Aero's Rundown - Steph Jones is a "Little Drummer Boy" Sp. Ed. - 12.03.2009

Welcome to the Little Drummer Boy Special Edition Aero's Rundown!! The Rundown starts now...

If you're following me on Twitter, then you should definitely know of this guy named Steph Jones. Some of my friends didn't understand at first why I was so diligent about supporting his music and his sound, but they know that this is an artist with a SOUL. His music doesn't come from an empty place; it's not about selling records or having the hottest record for right now; it's not about moving into some fictional spotlight and allowing other people to define him. His music is about spreading the message of love and joy to every soul that experiences it. It's less about the right now and more about longevity.

In talking with Steph on several occasions, I've learned one very important thing about him. No matter how you look at it, no matter how you try to portray things, no matter where you come from, where you've been or where you're going, there is one thing that is always true - your soul never lies. Dude is the realest person you could ever meet and to be honest, it's almost saddening that there aren't more real people like him. He's not the superficial guy that needs to change who he is to become what he's not. He's a true genius in his own right and to be honest, I respect that about him more than anything. From the melodic creations to the rhythmic variations to the minute instrumentation in some of his music, it's very easy to say one this is for sure: there's a soul in Steph's music and he put it there intentionally...

On October 12, Steph released his lifetape entitled Gravity to the world, and because he knows that the "soul of the music is being sucked out of earth", he gave it away (not even joking)....it's FREE! Go get it now!! Just to give you a little hint of what you're missing out on, I will just say that if you don't have it yet or if you have it and haven't listened to it yet, you just peel your face right off right now (again....not even joking)! It's movements like these that are inspirational to the world and if we all just put a little into supporting Steph and his movement, we could make such a drastic, positive effect on the world...

NOW....the real reason for this Aero's Rundown!

Steph had previously mentioned that he might do a Christmas mixtape, but being the person that he is, he would never rush it and put out something that was less than the best by his standards so he decided no to do so. However, his loyalty and love for his frands makes him go above and beyond always. He decided that he would remake a Christmas classic - The Little Drummer Boy. Let me just tell you....since I got this track I've been listening to it nonstop. Check it out below...

(artwork by bombsteez)

Now that you've heard the song, just let me have a quick word with the musically minded. Here's what is so addictive about the song. For those of you who really know me well, it can very easily be said that my most real passion in life is MUSIC! Coming from a very musical background on both sides of my family, I've learned that MUSIC is the one thing that tears down barriers. No matter what race, country, or planet you're from, everyone has a bond with music. Rhythm dominates our lives daily even when we're not paying attention. I have spent hours on end every day for the past 20-something years of my life listening to some form of music or observing some rhythm - whether it's the 1.5 second count from yellow to red on a traffic light or the rain dripping off my parents' home in MS. I've gotten to the point now where I can hear every part of this song without hearing the synthesized percussion and orchestral accompaniment at all and Steph's voice is absolutely phenomenal! This list is in no particular order...

1. The rhythm created vocally from beginning to end; the percussion and accompaniment definitely enhances the song, but pay close attention to the little intricacies he creates with his voice.

2. The slight deviation of rhythm in the first verse - "coooome they tooold me" became "cooome they told me-eee" and I'm certain that honestly it's just the genius that is Steph Jones

3. The newly created chorus of the song with a dominating chant of "left, right, left" along with the sweet high vocals chanting the same lines and echoing only to be enhanced by the addicting statement "I am the little drummer boy"

4. The first verse has a little piece of gold at the end of it; do you know what it is? Can you find it? Let's just say that the additional line (5-line instead of 4-line stanza) is a precious little gold nugget planted in the song that doesn't happen anywhere else...

5. Does he really say "ehh-ahh" after the "pa rum pum pum puumm"...if you don't know why that's amazingly hot, you are officially not human!

6. Shall I play for you (echo: you, you, you) on my druumm? <-- 'nuff said

7. As if all the aforementioned things aren't enough, he raps and said himself that he speaking"directly to God" and it just touches my heart...I just...I can't even...*speechless*

8. Those 17 or 18 little "tings" of a triangle at the very end of the song...priceless - not to mention the sleigh bells throughout the song

9. Put all that stuff together with the accompaniment and you have the perfect Steph Jones track!!

Needless to say, I'm in love with this song, and I hope the rest of the world loves it as much as I do. I'm a connoisseur of great music and this has definitely satisfied my hunger, thirst, and complete appetite. All I have left to say is a HUGE thank you to Steph...you're nothing less than amazing bro!

