Whitechapel Gods is best described to me as a dark blend of fantasy and science fiction set in Victorian London.
In an area of London known as Whitechapel, two mechanical Gods arise; Grand Father Clock of cold logic and Mama Engine of creativity and emotion. Whitechapel becomes a walled off place that is not loyal to the Queen or London. Lifeless killer robots called boiler men who are almost unbeatable patrol these walls and the streets, carrying out the will of Grand Father Clock while the black cloaks serve Mama Engine.
Cover of Whitechapel Gods
On top of all of that a mysterious disease goes through Whitechapel, slowly ripping apart the flesh of the victims and slowly turning them into lifeless mechanical beings. As Grand Father Clock aims to complete full order and Mama Engine does her Great Work, people are sent to the Chimney where they are tortured but kept alive by machines and not allowed to die.
Meanwhile, in the literal and metaphorical underground world, the Queen’s agents are aiming to topple these Gods, and they face many challenges and losses ahead. On top of that there are other Gods waiting to arise…
Review
On a personal level, the book starts off in a mass of confusion for me and I found it hard throughout to fully imagine what the author was trying to convey. Nevertheless, he was very successful in creating a sense of darkness and despair in Whitechapel, completely transforming it from the Whitechapel that I have seen.
The characters are truly loveable and believable. Oliver, a former rebel who is troubled by his past and his failures which resulted in the death of many innocents. Missy who was a former prostitute drugged into submission by her madame, Gisella, whose voice still haunts her. Bailey is a British patriot and leader of the current resistance. Bergen Keuper, a mysterious German explorer who appears to be cold, fearless and calculating. John Scared, an old but cunning man with his own little game, notorious for forcing children and urchins to watch his brutal torture methods. These are just some of the characters that I can list of the top of my head and they all interrelate realistically and very nicely.
However, like I said, it was confusing, and so one has to be patient until the pieces start falling into place. What kept me reading was the genre and the concept of Mechanical Gods that could possibly fall, but I imagine that those who aren’t initially interested might not get very far. The reason that the Gods fascinated me was because it provoked thought of how one can really define a God, and their apparent mortality lies close to Nordic and Greek mythology, which is far different from the world religions of today.
Despite all of this, it was a truly inspiring book even if it was fictional. It is a story of incredible resilience against almost impossible odds, and packed with action. It is not childish as people will swear and curse and that helps with the real gritty feeling of the story. But my favourite parts are when the author describes each of the Mechanical Gods, their inner workings, their minds and how they affect and break human beings. It is a tough job to do this convincingly, but the author does it well and makes it look easy.
Do you want a physical, spiritual adventure set in a dark London with an exquisite blend of science fiction and fantasy? Then please read this book!
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.
I walked through the streets of Hammersmith, sporting my suit and a small, neat Palestinian flag pin on the lapel of it. I turned this way and that into some side streets and I come to the road I need to be at. After walking past a few downtrodden, small offices I get to my destination; the Palestinian “embassy” or delegation.
I breath in and press the button. A loud buzz and click comes in response and I step through, and it was like going into Narnia.
One minute I was in London, the next I am in an office block in Ramallah, Palestine. Pictures of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas hang either side of the reception desk and all of the furniture is of Arabian style, a little bit over the top, but Arabian nonetheless. It had a faint smell of pipe smoke. As I approach the receptionist I automatically speak English, for some reason or other, and so I carry on instead of switching to Arabic because that would make me seem weird.
‘Sorry, she is off sick, and the person she asked to take the interview is busy.’
Arabs I thought, we are so disorganized and chaotic. I came all the way, preparing for an interview for some volunteer work at this little office, and there is no one. I am at a loss, I take out my phone to see if I can phone the interviewee, but her number just goes to the office’s switchboard, damn it!. Just as I am about to turn around and head out in defeat, a deep, throaty noise catches my ear.
‘MARHABA!’
I say hello in return to the big, burly man that just turned up. The receptionists face contorts in confusion as I suddenly start speaking more or less perfect Arabic. Before I know it, I am sat down at an office just behind the reception, in front of yet another man I never thought I would meet. I don’t know if it was the mess or just the atmosphere of them speaking in Arabic, but I kept on being reminded of my father and the office he works at in Ramallah. We exchange names and a firm handshake, and then he leans back, conversational and friendly.
