Because, you see, I am very proud of my sister.

I am very proud to say that my sister has come up with an article that kicked the living crap out of me:

Hip hop as a medium is at its most powerful when the message resonates within you; if it tells a story that you can relate to, or it evokes strong emotions through the intricacies of lyrics or instrumentals, then it’s done its job. Hip hop is about passion and honesty, pure and simple.

-"I Can Name That Hip Hop Love Affair in 10 Songs," by Mia Olivar, from New Slang.

I always remembered various friends being in disbelief when they realized that Cog's bassist was Lil Miao's brother - and that we got along quite well with our music at home, thank you. Heck, we even used to have listening nights where we'd check each other's music. There was no Berlin Wall of musical differences for us. But what else did you expect in a house where folk, stoner, surf, sixties and postwar music could be heard along with New Wave, hard rock and hip hop?

One of my proudest moments in music was doing the bass lines for "Counting the Days" and "Mister Man." In a sense, that studio work would lead to me eventually subbing on the bass for The Out of Body Special, Los's band (Twitter here...).

I'm still surprised that my RUN-DMC tape played a part in her musical history, but hey, I had INXS's Kick album as my soundtrack for a whole summer.



P.S. Right! Cog is on Twitter. and the icon above was made at a time when I was a bit thinner, and had shorter hair. And please tell us if you've seen our album, Culling in your local music stores. Even more importantly, tell us if you haven't! So we can do something about it (this reminder is for people in major Philippine cities only - click here for other options).


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