THE JUICY EXPRESSIONS - Higher Consciousness (Mental Health and Wellness) Underground Hip-Hop & Creativity

Champagne Brunches: Clew’s Musically Inclined New Album

There are usually only one or two factors that will attract a layperson (someone without specialized knowledge) to listen to new music. For starters, if they are already familiar with the artist, they may listen to their new music off the strength that the artist’s past music was jamming. However if they’ve never heard the artist before, most likely the only thing that will attract them to listen to a song is if the beat completely snatches their attention. I feel that Champagne Brunches is one of the only few projects where each track is accompanied with a dope beat!

Hip-Hop artist Clew, has been mentioning Champagne Brunches for a while now in different interviews and on social media. As soon as September began, some of his fans became a helping participant in his album promotion. These loyal fans designed creative hand made signs portraying the release date of the album. Clew then posted them to his social media handles creating a bigger buzz for Champagne Brunches.

I feel that the biggest message Clew is relaying throughout this project is that “If you’re not following your dreams then you’re foolish”. He mentions that specific statement in the very first track “#Adreamcometrue” and also the last track “Intro“. Both of these tracks were structured with the same musical piece and also recorded with live harmonious musical instruments. These two tracks give me a very soulful vibe that natural communicates to my body giving its functions no choice but to participate in an un controlling head nod.

It’s honestly hard for me to say which track is my absolute favorite so I will just share my highlighted thoughts about some of them:

Track 4, “Party” is completely jammin from the beat all the way to the subject matter. This song brings me back to the crazy party experiences I’ve experienced in college.
Track 7, “3 Am” is a dope track! I was excited to hear the actual song especially since Clew introduced us to a snippet of it in his previously released single “73 Supreme“.
Track 10, “Wow” is a turnt song that I can envision played in a club or radio setting that would inspire people to dance.
Track 11, “Picasso” captures his nice rap flow showing his advanced skills as a lyricist.

Overall, this album gives you a smooth listen all the way through it’s likely that you won’t desire to skip through any tracks. “Don’t die with your music still in you” is a really profound quote that I heard first from one of my favorite authors Wayne Dyer. He described how many will allow fear to take them away from fulfilling their purpose. Although, I feel that many are multidimensional, meaning that we have more than one purpose to fulfill, creating music is definitely one of Clew’s purposes. I’m proud that you are inspired to release all of the music inside of you.

Champagne Brunches is now out on iTunes, Tidal, Google Music, Spotify, Shazam, and Datpiff. Go listen now and let us know your favorite songs on the album? Was this album juicy or dry? Drop your thoughts below!

All You Have To Do Is Say Yes: The Launch of Y.E.S. Women Inc.

Last Friday I attended the launch of the Y.E.S. Women Inc. non-profit organization. The acronym Y.E.S. stands for young, educated, and sacred which fits the founder of the organization, Yasmin Cunningham, perfectly! Yasmin is 24 years old with a bachelor’s degree from University of Southern Mississippi in political science including a minor in Latin. She now attends Mississippi College School of Law, planning to receive her Juris Doctor in May 2017. With the help of the community, Yasmin aims to “uplift young women, helping them to develop their purpose through mentorship, community service, and fellowship”.

Yasmin Cunningham Founder of Y.E.S. Women

I am personally proud of Yasmin for creating this organization because our community needs more young direct leaders with fresh open minds. Also, I believe that women are the strength and the stability that help keeps the world functioning, so it is important to make sure that our future women leaders are nurtured with love. I had the opportunity to ask Yasmin some questions about her organization, check out the interview below!

TJE: How long have you been preparing for your non-profit organization?

Yasmin: I’ve always had a passion for working with women, specifically young girls. I started to form my nonprofit this summer after attending a woman’s empowerment group. I wanted to develop an organization that would benefit every young girl involved and waiting was not the answer to fulfill this purpose. The organization was formed in the summer but it is a continuous preparation that takes a daily effort.

TJE: You had the actual launch of Y.E.S. Women on your birthday. Did you receive the support you expected?

Yasmin: It was on my birthday but I tried Not to make the focus of the launch about my birthday. In fact, many people who came out did not know that it was my birthday. I received a lot of support from people. Several donations were received from people who heard about the organization and did not know me personally. Also, my family and friends made an effort to get the word out and support me in many other ways. It was an amazing experience!

TJE: What is a primary message that you feel all young women should know?

Yasmin: I want all young women to know their self-worth. I want their lives to be enriched through our mentorship programs, service opportunities, and fellowship. I want them to know the importance of celebrating their youth and knowing that all things are possible. Our young girls need to value themselves and know how to seek a purpose-driven lifestyle.

TJE: What is a huge lesson that you have learned as a young woman that had a major impact on your life?

Yasmin: I learned the importance of waiting on God. There are seasons for everything and I had to learn how to wait for my season. I struggled with rushing to find love, questioning my calling, and often wondered why I wasn’t where I wanted to be. However, through God’s timing, I developed patience. I now know that every obstacle that I faced and every rejection that I received was apart of God’s plan for my life.

TJE: What are some upcoming things that you plan to do with your organization?

Yasmin: Our first meet and greet for the young women will be October 8^th from 9 am-12 pm. This will be a great opportunity for them to connect with other girls, receive a mentor, and learn from great speakers. Our upcoming community service opportunities will be in November and December. We will also have some great programs in the beginning of next year.

For more information on Y.E.S. Women visit www.yeswomen.org to get involved by being a volunteer or making a donation. Watch the recap video of the actual launch party below!

