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.
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!
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.
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.
Hello people, and welcome to the second issue of the lyricists, an article promoting not simply literature as an art form, but lyricism which is just one of many fields in literature. And focusing on unknown individuals. Today, I want to look at the work of from deviant art (click the picture!).
Now this really caught my eye as a set of hip-hop lyrics. The first reason is because it mentioned homosexuality in a very positive light, and not just that but a revolutionary one too. When one listens to mainstream rap and even some underground stuff we are used to hearing words like “faggot” in derogatory terms. The fact that this piece does the exact opposite of what we are used to is evidence in itself that the artist is expressing themselves and part of their own life; this is what art really is.
“imagine Bill Henrickson havin’ three husbands
and three wives to round it all off, actor musta been
a practicin’ bi-sexual, highly intellectual”
I loved this part in particular, and no I did not know who Bill Henrickson actually is. The reason I love this section is the flow and the rhyme scheme, and the love for things like this comes from listening to a lot of hip hop. I can almost imagine the flow here.
The first thing I noticed was a hint of sweet rebellion and that is something I can’t resist. The reference to slaves in the beginning is metaphorical of course, the artist isn’t talking about someone behind visible bars but something more profound.
“you really thought Icarus was just a metaphor?
it’s obvious, like how a Muslim’s dinner plate is never pork“
A very clever rhyme to use, and as a Muslim my self I smiled at the second line here
“I used to [censored] around with Valium and Oxycontin“
It is refreshing to see drugs represented negatively in hip-hop. The artist touched on a very big topic here, especially since mental illness is on the rise in Western countries especially with depression.
Now I know that some people who happen to read this will be put off by the second piece because (especially the chorus) is associated with “conspiracy theories” even though the artist makes it clear that they don’t believe in the Illuminati or anything like that. I would like to mention that at times it is worth to be open minded and to think…what is so far fetched about powers with converging interests to meet behind closed doors? Because that is all what conspiracy means.
It was very much a pleasure to read some nice works of flow and rhyme and I hope that ~irapandstuff will be very successful in the future with their work
And now for some Q and A!
Q – What got you into writing lyrics/hiphop in general?
It’s kind of a funny story, actually. When I was 8th grade Asher Roth was starting to get really famous, and some people I knew didn’t like him because we felt like we could make better music than him. Anyway, one friend of mine said that “If Asher Roth gets famous, I’m gonna become a rapper, because if he can do it, I can do it!” That friend isn’t actually gonna be a rapper, but everything flowed naturally from there for me.
Q – What would you say is the central message of these pieces and does it relate to your personal life?
Those pieces you selected are basically as close to spreading a positive message as I get. “Imagination” for sure relates to my personal life because I’m a transgirl and a hip-hop artist, so that was sort of me trying to reconcile those two aspects of myself. The remix of “End of Days” is basically about my spiritual beliefs, actually. I’m not religious, and I don’t really believe in the whole Cult of the Illuminati that controls rap, but I have a lot of faith in the power of belief. My producer OhShnaps said one time “We would be able to fly, were it not for airplanes” and I think that about sums the theme of that one up.
Q – What are your goals then?
3.Well, I’ve got the just having fun part down pat, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wanna be famous. Basically, this is a good way for me to express myself and spread the messages I’d like to spread, and I’m actually recording, I even have a mixtape out. My whole life plan is kinda based around music, honestly. If I can’t get off the ground in some musical career I don’t know what I’m gonna do.
Q – Who inspires you to write what you write?
4.Inspiration usually comes from a few different places. One is where I’m just kicking around ideas with my friends and we like one and say “Let’s do that, let’s make that into a song.” Sometimes I feel compelled to say something about a big issue, or what I believe is a big issue. But a lot of the time I’m just having fun writin’ lyrics and then I record it, or I’ll have some idea for a really great line just come down from Pluto and then I have to use it.
I hope this has gained some views and exposition and I hope some people have been introduced to lyricism as an art form!
