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The Effn.

The Etymology of Swag:

Claim: The word swag began in the 1960s as an acronym for "Secretly we are gay."

Example: The term swag was invented in the early 1960's by a group of gay men in Hollywood. it stands for "secretly we are gay"and most frequently used as code on posters announcing gay orgies.



Origins: While many common terms have entered the English language as acronyms (words formed from the initial letters or syllables of a phrase, such as radar, which came from the term Radio Detection and Ranging), only rarely did that phenomenon occur prior to the mid-twentieth century. Yet that fact stops few from reaching for acronymic explanations for a variety of far older words, especially in instances where the true etymologies aren't crystal clear.

Swag is one such misunderstood word. Some of the acronymic explanations for it that we've encountered are:

Secretly We Are Gay
Souvenirs, Wearables, And Gifts
Stuff We All Get
Stuff We Ain't Got
Scientific Wild Arsed Guess
Stolen Without A Gun
Sold Without A Guarantee



Not surprisingly, none of those explanations is correct. The word 'swag' is not an acronym, nor has it anything to do with homosexual men surreptitiously attracting like-minded souls to partake of a group activity. It is instead a corruption of the Scandinavian svagga, meaning "to rock unsteadily or lurch" and entered the English language in the 13th or 14th century, with its earliest print sighting dating to 1303. Over time its meaning evolved into that of "hanging loosely or heavily, to sag," and by 1794 picked up the additional meanings of "booty or plunder" and "a hanging wreath or garland."



In current common usage, swag has a number of meanings: Illegally obtained goods. (We employ it that way ourselves in our "Self-Signaling Swag" article about crooks fingered by the electronic locators contained in the items they stole.)

Free stuff: promotional items, gift bags, goodies, and the like.



A decorative garland (festive season evergreens or those fashioned of other materials, whether displayed during the holiday season or at other times of the year) hung in such a way that loops of it hang freely.

A valance: an item of window dressing wherein fabric matching the drapes is gathered at one or more points along the curtain rod to produce decorative sweeps of cloth having the appearance of downward-hanging fans.

In Australia swag refers to the bundle of belongings carried by a swagman, a person those in North America would term a hobo. In that country to "go on the swag" means to become a tramp, and having "swags of" any particular item means having "lots of" that thing.



The word is also used as an adjective in "swag lamp" (a lighting fixture characterized by the electrical cord that feeds power to it dangling from the ceiling in a swag) and "swag curtain" (a type of drapery wherein one extremely long piece of fabric is used to fashion a curtain which hangs loose in eye-pleasing folds at each side of the window and has decorative loops of the cloth twined around the curtain rod).

Swag remains in the English language in some lesser-used forms, such as "to sway" and "to stagger." The term is also the likely root of "swagger," which either characterizes someone's walk as having a bold, exaggerated side-to-side movement or serves as a figurative term for describing someone's behavior as boastful, conceited and arrogant.



Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2012 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson.



The Effn.

Live Music VS Computer Based Programming

I come from a family of music lovers. I don't remember there being many musicians in my family. Especially not in my immediate family but, what I do remember is that there was always music playing throughout the house. Even when we'd go visit relatives or my parents friends they'd have music playing all through the house as well.



Back then CD's were the most popular medium for playing music. However, I had a Great Uncle that was very particular about how he preferred to listen to music. He was all about Vinyl. and how much better it was than Tape or CD. I even remember him having a record player in the glove compartment of his '78 Cadillac. He was that real about it.He didn't mind that he had to drive around slow trying not to let his record skip.



Now it seems that the music has become so clean that it lost it's feel to some people.Some of the new digitized music sounds like a bunch of machines got together for a jam session.



The truth of the matter is that I do both. I love each one separately and refuse to choose one over the other. To me a drum machine is just as much an instrument as a guitar is. Creating music on a computer based program is just as much an art as playing the drums... in my opinion. However, there are many that would beg to differ.



One thing that I can say about playing a live instrument is that there is something about holding it in your hands and creating. The feeling of being one with the sound is electric.



I guess I'm somewhat of a music junkie. I love all aspects of it. From drums to keyboards, writing lyrics to just listening to it. I love it on vinyl, cd, tape, mp3 or played live in concert. Doesn't matter as long as it doesn't skip and plays to the end.When I create music, I usually start blank. I try not to envision boundaries. Instead of thinking about what to create. I try to let the music guide me. I just start with what feels good. Nothing forced.