Here’s the link to watch Yasmin’s news interview with Midday Mississippi on WLBT about her non-profit organization. https://www.facebook.com/middaymississippi/videos/1208419729180896/

Don’t Be a Contradiction to Your Desires

What are some of your deepest desires? Close your eyes and briefly imagine something that if you achieved or received NOW, it would ignite your soul… Now that you’ve imagined it, can you honestly say that you haven’t been a contradiction to your desire(s)? If not that’s great but if you have, this is something that you may NOW want to be conscious about.

We all possess deep desires whether we share them with others or not. Some desires may be viewed as being on a larger scale of things such as being a millionaire while others are perceived smaller such as keeping a steady job. What ever your desire is, you may be blocking it by being a direct contradiction to it. One way of being a contradiction, is having resentment for others who’ve already achieved the desire you want. If you are not happy for those who already have what you want or who is already where you aspire to be, you are continuously pushing it further and further away from coming directly to you!

For example, lately on my timeline I have been seeing many people getting married or engaged, getting accepted to the school of their choice, getting offered amazing dream jobs, etc. Resulting from those wonderful experiences, I have also been seeing many others who are bitter because they are not yet married nor engaged or receiving what they deeply desire. By sending negative vibes, whether verbally voicing them or internally thinking them, you are keeping the vibration of lack heavily in your experience. You can also push them away by thinking low thoughts such as your desire being unattainable.

Most people are familiar with the introductory version of “The Law of Attraction” which basically says you will experience what you focus on. So if you want to get rich then you shouldn’t have hateful thoughts based on those who are wealthy. If you want to be married you shouldn’t harbor negative feelings towards someone else who is married. You can’t receive your inner desire unless you are happy for them because then your focus is set on achievement rather than the lack of it. Have faith in knowing that what GOD has for you, it is specifically for you and someone else receiving their blessing will not strike you from receiving yours! If you are NOW aware that you are in fact contradicting your desires, don’t feel bad about it. The good thing is that you can change your thoughts NOW. Start using affirmations to help change your beliefs.

“When you want to attract something into your life, make sure your actions don’t contradict your desires.. Think about what you have asked for, and make sure that your actions are mirroring what you expect to receive, and that they’re not contradicting what you‘ve asked for. Act as if you are receiving it. Do exactly what you would do if you were receiving it today, and take actions in your life to reflect that powerful expectation. Make room to receive your desires, and as you do, you are sending out that powerful signal of expectation.― Rhonda Byrne, The Secret

Many spiritual teachers have spoke about this subject but here’s a clip from one of my favorite authors! Listen to it and comment your thoughts below! What are some desires that you have been a contradiction to?

Dropping the Job to Pursue the Dream {Clew The Artist}

“Getting a job is what made me say naw I don’t want a job” is one of the most inspiring statements that Clew said during our interview. He outlined how getting a job actually influenced him to pursue his dreams full throttle. Clew is a Jackson State University graduate with bachelors in English, who is using his education and life experiences to excel in his artistry. He desires the freedom to do what ever it is that he wants to do, at any given time that he wants to do it.

Clew dropped his first mixtape “A Dream Deferred” early 2015, including 12 tracks with the intro track quoting the words of the famous Langston Hughes’ poem. This tape was very poetic and covered a wide range of topics from illustrating the “African American Dream” to chasing that “Paper“. This was a great tape to be Clew’s first because it showed his talent through his rap flow. However, I feel that his newer music shows more of his ingenuity because the musical rhythms command your immediate attention and his delivery causes you to decipher each lyric.

Clew is not a new guest to TJE’s platform. Ironically, I interviewed him on the same day last year but due to a series of events that occurred I never posted that footage (funny insider). Clew was featured on TJE’s 2k16 Cypher, he performed at TJE’s Second Anniversary event, and he also premiered his dope visual for one of his latest songs “Lil Boy Black” right here on the blog. We have also been friends for 8 years so he is one of my first supporters! Watch the dope interview with Clew below and comment your thoughts on his music!

This is one of the latest tracks Clew dropped this year. What y’all think?

A Very Social Anti-Social Person

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“Her blog is sooo dope, but she doesn’t post as much as I would like.”

“I haven’t seen her out much any more.”

“She promoted a lot for her party but it seems like she fell off.”

“I like her posts, but she needs way more variety.”

Above are some of the many statements that one can say about me or my blog. The interesting thing is that I am very conscious about the statements that can be said because I agree. I am aware of all of my pros and cons about my blog but for a while I have been struggling to manage a healthy balance. The good thing is that I can only go up from here 🙂

I’ve been told that I am a very social anti-social person. (A contradiction I know!) The social part of me is being a blogger and a great friend that loves to inspire great discussions amongst others. The anti social part of me comes along with being a mother and a student. Being a mother is my busiest role because it never stops or pauses. This is not a complaint because this is also my most valuable role. Some people don’t understand the time commitment that being a parent requires. Many don’t realize that you may not be able to go places spontaneously because of lack of a sitter or plans already made with your child.

Being a law student takes the remainder of my time. Any law student can be a witness that law school is not an easy task! Again, I am not complaining about any of this because all of my roles are blessing but the fact remains that I am always busy. The mother and student roles contribute to my anti social vibes but I am going to now challenge this. Moving forward, I am going to transition all of my roles towards becoming more social. I recognize that people want to relate to me more. Many believe that my blog is dope but they wonder why I don’t post more frequently.

The lack of balance is why i don’t tweet or post on instagram as much. But one thing I can say is that I appreciate all of my supporters because when I do post I can see the views, stats, and the comments. However, follow me on all social media where I will be giving you more insights on my life.Thanks for your support on this journey and with continued faith it will only get doper.