Another track from Rhyme Asylum called Life Support from their album Solitary Confinement. This time it features the three main artists of this UK group; Possessed, Psiklone and Skirmish. This track is primarily about the hip hop culture itself and the group’s position within it.
Here is the video followed by lyrics:
[Verse 1: Skirmish]
It’s funny how I fell in love from my first ‘yo’ Blood, sweat, tears in every verse wrote With every word spoke But I’l do this music if I earn dough or I was dirt broke [‘Lyrical Exercise’] But people respect the grind more than they respect the rhymes We make sure the names of all the heads that died Will always be kept alive And [‘How long will they mourn me?’] – Everyday until the end of time Look at the legacy they left behind And [‘One Love’] to the lyricists that still exist Coz I couldn’t picture this [‘It was all a dream’] before it was thoughts I’d see When I close my eyes and fall asleep but now I’m living it This rapping shit ain’t a passing phase Cos the habit is hard to break I can’t escape
[Verse 2: Psiklone]
I put my soul in every rhyme that I write ['Big L Rest In Peace'] – cos [‘Ripping mics is the light of my life'] Been fed up and my stomach is cramped The scene has practically vanished but my hunger is back Classics are haphazard All I see is backpackers, wack rappers, black adders and backstabbers As if that matters When we’re out laying the ground breaking foundations like jack hammers Miss ripping ciphers and open mics It’s a lifestyle – we rock our clothes oversized Inspired as an adolescent By Roc Raida on cross faders scratching battle weapons It’s my passion – banging the beats From DJs to B-boys and the graff on the streets [This is hip-hop] music’s inner vision Bringing you back to ‘boom bap’ fused with super-lyricism
[Verse 3: Possessed]
Still a fan of this shit far from marital bliss But I’ma stick with it till I’m carried by six What happened to Em what happened to Bis? Will I be the next rapper to slip [Crazy] No better way of expressing myself See there’s Hip-Hop, then there’s everything else We go against the grain change the game (And we) pave the way while you stay the same So pay homage The difference is we give to this Hip-Hop shit not take from it Every word in the pad every verse every track Work ‘till the verge of collapse Never, turning my back my life is Hip-Hop Live breathe spit bleed and die for Hip-Hop How much time is left? Hip-Hops not dead, its dying, and this here is its final breath
First up is Skirmish, I thought he was black from the way he sounded but it turned out he was mixed race! Anyway I digress, let’s start looking:
“But I’l do this music if I earn dough or I was dirt broke” This phrase, or adaptations of it, is used a lot by all kinds of artists, from painters to musicians, to signify that they are passionate about what they do. They don’t care if they earn “dough” (money) or not, they do what they do because they love it in and of itself. This strays far from the mainstream which focuses on what audiences want to hear and what will sell as opposed to the Artists true emotions.
“But people respect the grind more than they respect the rhymes” Many people stopped caring about the values of what the rhymes and lyrics say, and instead focus on the beat while in reality a lot of work goes into these rhymes.
“And [‘One Love’] to the lyricists that still exist” The word still implies that not many lyricists are left. And maybe that is true in the mainstream where most “artists” have songs written for them or write songs just for mass appeal.
“This rapping shit ain’t a passing phase Cos the habit is hard to break I can’t escape” “It’s just a phase” says Mum, when her child walks in wearing dark clothes with dyed hair and an array of piercings. Skirmish says that hip-hop is much more complex, it is a habit for him. Forget phase, its a way of life!
Next up is Psiklone, and I have to say I love the dude. His voice is crazy deep and powerful, and it is an instrument (yes I will call it that) that he knows how to use. I too have a deep voice, which is why I listen to him a lot especially to try and learn a thing or two.
“I put my soul in every rhyme that I write ['Big L Rest In Peace'] – cos [‘Ripping mics is the light of my life']“ Big L is an underground artist in the USA, he was very influential but now he has passed away. Putting this sample in the track is a mark of respect. Simple as. Ripping mics, and that is certainly what Psiklone does, is basically pouring your heart out when you rap, so its not always chill out and laid back. That fits in well with “I put my soul in every rhyme that I write“.
