Catwezle Oxford and my first performance

I don’t know why the heck I tried, but I did. I went to the Catweazle club in Oxford; a club where artists of all types, from singers, musicians, magicians and poets can sign up and preform to a respecting and a very welcoming audience. The atmosphere is very friendly, but that is not stopping me from cringing. I signed up to preform a piece of spoken word poetry.

Some artists indeed brought their lyrics on paper to help them on stage. But good old me didn’t do that, oh no! Why? Because I wanted to impress. Note-to-self: no matter how hard you practice, being on stage is always different than standing up in your room like an idiot and reciting it to yourself.

I did a witty introduction to break the ice, about how royally and artistically screwed I was considering the other acts I have seen (and I really think I was). Nevertheless, I got on with it, but as happens, I got the shakes and stumbled on the very first sentence. I apologized, calmed down, and just went for it, and the audience were simply brilliant. Well over a half were performers tonight, and they all undoubtedly remember the first few times they preformed. But I still cringe…

All credit goes to the Catweazle website for these pictures

Another reason that I felt terrible was because the atmosphere was so happy and amazing. I felt that my bleak piece turned that around on it’s head, just for a little bit, but the performers after managed to fix that right up! There was one funny magician who spoke only in gibberish, a girl who played a pirate song where we all went “YOHOHO” like drunks together, more than our fair share of guitar players but each with their own style. And of course, amazing singers that made me jealous of their voices.

It really was a wonder for me to see so much creativity squeezed in one room…literally. I was so amazed that I had forgotten myself, and although I was very humbled by the skills of other people I am also driven to write better and better poetry. So am I going back? Definitely!

Oh and here is my poem that I preformed (I didn’t even give it a title and only realized when I got on stage!)

Imagine a cave; decrepid, dark and where the shadows dance

Produced by the outlines of puppets, moving in a trance

I want to take a chance

Crawl out, but these shadows grip my mind

I’m in a moral debt and living on borrowed time

 

I’m afraid that if I awake 

I will see the landscape transform to a waste 

A place where magnificent materials are built on spiritual ruin

The box in the room claims truth

Bearing rotten moral fruit

While it hides the bodies of children

And I ask myself “is their blood with so-called democracy?”

Or did they die for some corporation

Or ideologies more entrenched than rotten remains

In mass graves 

 

And these puppets change,

but they all dance the same

To the orchestra of capital

I cannot help but consume for I’m a lowly animal 

I feed the machine while I continue to dream of being self-sustainable

A utopia is impossible

But so is living hell if you allow your third eye to shine

And wrestle these shadows that grip our minds 

Fighting divide and conquer, standing on common ground

Where the truth abounds

Not the battlefields of history,

Where bodies are strewn around senelessly 

 

For you cannot deny the oneness of man

Whether we come from the remains of stars or fashioned by divine hands

This one source from which we’ve come

Is itself a force that we can harness as one 

For if there was ever a weapon that destroyed or awakened nations

It was never blade or bullets but the power of conviction 

And that is why we must break free, from invisible chains 

Because we carry the key

 

There are those who turn a profit when we fight each other 

But it is priceless and beyond all wealth to simply know

That all women are sisters, and all men are brothers

Producing beats live on the streets of Oxford – Mr. Woodnote and little Rhys

Oxford has it’s fair share of buskers and street performers. But sometimes, something will catch your eye, your ear or maybe even your nose and you will stop and watch. This is what happened when I first heard Mr. Woodnote and little Rhys, a hip-hop group perform a few years ago. Now they seem to be coming back every summer.

Forgive my thumb being in the way, that was terrible of me!

What was so special about them? Well they produced their beats right there and then in front of you. The thing you see on the ground is a pedal system that allows you to loop sounds that you record into a microphone. One of the performers will play a bit of saxophone and loop that. Then he will beat box to add the drums, and loop that over it. All of it, there and then, it is produced in front of you which I think is quite awesome.

Another nice thing to see is that it is being performed in the street. We have a lot of people playing guitar, singing as duos (there were two different duos that day and another young man playing his guitar) but I rarely see someone rap in public. What is better is to see older and mature people bopping their heads to it and enjoying themselves!

It really is things like this that make me want to get back into lyricism…

P.S. I would have had a word for them, but they were working hard on performing and then trying to sell their CDs in between.

M9 – Spiritual scrolls – the rapid imagery technique

So I found a new UK hip-hop group to listen to, one friend recommended them a long time ago but I have not really checked them out properly until now.

