Street Life: feat. Yoni Yo, Mary C., & Agron Belica intro by Tim King

The street life of Agron Belica’s song is as much a state of mind as it is a geographical location.

Agron Belica AKA 'Ace'

(TUCSON, AZ) - Agron Belica indulges a subject in Street Life that many of us who grew up in gang-ridden surroundings can relate to. All of the modern convenience and technology in the world can not save people; sometimes we lose those we love most and there is not a damned thing we can do about it. Dr. Crook offers a wonderful description of this Socio-Political Hip-Hop artist and author who is the driving musical and journalistic force behind much of our group's awareness. In addition to his amazing talent in music and long form journalism, Agron Belica is our Boston Bureau Chief; TJP (Truth, Justice and Peace)
- Tim King, News Editor, Salem-News.com

The street life of Agron Belica’s song is as much a state of mind as it is a geographical location. It is a dropping out and rejection of the norms of conventional civil society. Sometimes it is a flight from the violence and brutality of “good” citizens; at other times, it is the result of addiction, crime, or social rejection. The denizens of the street find themselves in an unrelenting whirlpool of homelessness, hopelessness, and despair. They develop a victim’s psychology and they prey upon each other as well as the fringes of society.

Belica lived on the street for much his youth. Even the homeless can have friends and his song “Street Life” is about the fate of one of his. While he eventually managed to construct a normal life for himself and a career in music and has written an extraordinary study in the field of comparative religion, this friend was not so fortunate.

Being a woman with the peculiar vulnerability of women in such situations, she was ultimately overwhelmed and devoured by her circumstance, ending on drugs and on the street, the prey of the predators of human trafficking and worse. Just another minor tragedy to the world, but a personal affront to Belica who had hoped that she, too, could fight her way out of the degrading swamp.

Fatjon Cota, a.k.a. Yoni Yo

Where is humanity when we need it? People are often too busy to help those who stumble. We all wear masks, Belica points out, and we all have secrets.

Another image from Yoni Yo

We all have done things that we do not like to think about, nor would we be comfortable at their revelation. Society’s indifference to the homeless and the alienated has a not insignificant element of hypocrisy in it.

“Street Life,” originally a track in Agron Belica’s first album “Unexpected,” is being reissued in a new remix in which his voice is joined with that of the popular Albanian pop artist Fatjon Cota, a.k.a. Yoni Yo, out of WoW Records. That addition has given it a new, richer sound, but does not diminish the impact of the message. -Jay R. Crook Ph.D.

DJ Naydee & Julian Baker:

DJ Naydee

Julian Baker

Julian Baker comes to the table with over 20 years of industry experience. After graduating jazz college in the UK, Baker spent four years developing his production and keyboard skills in London recording studios before moving to New York City in '89. In 1995 he acquired his own studio in and began producing and writing with artists in various genres of pop music.

In 2003, he met Naydee Polanco/DJ Naydee, and soon their musical partnership was established under Dy-Nas-D Productions. Since then they have worked on many records and projects, and now specialize in hip hop and r&b.

Dj Naydee has done remixes for popular acts such as Boyz to Men, Rosie Gaines, Le Clic, over 40 theme songs for MTV and VH1. Naydee also produces his own music, with about 300 tracks produced under various different labels. Get in touch with Dj Naydee and Julian Baker at BeatsPlanet.com

Mary Chestaro aka Mary C.

Mary Chestaro aka Mary C.

Mary C is the daughter of Jazz recording artist Mercedes Hall, sister of Actor/Director Anthony Michael Hall. Her single ‘Get Together’ shot to #1 on the international xpressbeats.com following its January ’09 release, and ranked #7 on DJMAG.com. She's entered radio-waves in NYC, Miami, Texas, Philadelphia and Chicago, and continues to grow over seas.

Mary has been compared to artists like Joss Stone, Christina Aguilera and Lauryn Hill, and while she sounds like popularity, she brings her own sense of style and flare to her artistry. Read more about Mary C. at Mary C. Music

Here are a couple of Yoni Yo's latest releases:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IINM_KMXvFA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMrZS_mrjB0

Street Life: feat. Yoni Yo, Mary C., & Agron Belica
Produced by DJ Naydee & Julian Baker
Co-Produced by Yoni Yo, Patrick Dreier & Agron Belica
Additional credits include Will Jennings and Joe sample
Guitars by Julian Baker
Beats Planet & WoW Records Production
AldinEntertainment.com

Street Life: feat. Yoni Yo, Mary C., & Agron Belica intro by Tim King

Dr. Jay R. Crook spent his formative years in the New York metropolitan area, where a chance acquaintance awakened his interest in Islamic culture and civilization, and he soon embraced Islam. After military service and saving some money, he ventured to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to study and ultimately, spent most of his working life in the Middle East, especially in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

He received his Ph.D. in 1978 in the Doctoral Program of Persian Literature for Foreigners at Tehran University. His doctoral thesis was A Comparison of the Quranic Stories of Surabadi With the Bible. Subsequent to leaving Iran in 1980, he worked as an English teacher in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia before retiring in 1997. He now resides in Arizona and has translated several books from Persian into English, including Kashifi’s The Royal Book of Spiritual Chivalry and Ghazzali’s The Alchemy of Happiness.