The Lyricists #2

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!).

First up is a piece called Imagination

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.

And on to the second piece which has been called End of Days remix

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!

Illogic – Celestial Clockwork

A friend of mine pointed me towards this dude and asked me what I thought, and I thought “wow!”. So here is Illogic, an artist that I literally don’t know anything about save for this particular track he did called Celestial Clockwork which is also the name of the album. I loved his style the minute I listened to him and the fact he can speak fast and still be articulate is something that I envy.

Here is the video with the lyrics below, lets get down to looking at what he got to say!

I walked into a life of tainted dreams and gum ball machines
Nestled between the window seat and the drain of the main stream
Watching chaotic daylight stands thermal horizons table
Mock the moon with liquidated stars lap from a ladle
Looking glass has limited view when you’re trapped in a label
Still borns turned action figures when they’re stacked in a cradle
Thorough bred disorientated from running laps in a stable
Loss of direction sparks the search for a map in the fable
Leave me to hunt for scavengers with eye patches and peg legs
Use planks to punish perpetrators so the seas will stay fed
I told that snake in the grass to roll over and play dead
When the seed of the righteous is planted in belly of hybrid companion
They fled with torn a silver spoon and lips grasped
Cherishing the John Hancock or some jock on your hips clasped
Find your own only path this is my territory to tell a story
Tailored in three pieces flag, oxygen and thesis
I’m nursed by the bosom of a Columbus compass
Since birth walking the line of life or rhyme to see which will die first
It took me awhile to realise the fact that I’m cursed
With the given gift of anointing so only the truth can be dispersed

It disappoints that conjoint twins are more individuals than most
So I hunt the industry as a phantom until all my words become ghost
Celestial clockwork is an elixir
Simplifying an obscure picture
So sip the defiled mixture
Concocted by purity’s twisted sister

Now the trees are more beautiful on this side of the mountain
Plush springs run in abundance I drink direct from the fountain
But the dream was opaque the stream was perfectly clear
That an acute disorder of paradise would exist if I die here
So lay down your pitch forks and raise your pins to the clouds
Till their struck twice by lightning sparking styles to move crowds
Fish in the pond can’t understand the concept of dry land
So they swim aimlessly unbeknown to the purpose of which I stand
Don’t ask a question, if you don’t want the answer given
Time is an illustrious liquor if the candle ceases to flicker
Driven to a life of constant death no choice but one
Children rise from the shine hide in the shade to evade the rays of the sun
Glaciers become oceans and boulders become bevels
Icons become gods and the birth of a spawn is the birth of a devil
Individual once realised is the birth of a rebel
When I’ve dug my own depth in your faith rest in a shovel
The pedestal is crowed over bearing with trinkets a silver lined sink
Which drown me in sounds of de-evolution and if it’s not your calling to be enlaced with the evolving of hip-hop
Then stop is the inevitable solution

[sample]
I’ll work harder. Amy (I’ll work harder), I promise I’ll be better
Better isn’t good enough
I don’t think you’ll ever be good enough
You don’t have it
I know it’s a hard thing to hear and it’s not a pleasant thing to say
But it’s the truth and I’m saving you a lot of time and pain by saying it to you now
I don’t want to be the best

“I walked into a life of tainted dreams and gum ball machines
Nestled between the window seat and the drain of the main stream”
The first couple of lines seem to be about his beginnings as a hiphop artist. And it seems to be described as one where you are immediately aware of the mainstream and the not so mainstream.

“Looking glass has limited view when you’re trapped in a label”
Some people argue there is not as much freedom of art expression when you sign up to major record labels, and illogic is one of them as you can see it.

“Loss of direction sparks the search for a map in the fable”
Not very sure about this one, maybe he is talking about how if you are lost in terms of fitting in you will try to find your way or find “a map” that tells you where you need to go. But that map is a fable, there is no place to be except yourself. But really, it could mean anything.

“Since birth walking the line of life or rhyme to see which will die first”
Separating his life from his lyricism indicated that for him lyricism is something beyond his life or extremely detached from the rest of it. It as at these moments that I wonder; what do these artists do in their spare time? Where do they work? Do they have family?