Ofcourse a real guitar will sound better than a keyboard trying to sound like a guitar, and real drums will sound better than a drum machine but, different songs require different kinds of instruments so there are times when real drums or guitar just wouldn't work but, an 808 or a sample would be perfect.



Being a child of the 80's and really getting into music in the mid 90's I think that I come from the generation that was lucky enough to be exposed to both digital and analog sound without bias. I liked Marvin Gaye just as much as Sade & Anita Baker but, also marveled over 2pac and Biggies music just the same.





Eventually, I started to delve deeper into the sound. I wanted to know how the songs I liked were made. What instruments were used and who played them. It was at that point that I started to differentiate between pianos, synthesizers, drum machines etc...



In Hip Hop, I feel that we've had some genius minds showcased on various drum machines and Keyboards. For instance, Pete Rock is a master of the SP12. Organized Noize are masters of the MPC. DJ Jazzy Jeff is a master of the Tecnic 1200.





To me, it wasn't just about the instrument that was used in creating any of the music that I've loved over the years. To me, it was about how the instrument was used in creating the music. To me, it's always been about the soul.


The Effn.

"Every moment is a gift from God, thats why it's called the present."

"We live in a push button future real life no undo, I live in the moment no undo..."


SideStreet KED Feat. Folami "No Undo"
Produced By: SideStreet KED for SideStreet MusicGroup LLC.
Written By: K. Jones & F. Thompson
Drums: Jo Walker
Bass: Michael "Mike P" Patterson
Mixed By: Jo Walker

Sitting in front of my computer scouring the Internet for information on new technology as I do for hours on any given day, those words just sort of "popped" in my head. Going off the vibe of the moment which is the modus operandi for any artist in my opinion I immediately, reached for my iPad (I write most of my songs on either my iPad or iPhone) and began to let the words flow. The concept behind the song is actually the driving theory behind "The Push Button Future" project.



As a kid, one of my favorite cartoons was the Jetsons. I was captivated by the technology of the Jetsons futuristic world. The flying cars, the robots, the video phones & being able to have a full course meal prepared at the push of a button gave me visions of what my future would be like one day.



Now, minus the flying cars that have yet to hit the market, we seem to have arrived in this futuristic world. Microwaves and camera phones are the norm. Nano technology is the new craze and robots handle most menial jobs around the planet. There was once a time when it took 7 days for a letter to reach California from New York but now information travels around the globe at the push of a button. This has truly become the push button future that I dreamed of.



Although all of these things are now possible, there is one thing that has remained since the dawn of time... Life. In the virtual world mistakes are easily corrected. The computers keyboard comes standard with not only a backspace button but also a delete button. Real life has neither. There is no undo. Time waits for no man.



The funny thing about time is that it's relative to the perspective at which it is viewed. See, we base time on the speed at which light travels from point A to point B which is approximately 300,000 kilometers a second in a vacuum such as space. That's about 186,000 miles every second but, light actually has the character of a particle and behaves as a wave which means that it travels at slightly slower speeds through denser material such as a planets atmosphere. So, being that we use light as our tool for time measurement and light is not traveling at a constant speed, it's safe to say that time is not absolute either. It changes according to the environment and the perspective at which it is viewed. It bends and warps. Stretches and slows, and can even be captured by gravity if the pull is strong enough. We can see this by studying a black hole.



Hense the chorus by Folami... "You see the lights, the glow and the glare"



There's a popular saying that most of us have heard at some point in our lives... "I'll believe it when I see it" well, that is a very naive statement if you take into account that you can only see things that reflect light. There's so much more to existence than things that reflect light. Does that mean that they don't exist? No. It just means that you can't see them. Open up your mind to the world around you and you can and will see more than you've ever dreamed. We spend our lives counting minutes and punching clocks when time isn't even real. Try living in the moment instead of holding on to the past and worrying about the future. If you are unhappy with your current life, try viewing it from a different perspective because in the wise words once spoke to me by Khujo Goodie... "every moment is a gift from God, thats why it's called the present."


SideStreet KED Feat. Folami "No Undo" Now Available on Itunes...
The Effn.

Things That Money Can Not Buy...

Releasing new music sort of feels like dropping your only child off at school for the 1st time and shooting new videos sort of feels like preparing for a new baby to be born. It's a lot of hard work but worth every bit of it in the end.



