Breaking up is hard to do.

Hello, Chucksters. 

I am not here to make excuses, or shed any kind of indignant neuroses I have about status, or lack thereof - as a writer within the past year, but speak from an introspective space, simply because, as selfish as it sounds, I think I need it. 

I last posted within the confines of All Grey Chucks on August 29, 2011. One of hottest, dumbest, and uneven summers was finally coming to an end. I was tapped out financially, emotionally, and artistically, a funk in which, nearly a year later, I’m finally starting to come out of. Last year at this time, I was working a dead-end job, and struggling with some personal issues, and overall just not enjoying life. I guess it’s kismet in a way that post was about a claustrophobic, jerky, and neurotic movie called Slacker, and it’s encompassing redux; it somehow mirrored how I felt. That was one of the easier posts I’ve ever written, simply because watching the original print of Slacker while researching put my head at a level playing field with everything going on around me. 

As a writer, you start to believe in the art. You also start to think everything is profound, and that puts pressure on you. All of the sudden I felt like brushing my teeth had to have some kind of resonance. It’s sometimes not the easiest thing to deal with. To say that it freaked me out a little is probably about par for the course. 

People ask me about my writing a lot, and I’m glad to talk about it, simply because I never thought it’d touch the lives of as many people as it did-and for that, I’m forever grateful. I started onlyhiphopblog to have some fun and share my knowledge of what, in my opinion, is the halcyon period of a particular genre. The response was much more than I had ever foreseen. 

Did onlyhiphopblog get bigger than real life? Yes and No. I don’t have millions of readers and don’t make any money off of it...but I did make a lot of new friends, not only in the blogging community, but in the Hip-hop community as well. I got into music festivals for free, and got a chance to do something a lot of people don’t get to do; express myself creatively.I am a writer, and. It’s something I’ll always be and I’m happy to do it, with or without any platitudes or financial gain. At the end of the day it goes back to two core ideals: Art and expression. 

I’ve done a lot of thinking re: my future as a writer, I’ve thought about phasing out onlyhiphopblog and just incorporating everything in to AGC; I’ve thought of re-vamping onlyhiphopblog with a new name, I’ve also thought of just trudging on like I have been, committing to it, and making it a point to update these as much as I can. All I can say this that I’ve chosen door number 3. I can’t predict the future, so I can’t say whether or not these blogs will again fall by the wayside. My goal is to have a new post on each one every month or so. I also want to beef up my social networking presence, If we’re friends on Facebook you may get a request to like a page in the near future. 

For now, onlyhiphopblog will continue to report on/spread knowledge in reference to Hip-Hop and Rap of the golden age and beyond, and All Grey Chucks will continue to have a much looser definition, and report on anything music, sports, food, life, and culture. 

To all my friends and family here in Austin, Ohio, Michigan, and everywhere...those that have supported me in these endeavors, continue to support, and believe in art, substance, and nostalgia...I love ALL of you. a lot. 

Thanks isn’t enough. 

Onward and Upward, 

-Marty.