Immortal Technique's toast to the dead

Well it has been rumoured that Immortal Technique has a new album coming out called The Martyr (not surprised by the name choice). I thought he had something called the Middle Passage coming out instead, but whatever!

Anyway, one of his supposedly leaked songs is a toast to the dead which I fell in love with because it is just one of those pieces which doesn’t just impress with its lyrics but also his performance of it. But without further ado, here is the video followed by the lyrics and then my take on them:
note: despite it being “leaked” (maybe he did it on purpose, he did it before) I would like to really encourage you to buy his music and support him if you have the money that is. If not, then at least contemplate on what he has to say. This music is not just to sell, but its a message. 

[Chorus]
Rest in Peace
Here’s another warriors song, rep this life to the fullest
Mothafucka, say yo’ prayers!
For brothers who died from black-on-black violence
Rest in Peace
You ain’t payin’ respect when you’ ‘spose to
Rep this life to the fullest
Rest in Peace
This ain’t for y’all, this’ a toast to them
Rest in Peace

[Immortal Technique - Verse 1]
Here’s a toast to the dead
If you don’t drink, smoke to the head
For the freedom fighters killed by the feds
For those who died hard in the streets soaking in red
And died slow asleep in a dream choking in bed
Here’s a toast to the dead for my enemies that are gone
I’m not a coward so, celebrating that would be wrong
I pray to God that your soul will come back again
So I can see you in the next life and finish it then
A toast to the dead for criminals, burning in hell
I wonder how many presidents are burning as well
Emperors, Popes, Senators, Generals
Amputees feelin’ unlucky until they see the vegetables
A toast to the dead for those who are forgotten
Written out of the history by the corrupted and rotten
Black saints whitewashed during La Reconquista
Thousands of Indios Spaniards used to conquer the Incas
F-ck a moment of silence! I need a moment of violence!
Like the nineteenth century Caribbean Islands
Long live those who came before, that paved the way for me
The warriors and scientists that came before slavery
And if that last lyric was predictable
Take your clairvoyance and apply it to your life in the physical
Presumptuous half-hearted homunculus
Self-destruction is the power without knowing what the function is

[Chorus]

[Immortal Technique - Verse 2]
Here’s a toast to the dead, for all of my fam
I will never let an idea die with a man
My rhymes are like Nazca lines designed to give a view-of-this
J.Dilla’s still alive as long as his music is
A toast to the dead for rap legends and pioneers
Your legacy won’t be forsaken as long as I am here
Knowledge of the past and, wisdom of the present
I’ll teach and leave in the hands of a worthy lieutenant
A toast to the dead, for children with cancer and aids
A cure exists and you probably, could have been saved
Sad to see, medicine divorce morality
Corporate homewreckers, pimpin’ up a salary
A toast to the dead, for those that’ve died today
The victims and those exonerated by DNA
The only thing worse than giving freedom to the guilty
Is killing the innocent, and leavin’ your soul filthy
Immortal Technique, remember me when I’m gone
I encrypted my lyrics to stay alive in a song
So you’ll always keep a piece, of my spirit inside
But some of you, won’t survive the changes the earth makes
Swallowed by tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes
And that’s just the first stage of ‘you-can-not-reverse-ways’
And realise that we are one, regardless of our birthplace

[Chorus]

First of all, I wish I knew where the lines in the chorus were sampled from, but I don’t, I may ask around to see if anyone knows.
“Here’s a toast to the dead
If you don’t drink, smoke to the head”
I don’t know if I am looking too deeply, but as soon as I heard that second line I got the impression that Immortal Technique is showing an awareness of Islam as a respectable religion (Muslims do not drink any alcohol as part of their practice), he has mentioned it a lot before in good light.

“Here’s a toast to the dead for my enemies that are gone
I’m not a coward so, celebrating that would be wrong”
This made me think about a recent event and that is the killing of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Despite many people openly celebrating his death, I felt uncomfortable in doing so. Now I am not saying that I am not a coward, but is not celebrating death bringing you down to a lower level? I believe that war, no matter how necessary it appears to be, is something to be mourned and not glorified.

“A toast to the dead for criminals, burning in hell
I wonder how many presidents are burning as well
Emperors, Popes, Senators, Generals
Amputees feelin’ unlucky until they see the vegetables”
Well, he won’t be Immortal Technique if he wasn’t controversial would he? The second line in this quoted part is said in a very powerful and defined way, really made me feel his anger. The amputees are most likely referring to those who are war veterans and the vegetables are of course others who just live off life support machines.

“A toast to the dead for those who are forgotten
Written out of the history by the corrupted and rotten
Black saints whitewashed during La Reconquista
Thousands of Indio-Spaniards used to conquer the Incas”
I admit that I am ignorant of what the La Reconquista, I am guessing its the reconquest of Moorish Spain by the Spaniards against the Islamic empire there, but that is part of what is so wonderful about this, it makes people want to find out, want to learn. The Indio-spaniards are the majority of the Latino-Americans today who were born as a result of the rape of many South American natives by the Spanish colonists. The Incas were just one native tribe to the region.

“And if that last lyric was predictable”
He is aware of what he is writing, he is showing self reflection and he knows how much he seems to repeat himself, and that is vital to being a good artist.

“J.Dilla’s still alive as long as his music is”
J.Dilla (who I think is the producer of this beat) passed away (R.I.P) and this line expresses the idea of what I call legacy-theory, that people live in through their legacies, be it their children or music or whatever work they leave behind (maybe even inventions!).

“The only thing worse than giving freedom to the guilty
Is killing the innocent, and leavin’ your soul filthy”
This reminded me of a study we did on Plato once, where he explained that the person who commits injustice should be mourned more so than the victim, for their soul has suffered irreparable damage. I loved the flow of this line, immaculate.

“A toast to the dead, for children with cancer and aids
A cure exists and you probably, could have been saved”
and
“When you struggle to complete what I started before I died”
When I heard the first two lines I just thought that he was referring to his belief in the theory that there is a cure for AIDs that exists, but the medicine industry doesn’t want it released because they will stop making money from the drugs which just deal with the symptoms and that has a higher profit margin. Anyway, if you notice the second line it gives the impression that this is far in the future after he is dead, so maybe it was just a glimpse in the future or self reflection when he is on his deathbed.

“And realise that we are one, regardless of our birthplace”
I am a huge fan of this kind of thinking, and it was an amazing way to end it all…

Indeed, we are one regardless of our birthplace.