Asides from purely appreciating the lyricism and effort an artist or artists put into a track, one can also pick up on techniques that have been used. In the case of Melanin 9′s (Or M9′s) work, the track Spiritual Scrolls  (video below):

Now for those who read a lot, you most likely came across a passage written by an author which is made up of short and abrupt sentences. If each sentence is descriptive then it will produce the effect of time moving fast or of a collage of images inside your head which relate to one theme.

This track features something similar. If you go to 35 seconds in, these lyrics follow:
Gods locked in the morgues
Glocks to your jaws
Coppers watching from their choppersSitting in the cockpit door
The clock hits four when feds lick the locksmith’s door

The rest has after has been a little hard to catch (I am trying though). But these short lines describe a dark, dystopian reality of the underworld. To say “Gods locked in the morgues”, I think, is a poetic way of simply saying that morality is collapsing, a place where people do anything just to get what they want; selfish materialism that blinds the soul.

If I happen to write lyrics once again, then this is a technique that I will definitely consider using, but it remains to be seen whether I will be good enough.

Immortal Technique – the Martyr

I don’t know why I am writing this now, and if you know about Immortal Technique then you are probably a big fan, and if you are a big fan then you probably already know that he has a new album that is completely free to download, it is called the Martyr.

Asides from the usual mix of passion, anger and political activism within each song in the album, Technique also has a much more prominent element of self reflection, best exemplified by the song, Eyes in the sky:

The borders should be illegal instead of the people, that we’re here before the Bible and all of it’s sequels. 

The flow in this song is quick, and if you are not used to hip hop that much yourself you may need to listen to this a few times to fully appreciate the lyrics. For me, from the second I heard it it made me think and it produced vivid images in my mind. From the tone of his voice, to the semi-melancholic nature of the beat and the flow, it was a very good composition. The obvious “eyes in the sky” reference to the Illuminati is something that I personally don’t believe in fully, for I am a sceptic to an extent. But I do respect his beliefs and what he has to say simply because he says what he means, and not because a big record label struck a deal with him.

Other notable songs that I enjoyed are (these are all youtube links):

Toast to the Dead - A powerful song about the nature of revolutionary struggle and the bloody nature of history.

Sign of the times - A spiritual song, utilising the the chants of native Americans (I think, anyway, corrections welcome) in the beginning and the middle of the song. All I can say is that this is song is full to the brim with metaphors and references to symbolism. One of my favourite is “they say you fight the greatest Jihad in your heart and your mind” and “this is a message to the older Gods, I’ll sacrifice you all to the revolution like the Romanovs”.

Running Nowhere - A skit (a beat without lyrics, usually thrown in the middle of the album) which will most likely be used by Immortal Technique later on. It is short for now and quite repetitive, but listen to the lyrics and you will find it thought provoking.

Rich man’s world - An insight into the world of corporatism and oligarchy and how it works, from the point of view of the Oligarch himself. The beginning shows a very quick flow style which goes well with the abruptness of the beat.

Check out the rest of the songs, it is definitely worth a listen. And if this is the first time you hear of this artist, then welcome to Immortal Technique!

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.

The inspiring beat

Very rarely does a beat directly inspire me in my lyrics. I may get an idea and then play a beat to inspire me or get me in the rhythm, but it is very rare that I listen to a beat and get inspired by that directly. My use of the word “rare” is accurate because it happened just once, and the beat is so awesome I just wanted to put it into the history of my journal here:

By themindtwistishere on youtube, all credit (and respect) goes to him for this beat.

At the time I remember thinking Palestine. I had to do something about that and the situation there, I did one before but I never saw it as good so I wanted to do one that is even better. When I heard this beat, that very second I heard it, it immediately started coming together. The thing is, I think am not that happy with it and I may change it later on.

Anyway, here it is, if you want to give it a read then please do, if you don’t then read on.

The conflict in Palestine and Israel is, as a Palestinian, somewhat a heritage and interest to me. But I didn’t want to talk politics, I didn’t want to talk about failed peace talks or technicalities in this set of lyrics. I just said what I felt about it all, and to be honest it didn’t come out pro Palestinian or pro Israeli, but humanitarian…and with that something I said to a friend comes to mind.

“I don’t care about ‘Palestine’ as a country to be honest. What is important to me is that there are human beings there and they are suffering”

One of the ugliest things about any conflict is that we are tempted and fall into the delusion that our opponents are not human. And I guess that is what really shocks a lot of front line soldiers, it is that realization that the people they slaughter, be it in Gaza, Tel-Aviv, Afghanistan or Iraq, are humans. The most shocking thing for people to realize is that Taliban militant with his AK-47 actually has children, dreams, hopes and aspirations. That man who is a scum and enemy of the free world has laughed and joked, he had hated and cried just like we had in our lives.

The important thing about all of this is that I am starting to think that War is not a necessary evil, but just an ugly abomination; a shame. There is no glory at all, nothing to be proud of but plenty to be ashamed of.

However, I still find myself far from being a pacifist.

The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique

So this looks like one of the most awesome documentaries for hip-hop fans, and I found it on another blog and I thought that the least I could do was try and spread it as much as I could.

So I will drop it right here:

The description of the video reads:
“Immortal Technique emerged from prison a changed man. As his inner journey continues he travels the world promoting a revolution of consciousness through hip-hop. His path from a troubled youth to a fearless revolutionary is an inspirational must-see.”

As well as that, this is the official documentary by Viper Records (owned by Tech himself I believe).

IMDB page 

The concept of films about hip-hop is exciting, especially since I am bored of Eminem’s eight-mile or whatever it was, I want to see more sides to it, I want to see not just the performance but the lives behind these artists too. And speaking of such things, I think I will watch a movie called “Slam”, it was recommended by a friend who said that it is really inspiring, and that is something I feel like I need right now.

Can’t wait!

Dead Prez – Animal in Man (and Marxism)

Dead Prez is an American hip-hop group and Animal in Man is from their 2000 album ”Lets get free”. 

Lyrics:
Verse 1
Old man sammy had a farm
Walked the land with the wife
Most of the time shit was calm
His whole life was maintained off the everyday labor
From the mules in the field to the cattle in the stable
This is how we kept food on this table (maxing)
You would have he was disabled by the way he be relaxing
Acting like mr. magnificent
But the animals were thinking something different
The sentiment was tension in the barnyard
Throughout the years they had been through mad drama
With the farmer, word is bond
And they all came to one conclusion
They argued there was no way theyd ever be free
If it was up to humans
Therefore the only course left was revolution which was understandable
And since the pigs promised to lead in the interest of all the animals
They planned a full attack
Under the leadership of hannibal
The fattest pig in the pack
The next morning on the farm
Everything was calm
Just before dawn
But before long
The sun got so hot it made the farm seem electric
Now check it
This is when that shit got hectic
Directed by hannibal, the animals attacked
Old sam was in a state of shock
And fell up on his back
And dropped his rifle
Reaching in vain
Each and every creature from the field at his throat
Screaming kill, feel the pain.

Chorus
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true (2x)

Verse 2
After they ran the farmer off the farm
The pigs went around and called a meeting in the barn
Hannibal spoke for several hours
But when talks about his plans for power
Thats when the conversation turned sour
He issued an offical ordinance to set
If not a pig from this day forth then you insubordinate
Thats when the horses went buckwild
One of them shouted out
You fraudulent pigs, we know your fucking style!
Hannibals face was flushed and pale
All the animals eyes full of disgust and betrayal
He felt the same way sam felt
They took his tongue out of his mouth
And cut his body up for sale, for real
You better listen while you can
Its a very thin line between animal and man
When hannibal crossed the line they all took a stand
What would have done? 
Shook his hand? 
This is the animal in man

Chorus (4x) 

The first thing I thought about when listening to this, as many have done and will do, is think about George Orwell’s Animal Farm. This piece takes the controversial story and takes its own angle on it, it is an adaptation of a major work of literature which is what seemed impressive to me, who heard of rappers do such a thing? Definitely not the mainstream image.

Anyway, here are memorable lines from the piece:
“They argued there was no way theyd ever be free
If it was up to humans
Therefore the only course left was revolution which was understandable”
This is basically a classic rewording of part of Karl Marx’s political theory. The proletariat/workers (animals in this case) realize that they will never be free from the bourgeois (Sam the farmer) because he owns the means of production even if they do the work. In other words; revolution is inevitable in such a situation.

“If not a pig from this day forth then you insubordinate”
This reminds me of a very chilling part of Animal Farm and that’s when the pigs add a law stating that all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. After the revolution takes place the people in power, who are just people, get corrupt by what they have and a new elite is made. There is no proletariat government but only those of the elite, much like what occurred in the Soviet Union.

“You fraudulent pigs, we know your fucking style!
Hannibals face was flushed and pale
All the animals eyes full of disgust and betrayal”
And so another revolution is born and the cycle continues…

“You better listen while you can
Its a very thin line between animal and man
When hannibal crossed the line they all took a stand
What would have done? 
Shook his hand? 
This is the animal in man”
I don’t think it is justifying violence and revolution and not saying it is always right, but rather it explains why you should expect these things to happen. There is a very thin line between animal and man, I would actually argue that we are animals as in we are just one of many species. All in all, I loved the way this ended, it is one of my favourite songs by them!

