Mellow Monday | You Gotta Breathe

Waz hannin widdit

It’s Friday, November 7th, and I woke up today at around 4:30am (before my usual 4:44am alarm) and I had a thought:

I don’t have any medicine right now till later.

And that's okay. See, I just started smoking last year; 4/20/24 to be exact, lmao. The way my life is set up. Long story short, I moved into my apartment on 4/20/24 and my landlord said I can smoke inside.

Now, you may be wondering, "Wave, you have kids!?" Yes. I do. And they know my habit and see how I still handle my business as a man, father, and servant of my community. We all have our vices, whether healthy or unhealthy. If it's unhealthy, you just gotta have extra discipline to not get strung out. If it's healthy, be careful. You can make a healthy thing unhealthy quickly. For example: one discipline I have is I can't buy just $10 worth. If I can't afford at least $30 (along with making sure my kids are good, the house is good, and bills are...manageable) then I ain't gettin none, flat out. Only thing I can get is a $5 pre-roll from my usual shop but that's like a one-time smoke-sumn-til-you-reup card. Often times, I find my ways of getting some for free (hint-hint BARTER).

It's funny, cuz there was a time where I was straight laced sober. Ain't touch NOTHING. Like, one hit from the blunt would have me floatin for hours.

Now my tolerance is up there with the big timers. It's concerning a bit but I highkey knew this would happen in my life, which is why I waited until I was 30 to start smoking (and drinking but that's for another blog post lmaaaooo). We gon stick to the jazz cabbage tho. See, full transparency, my family has a bad history of addiction. Now it's like Wave, are you just perpetuating the curse that runs in ya family? Sure, you can say that. But honestly, I see myself like my favorite Disney hero, Hercules. Specifically in the scene when he pulls up to Hades on the head of Cerberus. I see that like "Yea, nigga, I tame YO dawgs and brought 'em to YO' FOOT. NOW WHAT." That's how I look at me against the devil with all the demons I've overcame, just got 'em on my side now.

Anyways, lemme get back on track. When I started my vices, I always told myself I cannot run to them for escape, only for fun. Now, I call tree medicine because it does help me with anxiety and just keeping myself focused. And I've always been a supporter of cannabis recreationally and medicinally, but you have to know your limit. For me, I know when I get too gone to be productive. I also know when I'm at a point of wanting to get some to escape.

No, can't do that. So, music is healing. I am very intentional about the music I make so if you haven't yet, go check out the past week's Saturday Splash. These are a portion of songs in my catalog that I would listen to myself and actually feel relieved or at peace after listening and being one with the rhythm.

A song in particular I want to highlight is the opening song to this week's installment; "Breathe". Now, I made this song in 2021 but didn't release it until 2022 when I dropped Thank God fo' Anotha Day. I wanted this to be the first EP I dropped to showcase my duality as an individual who is a free thinker with a religious base. Being raised Baptist Christian, I use those elements to be my belief foundation although my spirituality is not "traditional" (yea my Pops a Pastor and he understands as much as he can, he just glad I know my Bible verses). Anyways, I do yoga sometimes, especially because my lumbar is on f i r e. So, with "Breathe", the song's tempo is literally set to 120 BPM, the resting heart rate for relaxation (forgot where I saw this at, but try it).

Now when I say "try it", listen to the track and breathe along with my voice sayin' "breathe in, breathe out". Yes, it's gonna feel like you runnin' out of oxygen or you havin' trouble breathing, but once you lock it in, your heart rate will chill down and you'll feel a bit more relaxed.

This song helps me a LOT, especially when I'm working out and even when I'm just frustrated as shit, I just pray it helps others out as well, especially in these weird ass times we in now.

I hope this can help you in anyway. I know the song (and other healthy alternatives) helped me out til I could reup.

So, breathe. Errthing gon be okay. As long as you can breathe, you good. Remember that.

Much love, stay wonderful.

PS. Never Count Me Out Vol. 2 droppin next Monday. Me, 2LiveJu, & Cash Fargo on the beat. You'll see if I have features, but finna make a tape in ONE WEEK. Watch this

New Gains (Prod. by Cash Fargo)