say thanks for reading. And thanks for not taking this too seriously. Obviously, I realize you can say what you want, like I just did.