Writing that is inspired by Hip-hop

Asides from hip-hop, I like writing short stories and my thoughts down in general. But one day I decided that, since some hip-hop pieces do tell stories in themselves, why not try to see how they can be told in the form of prose? So I chose a track to base a story on, and that track is Broken Window by Rhyme Asylum in their album Solitary Confinement, (I wrote an article about this piece before) and here is their track:

What is great about doing something like this (and which I will do more of in the future) is that because of the nature of hip-hop, there is not a lot of detail compared to that of prose and so you are left to your own imagination as you add detail. It is as if the track has provided the story and a basic skeleton, and I was left to add the flesh of it all. For example, there was no detail regarding how Dr Dean Emmett in the track was arrested, so this is what I did
“Three loud knocks penetrated the silence of Dr Emmet’s one bedroom apartment. He jumped from his bed and glanced at the time; 4 in the morning, who could it be?”   

Once could actually add their own spin to the whole thing. I made this piece sound like a classical Halloween scary story just by adding a little ending:
“It was said that on the night of the Doctor’s death violent noises were heard in the air ducts and the institution’s alarm was set off for no explainable reason.” 

 The character or characters within the track were not given much of a back story, and it is really fun when you are given a character and you come up with how they ended up in a certain situation (it is harder than it sounds!).
“Having gained a degree of Psychology from the University of Durham and working for a counselling agency in London, one could tell that he was well off. Still ambitious at the age of forty three; he would have had a bright future ahead of him.”

Funnily enough, the reason I chose the University of Durham was actually because one of my Chemistry/Physics teachers at school (who was very intelligent and cool) actually went there. Anyway, without further ado, here is the story itself:
http://hayatli7.deviantart.com/#/d3fi3wi

I look forward to writing more things like this, actually I am working on one now inspired by Immortal Technique’s Dance with the Devil. I hope that it will come out nicely.

Peace to all

The difficulties in performing hip-hop

If you have read any of what I had written on here before, then you would have probably guessed that I was into hip-hop at least a little bit, well enough to write my own lyrics. However, I did go as far as to perform a couple of times, and it really really is harder than it looks.

One of my friends was supposed to be performing on that day since it was the “official” last day of school, but he had an exam so (surprisingly enough) he told the head of our sixth

form that I should be a suitable replacement.

So I seized the opportunity and agreed to it without much thought, and before I knew it I found myself on stage with another friend of mine who is a good beat producer and one hell of a beat boxer (yep he was supplying the beat 

with his own vocal cords!):

I am the one in blue here, and the first thing I thought when I saw this picture of myself performing is probably the same thing you are thinking…what the hell am I doing with my right hand? What is that gesture? Family and friends have told me that I am a very gesturing person when I talk, I make a lot of actions and gestures that I am barely aware of, now I don’t know if that is good or bad, but I do know that it can be comical!

The first thing I performed was an a capella, which is a rhythm and poetry piece without any beat (similar to deaf poetry). Some did not really know that a thing existed and looked confused as I noticed, but they settled in. The piece was of quite a serious nature concerning war and suffering which made the atmosphere a whole lot more solemn, but I made sure to liven it up again!

When I got up there, and realized everyone will be staring at me and my friend I felt nervous (obviously), my heart basically would just not stop beating fast and I was a little shaky, and here is what was really hard to do:
1. Being animated – asides from those silly gestures I really had a hard time being animated and lively or moving about. I felt really stiff and was unsure of how to act, especially since the audience were not all very hip-hop orientated (there were teachers there after all!)  and I didn’t know if I was good or not. I mean, imagine if I was shockingly bad, then I would not move a muscle and spare everyone in the same room some humiliation.

2. Speaking/rapping with confidence – You know what everyone says about hearing their own voice when recorded? They hate it! And I do too! But even worse is hearing it played back as you speak live so that kind of threw me off a little, nevertheless I carried on and went ahead with it. I also have a very deep voice and it was just pure weirdness hearing that voice rapping like that…

3. Breath control - There is a reason that I made this one bold, and that is because it is a big problem for me. We take breathing as a subconscious process for granted, but when you rap and try to keep in rhythm with the beat you have to consciously breathe at times just so you won’t sound like you are being strangled. But I find that as you get better with writing and practising, the rhythm will start to fit in with breathing pattern and remembering to breathe and rapping can be done simultaneously.

Reflecting on that strange day, I think my performance was really really bad despite what a lot of my friends say. It is just one of those things that you can’t believe went well, nevertheless it has made me more determined to practice and practice and take on performing once again!

Oh and if you want to know what I performed, it was this piece mainly which was also written by me.

Peace and love!