As if it's not hard enough just to be the artist and star in your own music video, for this particular music video "Gnarly" I've opted to be both in front of and behind the camera by taking the liberty of shooting it myself with the help of long time friend and videographer Digital PitBoss.



After a few weeks of planning, casting and scouting locations with my team (Folami, Terria "Jo" Grant, Brenton Tignor Jr., Mia & Digital Pittboss) it was time to put in the work of filming. Thankfully, we ended up with a great cast. Everyone enjoyed themselves and handled shooting outside in the blazing sun like troopers.



Jo had the double duties of casting director and stylist while Folami had the duties of co- casting director, wardrobe, hair & make-up. Mia was Folami's personal assistant & Digital Pittboss was Director along with myself, camera operator and editor, while Brenton Tignor Jr. was primary assistant and assistant camera operator.



One thing I've learned in my experience with shooting music videos is that they are only as good as the team behind them and although I've yet to have the luxury of shooting a big budget video I've been blessed to have genuine people around me that are truly talented at what they do and believe in me as an artist. That in itself is a luxury that money cannot buy.



Featured Models:


Noyek


Star


Vanessa


Chrissy


Ari


Pearl Black Twins



I would like to personally thank my official sponsors and everyone involved for helping me to bring my vision to life...



Yadiyda Clothing, Nobella Creations, IS Studios, Lucky Exchange, Costumes Etc, Subway, Michael "Mike P" Patterson, Eclectic Advantage PR, Organized Noize, M.A.C. Make Up, Junkmans Daughter, Urban Outfitters, Hobi, Brian Smith, The Hydrilla, The City of Atlanta



The Effn.

A Conversation with Andre 3000...

I remember having a conversation with Andre 3000 at the Dungeon about fashion and music. It was during the making of the OutKast album "Stankonia". There was a time when I spent a considerable amount of time with Dre discussing music, rhymes, theory & hip hop culture in general.



Being a free spirited kid from California I've always been into expressing myself through fashion and taking pride in being unique.



On this particular day, we were downstairs in the Dungeon shooting pool and watching a documentary on George Clinton and Funkadelic. Ofcourse being from L.A., the Parlaiment sound is pretty much embedded in my musical history but, I've always felt like I was short changed by never having the opportunity to see them perform live.



So, I (as was he) was fascinated by the live performance footage in the documentary. That's when he turned to me and said "Man, KED... I'm telling you, it's time to start dressing like the music sounds..." He was right. My music is just as unique as I am as a person. I've never tried to sound like anyone else including my Dungeon Family compadres, nor have I ever tried to dress like anyone else.



Although at the time I hadnt advanced to the point of performing live or even actually recording music yet, I was a writer still dreaming of my future as a recording artist and living in an environment such as the Dungeon on and off for over 10 years helped to cultivate how I would present my craft to the world. Now, my music and style of dress go hand in hand. I rarely try to be different. I have confidence in my personal taste and that just happens to be different.



Because of this, I get a lot of comments, questions and jokes on my clothes and style which neither of them bother me at all but, seeing other artist pick up on certain aspects of my style has bothered me in the past. Recently I've matured to the point of realizing that my style no longer belongs to me. Once I step outside my door, it is now shared with the world and there is nothing wrong with influencing the lives of others in a positive way.



So, where as before I dreaded the often asked question of admirers wanting to know where I got "this and that" from, I now welcome them and will actually be sharing this info on my blog from now on. I tend to shop in some really cool places as well as more common places where I find the often overlooked items and incorporate them all into my wardrobe.


Spinns - (Harajuku Japan) - One of my Favorite Clothing Stores in the world. Make sure you holler at God Harajuku... Dudes Style is CRAZY!!!


Costumes ETC. - (Atlanta, GA) - This place is great for accessories. Especially if you like to walk on the wild side. Make sure you ask for Jimmy. Dude is really cool and into classic rock and old school reggae movies lol


Lucky Exchange - (Atlanta, GA) - This is a great vintage clothing store with lots of cool hats and sunglasses for a good price. If you decide to stop in look for Damon. He's the one that plays the 60's soul music during his shifts.

Hopefully you too will check out these places and support these businesses as I do. Make sure you tell them you found out about them from SideStreet KED because some of these places will give you a discount. Enjoy!



The Effn.