“It disappoints that conjoint twins are more individuals than most
So I hunt the industry as a phantom until all my words become ghost
Celestial clockwork is an elixir
Simplifying an obscure picture
So sip the defiled mixture
Concocted by purity’s twisted sister”
The industry, I am guessing, is the music industry. Conjoint twins being more individual than most is a touch of irony that he adds, he does not mean it literally but uses it to say that we are not all that unique. For me it seems to paint a bleak picture of all of us being social automatons in society, and he is just another victim who is not higher than the rest. He is being humble.
The elixir is perhaps an acceptance of things as they are, seeing the cycles of how people rise and fall. I like the whole “purity’s twisted sister” part because it reminds me of a Hellenistic view of Gods and Godesses being within every abstract aspect of our lives. (I read a lot of Greek mythology when I was a kid)

“Individual once realised is the birth of a rebel”
This is another hint I thing at the importance of someone being themselves…

“Which drown me in sounds of de-evolution and if it’s not your calling to be enlaced with the evolving of hip-hop
Then stop is the inevitable solution”
Hip hop here is evolving, and it is changing but only at the pace that the artists allow it to. If we stay the way we are with the same recurring themes and focusing on nothing but the beat then that is what will become.

All in all I found his lyrics very abstract and hard to decipher and who knows? I may have got it all wrong. Nevertheless it was a pleasure trying to work it out as I went along unlike with my other previous articles where I had listened to the track a fair few times before. I will definitely be looking at more of his stuff.

It has been a pleasure writing this, peace to all!

 

The not so well known ones

I write my own lyrics from time to time, and as an avid user of the Internet I use deviantArt; a social network site for all kinds of artists to show case their work.
There are various people who write lyrics on there too, and I thought to myself that I might take their lyrics for analysis too, just because they are not well known does not mean that it’s not worth looking at. And it will do an excellent job of publicising their work on the site by writing articles for them (deviantArt had it’s own news section) .
While this is a new and exciting prospect I do have work to be getting on with and will only have free time later. Hopefully things will take off then.

Until then peace to all!

Rhyme Asylum – Broken Window and perspectives

In my first post ever (second paragraph) I mentioned briefly the role of the beat with every track, and that is being used as a guide for the rhythmic flow of the artist. But that is not all. The beat, being a musical piece, can be used to set the mood and to add to the emotional impact of a set of lyrics. One of the best examples I can think of when it comes to mood is Rhyme Asylum‘s Broken Window from their album Solitary Confinement. When I first heard it I was engrossed in what was said and very powerful imagery formed in my mind. Here is the video, followed by the lyrics:

[Verse 1: Psiklone]

My name is Dean Emit, victim of a serious mistake
Diagnosed as clinically insane
Sectioned, imprisoned and detained
The last thing I remember I was being physically restrained
First sensed something was amiss
Noticing the other inmates had cuts across their wrists
My trust in the nurses hesitated
Instantly ceased taking medication [Waiting]
They segregated selective mental patients
I once caught a glimpse of the room where they’d take them
Reasons why remain undisclosed
A hundred volts straight to the victim’s frontal lobes
Disguised as medical tests
Vulnerable people were being sentenced to death
[This is beyond madness] I had to escape
Spent night and day racking my brain
Insomniac, but I had no solid plan
One day in group therapy, eventually lost my rag
[Is this some kind of sick joke?]
Next thing I knew, a doctor pushed me straight through a window
Awoke later in my bed, as my mind cleared
A pain in my side sparking the idea
Tied up without side effects
Shook loose the undetected shard of glass from behind my vest
Heart pounding inside my chest
Managed to slice my restraints, fell down beside my bed
Stood up, pulled off the ceiling’s iron mesh
Climbed the winding vent entangled in spider webs
Exited down a flight of steps
Ditched my hospital gown so the dogs won’t find the scent
Felt the cold wind on my face
Blinded by the moonlight, my mental prison escape

[Verse 2: Possessed]

His name was Doctor Emit institutionalised
For committing the most unusual crimes
Torturing patients numerous times
‘Till one escaped, brought the truth to the light
Losing his mind but kept it top secret
Unnecessary methods of shock treatment
No waiting list kept going till the power died
Or the patient did, which ever came first
He was a slave to his hunger within
Tied them up sewed razors under their skin
Eyes void of emotion
When asked why he did it, he just said the voices had spoken
Insane, locked in a cell
Dementia in control of all knowledge of self
Day to day he’d yell about the crimes
Like he didn’t do them and they’re still taking place
Swimming in the depths of depression
Volatile, living on the edge of aggression
Never did get a confession
(Flipped out) during a routine group therapy session
When asked “are you scared of the past?”
He jumped up by the window put his chair through the glass
Demented look in his face
Guards took him away put him to bed fully restrained
Didn’t bother drugging him up
The next morning they walked in and saw him covered in blood
Should’ve known from behaviour patterns
That this was a suicide waiting to happen
Life he came to hate with a passion
Shard to the wrist, fatal attraction
Examining the evil deed
There it was on the floor the jagged killer that didn’t flee the scene
Broken Window

[4 x Outro]
Window to the soul, broken
Now his ghost is out in the open

The first thing I noticed when I clicked play for the first time ever, was the beat and that is because it is the first thing that plays (duh!). The melancholy mood it sets really reflects the subject of the track and works with it very well. The slow piano rhythm accommodates the slower more dramatic flow of the artists in this, which is very good for suspense.