For more info about and music by Steph:

Check out a previous Steph Jones post on Aero's Rundown!

Visit the Steph Jones Galaxy (and download Drummer Boy there)

Listen to some of his tracks on MySpace

Follow him on Twitter

Download the lifetape

He's even on ustream...he loves to talk with his frands as often as possible

BONUS! As Steph mentioned in his last ustream, he's actually doing a video for this song which will feature some special guests early THIS month! Two words: CAN'T WAIT!!!

Listen to the Little Drummer Boy Acapella version

This concludes the Little Drummer Boy Sp. Ed. Aero's Rundown!! I hope you enjoyed it! Be ready for the next one...

Aero's Rundown - Live to Love - 09.28.2009

Welcome to Aero's Rundown... The Rundown starts now...

As most of you may know, a very tragic event occurred in Roseland, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) today. I sat in the office today wondering what everyone was upset about and why my best friend said she was crying watching a video. What the heck had happened? What could it be now? The world is in such turmoil that I couldn't even fathom what it might be. Even after all of the horrible things I thought, none compared to what it actually was. A young man was killed today after school. His name was Derrion Albert. He was literally beaten to death! People, what is going on in this world? How did we ever get to this point? YES, he was in an area where bad things may happen more than some other places; TRUE, everyone has to die sometime; YEAH everyone makes mistakes, but does that make this acceptable? I can't even explain the pain I feel for this poor child's family. He's someone's son, cousin, grandchild, etc and he was just literally beaten to death. His grandfather couldn't even stand to watch the video because it was so difficult to see the way they beat his grandson. This is a child! Someone who had a full life ahead of him and he was robbed of that today. So many older people say, "those were the days" or "you better enjoy your youth while you can", but this poor little boy wasn't given that opportunity. He was an honor student full of potential. You see, to some people that may not mean anything, but to me it means a lot. It means that he was in active pursuit of success. He may have had so many dreams that he wanted to fulfill with his education and he was actually working hard to do so. I'm so angry and sad and confused...

Is it really worth it? Is taking someone's life worth showing the world how "hard" you are? Is it really worth causing the infinite amount of pain to Derrion's family? Does it make you feel better to know that you "ain't no punk"? I find it very hard to believe it's worth it. Everyone in this world has lost someone dear to them. Everyone in this world has suffered some pain at some time, but does that make this acceptable? I couldn't even believe the words I was reading about what happened and it's so much harder to even watch the video, but I did. I watched it for two reasons. First of all, I know that seeing what really happened will open my heart even more with prayer for his family; I've had some tough situations in my past, but I can't even imagine what they must be feeling so I wanted to fully allow myself to get as much in the situation as possible. I know that sounds crazy, but it's not about me. It's about sharing emotion and love and passion with those people that lost someone today and being able to say, "Lord, please keep them in Your care" and really understanding what I'm asking God to do. Secondly, this is a story that needs to be taught. WE need to let everyone that we know that this type of violence and evil is NOT acceptable. This is something that can't just blow away with the wind. He's not a celebrity nor is he a world renowned scholar, but he might have been. We will never know. He may have been just an ordinary citizen who made a difference in the world by spreading love - which would have made him extraordinary - like so many people do now.

As I write this and think about the tears streaming down sad faces right now and hearts that are filled with sorrow and pain, it dawns on me that this happens all too often. There are no reasons for violence. Human nature leads us away from God's perfect will, and that's just what it means to be human. It's impossible for anyone on this Earth to be perfect...but this? We have to stop violence. We have to stop hatred. We have to love one another as we're instructed. As humans, we're going to make mistakes, but that mistake can no longer be taking someone's life. We ALL have to stand against violence! Derrion Albert wasn't able to make it to an age that some of us have already passed because someone decided to take his life today. If the lives of those people were filled with love, this wouldn't be the case right now. Fill yourself with so much love that everyone you encounter is blessed by your presence. Some of you may not agree, but I've already prayed and forgiven the poor souls that caused this horrible tragedy for the family of Derrion Albert. You see, I'm well aware that it's not my place to judge them and hating them only makes me like them. [Matthew 7:1-2;26:28]. It's up to God to handle that situation. I'm in no way saying that it's ok or that I'm not angry because I'm still human, but I don't live this life I have to hate people....I LIVE LIFE TO LOVE

For those of you haven't seen the video, I've embedded it below. I'm not asking you to watch it...I'm simply asking you to pray and don't wait until the next tragedy to pray again. Stay in prayer...

This concludes the Live to LOVE Rundown... God bless...