The Front Cover is a photo of a boarded up storefront near Kenmore Square in Boston. I thought that the artwork and the graff along with the colors just looked fly as hell.

The Back Cover is a photo of me looking at the reflection of myself in the rain.

For me, this project was both fun and personal, cerebral and emotional.

Notes:

1. YO THIS IS THAT SMOOTH AS EGGS SHIT. Most songs I write take a while. I usually make a beat or find a loop, think of a concept for it and then start the writing process. The verses usually take me a couple of weeks or even longer. For this joint I just felt it and went off the vibe instead of going at it in a cerebral way. When I heard this sample, I just started flowing. It just brought it out of me. It’s got that 70’s smooth soulful vibe. I did have the loop for a while, but I wrote and recorded it over a weekend.

2. For those that don’t know, I’m a huge Bruce Lee fan. It’s not just because he starred in movies where he was beating up the oppressor, but also because he was a philosophical man. Jeet Kune Do was merely the name he gave it but Bruce’s idea of a fighting style was to NOT have one, but rather to add techniques that were useful and discard anything that wasn’t. He was very much about adapting and that’s something I’ve been incorporating as well; not being so rigid, being open minded in regards to style, especially with the way I attack a beat.

3. I think this has been a running theme not just in hip hop but in life. The idea of shallow surface level content vs real in depth substance. The idea of chasing numbers, caving in to what sells vs doing what you believe in, sticking to your guns. I just took it back to the essence. I had to show that EsCargo is for the kids. But after this album, I'm selling out and I will be doing strictly pop songs.

4. With social media and the idea that we can all become stars and how much it pays to be one, why wouldn’t we act like or aim to be self absorbed sociopaths? And yo I need some money so watch out.

5. I made this beat a while ago; I really liked the vibe of it. And the sample sounds like he's saying "Heal Your Heart" so I ran with that. I think part of healing the heart is confronting the bad experiences in the past and being okay with it and owning all your insecurities. But what do I know?

6. I love the Dark Knight trilogy from Chris Nolan starring Christian Bale. I love the irony of Bruce Wayne in these 3 movies. He comes off like an obnoxious playboy, but he's really a compassionate and giving protector. He doesn’t care that people will never know who Bruce Wayne actually is, or how bad he might appear to the public eye; he just focuses on doing what he feels is the right thing to do. It may be the movies, but I can use that way of thinking in my life.

7. I'm just trying to hoop! I'm just trying to ball! But really, I don't need to ball out. I was just paying homage to Skee-Lo's "I Wish". But really, "they're tryna grab your goods, their plan is to damage you, but what good is it, if your goods are intangible?"

8. This is my R&B song. This could probably be an extension of "Heal Your Heart". I think a lot of us, myself included, weren't taught how to love ourselves, to really develop that healthy self-esteem. We're taught how to add numbers, remember dates in history, but not how to love ourselves.

REAL EYES SEE YOU FOR YOU. PEACE.