“A hundred volts straight to the victim’s frontal lobes”
When the artist says this particular line, a very special feature of story telling is revealed. When you are recounting your own experiences or that of someone else, you do not say it in a monotone voice, but in an emotional tone that reflects the mood of the experience itself. This becomes very very clear with this line when he uses one of fear and sheer surprise.

“Vulnerable people were being sentenced to death
[This is beyond madness] I had to escape
Spent night and day racking my brain
Insomniac, but I had no solid plan
One day in group therapy, eventually lost my rag”
Events unfold in rapid succession which in this case gives the effect of something building up into a climax.

“A pain in my side sparking the idea”
He says this line with genuine surprise and epiphany, you can almost see a light bulb shining above his head there, which is great. He is experiencing this, he isn’t retelling the experiences of someone else.

“Shook loose the undetected shard of glass from behind my vest
Heart pounding inside my chest
Managed to slice my restraints, fell down beside my bed
Stood up, pulled off the ceiling’s iron mesh
Climbed the winding vent entangled in spider webs”
From the first line in this section the beat, and the artists voice, really pick up. He uses a lot of active verbs to make it an active section, so all of this combined makes for a very suspenseful piece.

“Blinded by the moonlight, my mental prison escape”
The way he finishes of the verse by saying this line is immense! Psiklone literally kills this verse; amazing work.

Now we start with Possessed, who plays a different character

“His name was Doctor Emit institutionalised
For committing the most unusual crimes”
Having a name is very important, as it gives a point of reference. And if you pay attention you will realize that this is a major twist in the form of a radically different perspective on things.

“No waiting list kept going till the power died
Or the patient did, which ever came first”
The way this was executed was good because it is something you just expect to hear in a horror/scary story. I could imagine someone sitting by a fire and saying this line.

“Tied them up sewed razors under their skin
Eyes void of emotion
When asked why he did it, he just said the voices had spoken
Insane, locked in a cell
Dementia in control of all knowledge of self
Day to day he’d yell about the crimes
Like he didn’t do them and they’re still taking place”
Here he is making connections with what the first character was saying but from a different perspective (see lines 6 – 14). The second and third lines in this section are creepy as hell!

“He jumped up by the window put his chair through the glass”
This is what really happened when Psiklone’s character said a doctor pushed him through a window. Crazy eh?

“Didn’t bother drugging him up”
The beat once again picks up from this point to create an increase in suspense up to the climax:
“Should’ve known from behaviour patterns
That this was a suicide waiting to happen”
So Psiklone’s character commits suicide, so what was going on from his perspective when he was running through the field with the moonlight on his face? We get the answer at the very end:

“Examining the evil deed
There it was on the floor the jagged killer that didn’t flee the scene
Broken Window”

[4 x Outro]
Window to the soul, broken
Now his ghost is out in the open“

This piece is interesting because it brings two parallel perspectives side by side, yet it doesn’t say for definite which one is right and the other is wrong. Rhyme Asylum seem to have a recurring theme of madness/insanity in their tracks and the theme here was put to good use when they put perspectives under question. But as well as that, I think this made an awesome horror story!

Playing with the Alphabet

I remember discussing hip-hop with an old friend of mine in the time before I was that much into it. He was an activist who worked with me at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign stall and an outspoken man. This activist was originally white American with a small native American ancestry, and is one of many American citizens that I have met that destroy the stereotype of stupidity and political ignorance.

He told me “once you listen to Underground hip-hop there is never going back” and in my case he couldn’t have been more correct. He later handed me a CD that he made himself full of songs from various Underground artists. The songs were all cool, but one really stumped me with it’s design. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Blackalicious – Alphabet Aerobics

(The lyrics are in the video, so give it a listen and…try to keep up )

Instead of looking at the words and lyrics bit by bit like I usually do, I will just generally comment on the structure. Now of course, as the title suggests the track is very much to do with the alphabet, and as you have already probably noticed the words are used in alphabetical order. What really impressed me though, was the aerobics of the whole thing, and by that I mean the increasing tempo (speed) of the beat and how the artist keeps up with it in a consistent manner. Towards the end it becomes almost overwhelming but he still keeps up! By that point my jaw was hanging open in amazement.