‘So Ziyad, what do you study?’
‘Journalism…and philsophy’
I say philosophy quietly, like I am brushing it under the carpet, but he catches that word nonetheless and raises an eyebrow ‘Philosophy eh?’ This is it I think, this can either go two ways. He is, at best, going to make a joke about it, or at worst, take the piss for his amusement. ‘Philosophy is very important, you know’. OH THANK GOODNESS! I think as I breath an audible sigh of relief, that sigh where I don’t have to deal with questions like ‘so what do you do? think?!’ or simple statements like ‘it is a waste of time’.
Considering that the Arab world technically saved the Ancient Greek Philosophy of the likes of Plato and Aristotle, why is it that Arabs today only seem to tolerate it or outright despise it? Now I am saying most Arabs, as my interviewee clearly approved and generalising a group of people under one statement is never literally true.
For one, Philosophy today is essential to get someone to think critically and “outside the box”. Not just for random ideas, but for entire policies and practices of society. From the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to Siddhartha, they all began with critically thinking about themselves and the society around them. They did not follow the status-quo just because they were told to, they thought and reformed, and their ideas influenced many people in the future. They may have had a gift, or they may have been talented, but the point is that not everyone today will be capable of doing it unless they learn a subject that touches upon philosophy and practices philosophy. Coming up with “thought provoking” quotes is not philosophy, but making statements about the very fabrics of reality; be it the existence of God, morality, politics, the purpose of human life, the meaning of human language or whatever, now that isphilosophy.
If you want me to be honest, I feel that the Arab world is highly lacking in Philosophy and critical thinking. And something should be done about it.
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.
This track is by Taskforce whom I mentioned before. Some lines really stood out to me in this one and they have stuck with me for a long time (to this day basically). This Hip Hop group never fail to impress me with their music. The track is called Life without Instructions which was released as a single along with others on a 12″ vinyl record.
Here is the video/track followed by the lyrics:
(Verse 2: Chester P)
Walking in the skies on the threshold of black holes Mr Orgasmo evolved like a tadpole First cosmic gypsy to ever take it back home Where cats roam with big knives to cut down your cash flow Chrome shines in crack smokes and everybody acts slow And ‘lax all; trapped in the essence of a rat hole Junk yards and back streets from Hackney to back home Where kids bear arms and their arms bear jab holes That’s how I learned about the element of battles The struggle in the grass where the snakes don’t rattle The inner city cowboys and class A cattle The hustles the big smokes the chains and the shackles The poison man handles systematic scandals It’s a game of risk where the path lies tangled And dangerous for all to approach from all angles It’s the phantom menace got your life style strangled Cell keys jingles, the pocket change jangles The grave digger profits as another man downfalls Modern day outlaws Power bikes replace the horse No remorse, bear bodies on the bloody shores Drug wars, generating moneys for the upper cause Forget God we’re getting judged when we’re up in court Stuck on (?????) spare a penny for the thought The burden’s heavy when you’re ready I’ma burn a torch!
[CHORUS] I can’t find my reflection In a life without instructions It feels like such a struggle And nothing ever changes
(Verse 2: Farma G) My people out here don’t see the sun no more Floyd said it’s just another brick in the wall I see the pain in the eyes of the poor And pray that I stay on top of it all Money’s got this whole world gripped by the balls Man made money, money mad man war Life on its knees at the hands of disease Man pollutes seas, why do we make life war? Raise life war, and then make life war Break them laws and take what’s yours You got it bad, hard as it’s ever been Kids born special then stopped from developing You got to bring these walls down soon We got to make that fortune ‘Cuz if the world ends soon I won’t see that day That change won’t come this long Made sure that pain was persistent through the years that gone It’s stained on my brain because the shit’s so strong My people live humble, inspirations all gone And time stands still like they just dropped the bomb So who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for? Decide on the side, who you fighting for? There’s a war going on outside your front door Who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for?
[CHORUS]
“Junk yards and back streets from Hackney to back home Where kids bear arms and their arms bear jab holes” That is the first line to really really catch me. Especially since Hackney is in London. When artists add specific locations or places a piece tends to become more emotional. He is not just saying it to be different, he is reporting what he is seeing in Hackney and back home which may be another part of London. The rhyme is written quite cleverly too with the repetition of “bear” within two different contexts.
