Tracy Jones

When I listened to humancloud abandonment for the first time in years, I was reminded of a young naïve kid, a heart broken romantic pushing his skateboard around New York City. The record was written prior to smart phones, social media, and short attention spans. Nobody knew everything. The unknown made anything possible. 
Over the course of recording humancloud, a lot was going on that influenced my writing and subject matter. Two 747’s hit the World Trade Center. The U.S. started bombing Afghanistan, The Patriot Act was invoked, and the president was about to invade Iraq under false pretense. I had just graduated from college and got stuck in a dilemma amid compromising with the world as it is verses becoming the imagined benevolent martyr that never surrendered. I picked up cigarettes and by now was performing at the Nuyorican Poets Café. While broke and on the verge of losing my Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn apartment, I was recording humancloud with DJ Zesto Q at his Bronx studio and I was writing my second book of poetry, still breathing…, which I wrote as if possessed compared to humancloud. In 2006, when Uncommon Nasa initially wanted to put humancloud out on his label, I was in disbelief and hyped. I just wanted it out in the world to be discovered. Now, 14 years later, to have Nasa master and reissue humancloud is an honor and a testament to the timeless value of the one and only record that I’ve ever recorded under my name. The new perspective that I took away from listening to the mastered version, is the sudden presence of unabashed hope to live when death is knocking at your door. - Tracy Jones