This is not the only piece that uses the alphabet. While looking at the comments in this video I was pointed to another track. And that is Alphabet Assassin by UK hiphop artist Lowkey:

Now in my opinion this is not as impressive as the tempo remains the same, but still, it was also cleverly done. The ending made me smile with the “How many letters are left? ZERO”.

Some meaning may be extracted from both of these tracks, but to me the important thing here is that they utilised a fundamental structure of the English language; that being the alphabet, and they made something of it that flowed and rhymed. When it comes to things like this, one can only think how much work and thought were put into these pieces, and how much practice it took to make it go smoothly…

Jehst – Alien

Jehst (A.K.A. William G. Shields) is one of the most well known people in the UK underground hip hop scene. He is an MC and also a producer of music (beats). His style is very rich in vocabulary and his tracks may take more than one listen to appreciate them fully. The first one I heard was Alien from Evil Ed’s 12″ (vinyl) The Tournament Round One.

Here is the video track followed by the lyrics:

[Verse 1: Jehst]
I exist in a state of consistent transition
Plans shifting, with insufficient ambition
Man listen, this is my advice
Die or fight, get caged in or take flight
On the page inside the margin I make light
Appear in the form of the words I write
It’s all solar, from the lows to the highs
But you’re blinded by the wool pulled over
Ya eyes by over-sized flies who feed off waste
Take the icing on the cake, and leave without trace
The man without a face, I stay anonymous
The way we livin day to day stays monotonous
Like your bland sound,
But with the weight of the world on top of us we still stand ground
And break down your fascination with the fabrication of the truth
Make use of your imagination in the pursuit of expression
Not as a disguise to hide behind when undressing
Ya brethren, I recon the question is this: ‘To be or not to be?’
A simple lesson in risk
[Sampling/Scratches]
[Verse 2: Jehst]

Imparting this text is my only life after death
I’m left gasping for breath
Asking for less tension and stress about to suffocate
It feels like I need divine intervention to resuscitate me
Lately it’s like frustration has taken its hold
Restraining me from breaking the mold or making the most of my creative control
Times taking its toll
I’m elevating my soul by taking the old to the new
Like nice and smooth
My voice highlights the groove
The break sets the mood, I express my attitude
Towards my foes and those who show no gratitude
You can’t calulate my longitude or latitude
Navigate my catacomb, or reach my altitude
I’m too high, far too fly to stay stationary
Basically I keep it constructive, like masonry
Blatantly disruptive, and it’s disgracefully corruptive
System plagued with injustice
But this is purity, you can’t touch this
It’s much more to me, than just “fuck this”
But I can’t let that discourage
I salvage anything of value from the rubbish and repair
I won’t be driven into submission or despair
I prepare for war and hear the rhythm of the snare …(right there)

[Sampling/Scratches]

Phew! He just doesn’t stop does he? When I first heard this track I wasn’t concentrating much but I noticed the nice flow and enjoyed that beat. But this is the first time that I actually have the lyrics right in front of me, so lets see what we have here…

“I exist in a state of consistent transition
Plans shifting, with insufficient ambition
Man listen, this is my advice
Die or fight, get caged in or take flight”
I am such a geek, why? Because when I heard consistent transition I thought of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus and his theory of everything being in constant flux. I digress, my first impressions is that this is to do with struggle (much like the previous post here) but is it about life in general or something more specific? His metaphors of getting caged in and fighting or flying are quite active and it is good how he incorporates the “fight or flight” mechanism into it.

“On the page inside the margin I make light
Appear in the form of the words I write”
Light is usually a symbol of hope, or that is how I take it. And the form of hope is in the words that he writes (i.e. his lyrics) or his art.

“But you’re blinded by the wool pulled over
Ya eyes by over-sized flies who feed off waste
Take the icing on the cake, and leave without trace”
Blinded, metaphorically it can mean to be deceived in any number of ways. The over sized flies, I suspect, are the bigger record labels who are commercial. They “take it the cake” as in take the piss, but he incorporated this common English idiom well with the oversized flies metaphor by using the word icing (flies like sugar right?).

“The way we livin day to day stays monotonous
Like your bland sound,
But with the weight of the world on top of us we still stand ground
And break down your fascination with the fabrication of the truth
Make use of your imagination in the pursuit of expression”
Some people do consider that the way we live is monotonous. The typical 9-5 jobs, paying rent and doing things just for the sake of doing them. He likens this to our “bland sound” probably meaning commercial music. Same dance beats, same sort of lyrics again and again, the type of lyrics that tell you want you want to hear and fabricate it into truth. While artistic pieces actually express the artists emotions and their feelings. That is the impression I got.