“That’s how I learned about the element of battles The struggle in the grass where the snakes don’t rattle The inner city cowboys and class A cattle The hustles the big smokes the chains and the shackles”
and
“Modern day outlaws Power bikes replace the horse” Rattle snakes? Cowboys? Outlaws and horses? And then it clicked with me. That is why the beat has a general Wild West theme. The producer wasn’t just messing about and experimenting, he is connecting the beat with these kinds of metaphors.
“The grave digger profits as another man downfalls” I don’t know about you, but the grave digger in this made me think of military contractors like Blackwater at first, but of course it can also refer to weapons and arms dealers and hit men, both of which are abundant in rough areas. They make money from the death of others.
“The hustles the big smokes the chains and the shackles The poison man handles systematic scandals It’s a game of risk where the path lies tangled And dangerous for all to approach from all angles” I concentrated hard, and a cockney accent rose from within my mind and said “Dodgy dealin’s!”. The chains and shackles don’t have to always mean prison, remember that it could be a metaphor; maybe like being stuck in a low paid 9-5 job? Poison man, hmm could be drug dealer, and I am not talking weed, I am talking heroin, cocaine, crack and the hard stuff. And all of this together make a game of risk, you are desperate and there are many paths to deal with desperation (all are risky). Whether it is escapism using drugs or getting money by selling them or any other means, there is always a price to pay.
“Forget God we’re getting judged when we’re up in court” That line made me have goose bumps, it was crazy. Such a powerful sense of foreboding and a clever way of saying “eternal damnation? forget that we are being judged in a court!” implying that it is as bad or even worse.
“The burden’s heavy when you’re ready I’ma burn a torch!” I am trying to figure out what this signifies. A burning torch = light which means hope but that is all I can gather. Any suggestions? (Leave them in the comments )
The Chorus is beautiful, I love the singing, and notice how it is in flow with the beat too! And it also fits in with the song as they are both about struggle, the song even gets its title from it (I know, pointing out the obvious :p )
Now verse 2
“My people out here don’t see the sun no more Floyd said it’s just another brick in the wall I see the pain in the eyes of the poor And pray that I stay on top of it all” The sun is used in poetry as something of happiness, especially in a country like the UK where all we do is complain about the weather! The second line is a reference to Pink Floyd a band that made a song called Another brick in the wall among others. I will be listening to that in a bit! Now the mention of the poor brings in the issue of class and class struggle, interesting considering that the rich/poor gap has been widening recently. (The Pink Floyd track which I am listening to now is really cool, my first impressions is about how authority tries to control and restrict people, making them all monotonous, non-unique people). Now as for the praying reference, I personally see praying as a sign of desperation (usually, not all the time).
“Money’s got this whole world gripped by the balls Man made money, money made man war” That is another one of those lines that really stuck with me. The alliteration and the way he swaps around words to produce different meanings is quite clever.
“Man pollutes seas, why do we make life war? Raise life war, and then make life war Break them laws and take what’s yours You got it bad, hard as it’s ever been Kids born special then stopped from developing” War isn’t just guns and bombs, but a struggle and it becomes clear with those lines. It reflects the individualism of our society today, combined with materialism and capitalism it makes a dog-eat-dog world. A world of struggle. Children are born with talents and they are not used because they are not deemed “profitable” to use.
“You got to bring these walls down soon” Walls have been a symbol of segregation, prejudice and oppression in politics and geopolitics. A very good metaphor to use when it comes to struggle.
“So who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for? Decide on the side, who you fighting for? There’s a war going on outside your front door Who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for?” The war outside our front door is there all the time. This struggle can be dealt with, you either rise to the top and profit from others below you or you fight from the bottom and struggle collectively. At least this is the message I am getting! :p
I am not surprised I have learned a few new things and that I appreciate these lyrics even more now, it has been good doing this one and there will be a lot more to come!
Taskforce is a London based UK hip hop group made up of two main artists, Chester P and Farma G. A friend recommended that I give this track a listen considering that it was similar to Immortal Technique’s Dance with the Devil. And boy was I pleased with this recommendation.