“The scene has practically vanished but my hunger is back Classics are haphazard All I see is backpackers, wack rappers, black adders and backstabbers As if that matters When we’re out laying the ground breaking foundations like jack hammers” I can actually physically see the flow in this part, it’s beautiful! The scene is the hip-hop scene, the golden era being in the 90′s and now it is filled with “backpackers, wack rappers, black adders and backstabbers” But you see, Rhyme Asylum’s flow and of course their word play has been a major revolution in hip-hop. I only found one group that rap similar to them and that is Unusual suspects. They have indeed broken foundations with their jack hammers of awesomeness!
“Miss ripping ciphers and open mics It’s a lifestyle – we rock our clothes oversized Inspired as an adolescent By Roc Raida on cross faders scratching battle weapons” Here is the reference again, that Hip-hop is a lifestyle that can even be reflected through what you wear. Roc Raida (R.I.P) was a well known DJ, I will check out his music soon. And that is another thing I love about Hip-hop, they refer to something you know nothing about so you have to look it up and use your own curiosity to teach yourself. A track that does that is a good track!
“It’s my passion – banging the beats From DJs to B-boys and the graff on the streets [This is hip-hop] music’s inner vision Bringing you back to ‘boom bap’ fused with super-lyricism” Remember the four parts to hip-hop culture? MCing (rapping) DJ’ing, Break dancing and Graffiti art (Let us make it five parts, I was corrected by a good friend and apparently beat boxing is another section of it too! The more you know). There ya have it right there . “Boom bap” is the classical type of hip hop beat and not the overly techno/synth stuff you hear today. A boom bap beat goes like this: boom bap
boom boom boom bap I know that it doesn’t make sense, so watch this vid to see what I mean, pay attention to the drums! And that is another thing that I learned the meaning of thanks to Rhyme Asylum
Possessed is next, and he is one of the best MCs I have ever listened to. His flow is sick, not good…sick. Genius word play and rhymes is the sweetest icing on the most savoury cake for me.
“Still a fan of this shit far from marital bliss But I’ma stick with it till I’m carried by six” Do you know what I mean? Carried by six meaning the day of his death of course. Far from marital bliss? Bliss is not a word to use for us men haha
“What happened to Em what happened to Bis? Will I be the next rapper to slip [Crazy]“ Em is referring to Eminem I think. And he is right,what the hell happened to the dude? Well according to Possessed he “slipped”, and by that it probably means that he signed with a major record label and is now screwed as an artist.
“No better way of expressing myself See there’s Hip-Hop, then there’s everything else We go against the grain change the game (And we) pave the way while you stay the same So pay homage The difference is we give to this Hip-Hop shit not take from it” Hip-hop lyricism, like any other form of literature is an art. So Possessed hits it on the nail when he brings self expression into the formula. That is what art is! And the game that they change? It is what is hip-hop is about. Forget the bling bling, the chauvinism and all those half naked women, forget the drugs and “thug life” shit…this is Underground!
“Never, turning my back my life is Hip-Hop Live breathe spit bleed and die for Hip-Hop How much time is left? Hip-Hops not dead, its dying, and this here is its final breath” See the passion there eh? Die for hip-hop, that is hardcore stuff. And people have heard “hip-hop is dead” but no it is not. It is dying, and Rhyme Asylum is (among others) it’s final breath. Hip Hop is on life support, but in my opinion Underground is growing and mainstream is collapsing.
RT @hazemhayatli: #edl hitting the streets of london causing fear. Not all Muslims are terrorists and not all English people are #EDL http:… - posted 1 day ago
with his own vocal cords!):
. “Boom bap” is the classical type of hip hop beat and not the overly techno/synth stuff you hear today. A boom bap beat goes like this:
