Tighten up ya belts... It's Grindin Season!!

I feel what Sabrey is sayin about feelin like he has to get in the game cuz the cats already in it are actin lazy. I remember bein impressed by the outright ability and skill of rappers like Rakim, Twista, Method Man, Tupac, Biggie, and Eminem. Nowadays, I am impressed only by a certain few who seem to have skills or capabilities beyond the rest. It seems to me that the focus has shifted away from skills to swag! If you can be more braggadocious than everyone else, that apparently makes you hot. If I had to point the finger or give credit to one artist for facilitating this shift, I would say it was 50 Cent. I am interested to know whether people agree with my assessment.

Since its gettin to be that time of the year where you don't wanna go out cuz its so cold and we are in the early stages of what could become a very ugly recession, we thought it would be appropriate to re-release our street album, Grindin Season, song by song, for free download online!!

This is an album about makin it happen, no matter the conditions, no matter the obstacles. When the going gets tough, the tough get goin! So with no further ado, lets kick things off with track 1, COLORS. Since this one is Sabrey's creation, if he wants to, maybe he can share a little bit of insight on this song.

So Why Do We Do It pt. 1

Good morning world, this is Sab'rey ( the black half) of GoodHood. Honestly, on almost a daily basis I get asked one question more than any other. " Why did you choose rapping as a career choice?" So I figured today was the day i was gonna let loose as to why does what i does. Alot of people get in to this music thing as a way to get rich quick, others because they think its an easy proffesion to jump into, and others still because honestly, they cant do anything else. I can say, with no hesitation none of these three reasons apply to me. I chose this hip-hop thing because Ive had a passion for it since the day i cold follow the boom bap. I really feel as if i heard the music diffrently than my friends. I could see the stories these rapper of my youth where describing, and only God knows how badly i wanted to join in and rap along with my heroes. But, i think, what really cemented for me was when i got to be a lil older maybe in my late teens, i would listen to the radio, and on an almost daily basis i began becoming less and less impressed with what the rappers where saying. It became clear as day I had to get in to this rap shit!!!! Not because i felt like i was so great, but because everyone else is jus so damned bad!!!! So i picked up my pen, met up with Daveed Hall, and the rest as they say is history. Looking back, I feel as if i took an almost arrogant approach to music, but in saying that it was still a very real and passionate approach to my future career. So guys and dolls there it is. Any questions??? lol See Y'all soon!!!!! And remember Goin' International isn't just a song its a state of mind. See y'all in Cordoba(look it up!!) Ya DIIIG

Its Gettin Cold Out

Hello World!!!!! This is Sab'rey(the black half)of GoodHood. As the Weather begins to get frightful im reminded the tough get going. Welcome to what is affectionately known as Grindin' Season( not to be confused with the legendary street album we dropped a year ago) And grindin' we are doing. After recording a certified banger on sunday we tentaviely have named,"Rock Steady", tonight we're back in the "lab" to record another gem. We plan to have alot of things poppin in the '09 so the last quarter of 08 is when all the grunt work begins. Hopefully you guys are enjoying, "Goin' International", but enjoy it while you can because before you know it will be gone and a new song will take its place. It's progress baby!!! Well shout to ESPN for havin' all this great college basketball on, so as I enjoy that, enjoy Goin' International. Shout out to Mike Starghill, cause he'll bitch if I dont mention him. Hallelijuah and holla bacl!!! Ya dig!!!

Goin International Now Available for FREE download!!

Its official!! GOIN' INTERNATIONAL ft. Yung Coke, produced by All I Ever Wanted, is now available for free download by clicking HERE!!

Yung Coke deserves much props for writing AND singing a fantastic hook. Also much respect due to the Swedish super producer, All I Ever Wanted, for hookin us up with a monster beat!! Not to be forgotten, Thomas D McLeod III lent his expertise on the recording and mixing.

So check out the track, download it, put it on your iPod, and most importantly, ENJOY IT!!! There's more music to come, so check back soon.

We're actually gonna be hittin the studio tonight with another young producer by way of ATL named Battery. He has worked with PSC and T.I. and was a major contributing producer for our street album, Grindin Season. He's cooked up some heat rock for us and we're hittin the booth tonight to make some magic on this new track called "ROCK STEADY."

The picture was taken in Bajia Demajaqua, Puerto Rico. Much love to our guys Ricky and Felix who showed us mad love on the island!!

Hit us up and let us know what you think of "Goin International."

Just Kickin Things Off...

Whats poppin world? I gotta say, I am excited to be starting up this blog with my guy Sab. I look forward to hearing some feedback from folks regarding our music, our thoughts, and our plans for the future. Being a great music artist requires good communication with fans and supporters and so we feel that this is a great way to get a real conversation started.

First things first, let me briefly recap where and who we are and how we got here. Sabrey and I grew up together since kindergarten. It aint too many cats doin music together that can say that or that even have friends they've known since kindergarten. Life is mad unpredictable and I am glad to have this stand-up dude havin my back no matter the twists and turns!! Basically, we started rappin at about the same time, close to freshman year of high school and worked together as part of the same group, The Billa Click, until we graduated and I bounced to DC to go to college. In the course of my time at American University, I made some good friends who happened to be involved in audio engineering and music as well, so we started recording and ended up forming a label, Heavy Syndication. It was at this time that we began working with a couple emcees from Howard U, Broadway Miller & Deontre Blayz, as well as a native DC artist, Verse. I spent most of my time from 2005 to 2007 managing, marketing, and promoting these other artists.

At the beginning of 2005, Sabrey moved out to DC to work with me and Heavy Syn. We decided to move forward as a group and hence, Good Hood was born! We put all our time, energy, passion, creativity, and money into making our debut street album, Grindin' Season, which we released at the beginning of 2008. Unfortunately, the label wasn't able to hold up to the financial pressures of managing several artists while keeping open an office and studio. This past summer, the label went under, just as we (Good Hood) were getting things moving.

So now, here we are, totally independent and ready to take on the world! We have been travelling back and forth between DC and Chicago, doing shows all over the Chi and working with a Chicago-based entertainment group called TCO Entertainment. They have released two North Pole Movement mixtapes featuring several up-and-coming hip-hop artists from Chi-town's north side. They are doin some big things including a North Pole Movement concert at the Congress Theater on Dec. 20th of this year. Best believe, we will be performing, so come out and see how we get down!!

Aight, I've already been rambling on and on, so I'll stop here. I'm about to work on a verse for this new track we are doing with Chaundon of the Justus League. Produced by All I Ever Wanted, its guaranteed to be a banger!!

The Genesis

What up world, this is Sab'rey one half of goodhood and welcome to our official blog. We as a group pride ourselves in being the "people's rappers" and we figured what better way to interact with our fans and grow our brand then to share our lives, our ideas, and our accomplishments as a group, through a blog. It is safe to say we are both excited to start this thing, and I hope you guys will be as excited to read it, and more importantly commenting on things you like, dont like, think we should improve, etc. So welcome all to GoodHood HipHopJoe.. and get it how you live.