WARNING – STRONG LANGUAGE COMING UP
The track is called The Promise from their album Music From the Corner, volume 2. Here is the video followed by lyrics (I had to listen and type these up myself, there are parts I couldn’t catch, your input would be helpful!):
I can’t sleep, my little brother screams all night My mum don’t care ‘cuz she’s hoggin’ the pipe My old man doing life, all day doing crack One day I’ll start running and never look back ‘Till then I am eating on street and that’s that I’ll snatch phones and get myself drunk and have flash backs Only fourteen and I’m sticking up big men Strike more times in a day than Big Ben In West end Flashin’ (?) the tourists for a quick spend ??? Brought my procedure to a swift end Handcuffed back ??? in a police cell Mum came then they released me on sergeant’s bail Mum screaming I told her that she’s a crack head I see now and I don’t give a fuck what happened Next day mum dragged me off to see old man In jail I just couldn’t deal with it I broke down I burst out screaming “mum you’re cracked out Dad you’re locked up and the house is a crack house, You don’t buy food mum dad you don’t write Of course I do crime that’s how I got to eat Both of you are told to lie about the promise to be free I was born into chains, I follow the chief I ain’t even fifteen and I’m just like you I act how you act and I do what you do”
[CHORUS] X2
Is it the promise that we can be free? That makes it so hard for you and me? We tend to be chief and follow the chief And drown in the dark depths of the streets
They call me “freaky green” merge into street scenes Unseen, the ghost in the machine Nowhere I go feels home, all alone On the night train smoking a bone To get me high again I came from kid’s care, I had a broken home And no one listened or cared I never had a hope That’s why I’m here upon this train lookin’ worn out I wet my fingers to the bomb before I fall out (?????) And coming down there’s a black hole, I call out But no one hears, drowning in tears fight for pure fear Running from self until I disappear (????) slide off into never ending nightmare (?????) And stares at my every move I bear the pain of the loser in this drug abuse I’m let loose around dark demonics And this evil is eating me up but let’s me live on it And I’m never living uppity, my friends cared But I stole from their houses when they wasn’t there And what the fuck? I hate myself but I need drugs I hug the pipe at night time it shows me real love Not fucking anybody, ‘cuz they’d be fuckin’ me And every penny I mash is spend on crack dreams And it take me there far away from any place Where I’m numbed from the pains of my yesterdays And life’s a bad habit I use drugs to escape ‘cuz when I’m laced I break down the hate to pure space And when the cracks appear I’ll be there with the coke can Jammin’ the pipe until sun down
[CHORUS] X2
“I can’t sleep, my little brother screams all night My mum don’t care ‘cuz she’s hoggin’ the pipe My old man doing life, all day doing crack One day I’ll start running and never look back ‘Till then I am eating on street and that’s that I’ll snatch phones and get myself drunk and have flash backs Only fourteen and I’m sticking up big men Strike more times in a day than Big Ben In West end” This is the introduction. Characters and setting are introduced, the reference to Big Ben isn’t just a clever rhyme but a clue to anyone that this is based in London. “West end” confirms it.
“Both of you are told to lie about the promise to be free I was born into chains, I follow the chief I ain’t even fifteen and I’m just like you I act how you act and I do what you do” This reminds me of determinism. The train of thought that our desires and our existence as physical beings means we are determined just like any other physical object. He was born into chains meaning his poverty combined with his desires, the chief he follows are role models, in this case his parents, does that mean he holds full responsibility for his actions?
“Unseen, the ghost in the machine” This phrase, used intentionally or not, became well known because of Gilbert Ryle’s book which is called “The Ghost in the Machine” where he argues against the existence of an immaterial soul. This line caught my ears.
“That’s why I’m here upon this train lookin’ worn out” This also caught my ears. I live in London now and every now and then I hop on the underground. I have seen a lot of people who look like they have had a long day, could one of the many people I saw have a similar story?
“Running from self until I disappear” Almost every religion, philosophy and spirituality focuses on peace with the self. This person obviously is not at peace with himself, this is a more profound and deeper struggle than simply going hungry or trying to get a job.
“I bear the pain of the loser in this drug abuse” The losers in drug abuse are the users of drugs. So who are the winners? The drug dealers of course.
“And what the fuck? I hate myself but I need drugs I hug the pipe at night time it shows me real love Not fucking anybody, ‘cuz they’d be fuckin’ me And every penny I mash is spent on crack dreams And it takes me there far away from any place Where I’m numbed from the pains of my yesterdays And life’s a bad habit I use drugs to escape ‘cuz when I’m laced I break down the hate to pure space And when the cracks appear I’ll be there with the coke can Jammin’ the pipe until sun down” He needs love, but his delusion makes him think that it comes from drugs. He even calls life a bad habit while people usually say its the drugs. He finds escape in drugs (talking about Crack here I think) and because of his pessimism he hates life itself without them. His dependence has trapped him to the point that he can’t escape, and this is the story of many criminals that end up locked behind bars. Are they determined to commit crimes because of their desperate situation and addiction? And if so then can they be held fully responsible or not? Hell is even locking them up going to solve anything?
These are the thoughts that have been generated from listening to this song, but I can tell I will find more stuff within the track as I listen to it more. It has been a very good listen.
Two elements of hip hop that I mentioned before were rhyming and the use of metaphors. There is another poetic tool that artists may use, and that is aliteration; Using words that start with the same letter consecutively to create a poetic effect.
One track that employs this technique really well is The N-word from Rhyme Asylum’s album Solitary Confinement. Although Hip hop was born in the USA, the UK now has a significant base of artists and Rhyme Asylum is but one of them. The group consists mainly of Posessed, Psiklone and Skirmish as members, but this particular track only features Posessed. Here is the video and also the lyrics:
I’m negative nether world native
Nirvana nemesis, put necks in nooses not necklaces
Navigate Nebuchadnezzar ship
Neo, so shots from nickel-plated knives never hit
Ninth gate novelist
Necromancer, raise Napoleon from my necropolis
Non-descript nameless nomad
The nightmare referred to in Nostradamus’s notepads
(Nexus) no nationality
Play noughts and crosses, as I knock nails in the Nazarene
Naturally there’s no one nicer than me
As I nap my zees are rotated ninety degrees
Sunk navy deeper than Neptune
Neutralize your next of kin, neighbours, nieces and nephews
A nocturnal ninja network
Notice I never needed to say the notorious ‘N Word’
[Chorus]
‘N Word’ never need to say it
Don’t believe it, then rewind it and replay it
Nefarious, neurotic narrator
I’m not naughty (Nah) I’m nasty by nature
‘N Word’ never need to say it
Don’t believe it, then rewind it and replay it
Nefarious, neurotic narrator
I’m not naughty (Nah) I’m nasty by nature
At first listen it may be non-sensical, just a bunch of rhyming words starting with the same letter that doesn’t tell us anything. But after the artists display of quite amazing flow with the beat as well as clever rhymes; at the end of the entire display in the first verse he says
“Notice I never needed to say the notorious ‘N Word’” And it all becomes clear. The word he is referring to is of course “nigga/nigger” (which I do not condone the use of in anyway) that is used extensively by the rap industry as well as underground artists. Although it is used to refer to people, it is still controversial as it was used to describe black people as property in the age of slavery. A white slave master would say “I want this nigger, he looks healthy” for example. It is argued that the continued use of this word in the rap industry is why it still exists in everyday language. The artist however goes against this and shows that, in an entire impressive piece of flow and rhyming, he did not have to use that word or any swear word for that matter.
Another very clever line is “As I nap my zees are rotated ninety degrees”. If the letter Z is turned 90 degrees what do you get? That’s right, the letter N!
“Sunk navy deeper than Neptune” Neptune is the Roman God of the sea who commands it and everything in it.
“Non-descript nameless nomad” These words begin with N and also describe something of non-identity, they are almost synonymous.
“The nightmare referred to in Nostradamus’s notepads” Nostradamus was a poet and some believe a prophetic figure who predicted future events such as the second World War.
“Navigate Nebuchadnezzar ship” Nebuchadnezzar was an emperor of the Babylonian civilization (modern day Iraq).
“Play noughts and crosses as I knock nails in the Nazarene”. Nazarene is a term to describe someone from the village of Nazareth. And one of the only notable people who is from Nazareth is Jesus Christ. I see some potential anti-religious references here, as Jesus was nailed to the cross as the Christians claim.
And that is all that I can draw from this piece, but I guess the central message is the futility of the N word and its uselessness. As I say again, showing amazing flow, clever rhymes a wide range of vocabulary and knowledge of historical characters all beginning with N without actually using the N-word anywhere.
I hope this has been helpful to any who read this!
)