“Imparting this text is my only life after death”
That was an amazing way to start the second verse. And it was relevant to me since I had recently received my “Death is nothing” essay for philosophy! Basically, he is talking about legacies. Many people believe, due to their culture, that a legacy might be a business, or even one’s own children. The artist here is saying this his art is his legacy.

“Lately it’s like frustration has taken its hold
Restraining me from breaking the mold or making the most of my creative control
Times taking its toll”
Many hip hop artists will testify that whatever they have achieved in terms of their art, especially if it is recording and releasing an album, is very draining with energy and time and the work that goes into it certainly sounds it. Frustration takes hold and inhibits one’s creativity.

“You can’t calulate my longitude or latitude
Navigate my catacomb, or reach my altitude
I’m too high, far too fly to stay stationary
Basically I keep it constructive, like masonry”
“Bring it on!” is what he is saying, but in a very coooool way!

“System plagued with injustice
But this is purity, you can’t touch this
It’s much more to me, than just “fuck this”
I kind of established in my mind that this is all about the music industry, and this is what is plagued with injustice. But there is a parallelism going on which is interesting; in many ways you can also apply what he is saying to life in general, which is maybe what he is talking about anyway!

“But I can’t let that discourage
I salvage anything of value from the rubbish and repair
I won’t be driven into submission or despair
I prepare for war and hear the rhythm of the snare ..”
Here it is again, WAR, and used in very metaphorical ways. My first post did warn that there will be metaphors (and excessive amounts I should add) but this is poetry after all! And that is a great way to end the entire piece. Yes it is difficult, yes it is hard, but I will not be driven under and I will fight back…

Taskforce – The Promise

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.

Immortal Technique – You never know

In the spirit of St Valentine’s day, when most of us are buying gifts and making surprises for our loved ones I am going to look at a love song, no, a love story done by Immortal Technique whom I mentioned before. Before I begin I will say that it is a tragic piece and not the stereotypical love poem that everyone is used to and it also tells a story and not just describes a person. The track is called You never know from his album Revolutionary Volume 2.

Here is the video (lyrics are in the video as they are very long and I don’t want to spawn an all evil tower of text):

As it is a long track it is best to look at the sections that carry the most significant meaning for me. So let us start:

“Fuck the horse and carriage shit, her love was never for hire
Disciplined, intellectual beauty’s what I desire” The first desire that the artist mentions has nothing to do with the physical being of his love, it is the spiritual/mental/intellectual or whatever you want to call it. Sometimes, what you mention first; be it physical beauty or mental beauty, shows your nature or intentions. In this case the artist is showing a spiritual nature and not a simple carnal desire.

“Everyone told me, kickin’ it to her was hopeless
At first I just thought, she didn’t mess with broke kids
The thug niggaz always talking about, how they smoke kids
But the rich-sniff-coke kids got no play
“I’m not even interested” is what her body language would say
Everyone around the way, gave up trying to get in it
It didn’t matter how good your game was, she wasn’t with it
On the block, bitches was jealous, but wouldn’t admit it
Talk shit, and deny to everyone that they did it
‘Cause they regreted the long list of niggaz that they let hit it
And no one ever gave them shit except McDonald’s and did-dick”

He is highlighting the society around him; his immediate surroundings. Immortal Technique lived in a ghetto in the north of Manhattan called Harlem, and this reflects the attitudes of most people that he met quite well. The thugs showing off on how they shot other people before in an almost primitive mating call, the other females being astounded at his love’s uniqueness and also ashamed as they came to realize their own promiscuity. The difference between the love’s character and those that surrounded the artist at the time is contrasted highly here because he is trying to make a point; she is like no other, she is beautiful in an amazing way.

“She had a style, all her own, respectful and pure
I was sick in the head for her, and there wasn’t a cure”
I am used to Immortal Tech being this outspoken and sometimes aggressive artist but when I heard those two lines I was surprised at first, and then I did a rewind and I “Awww”ed out loud, something I never thought I would do in one of his tracks!

“Don’t you know that, time waits for no man
Not fate, it’s all planned
I’m blessed just to know you
I’ve loved and I’ve lost just to hold you all night
Can’t find, a reason why
God came, to you and I
If I had the chance again, I’d never let you go
Hold tight to your love, ’cause you never know”
The Chorus is a sample which is quite common, and it is from Jean Grey. As you can see it is very well suited. The last two lines drop a resounding hint of a tragic end.

“Her eyes are brown and beautiful, yet empty and sad“
The first physical description, and it is not typical. I don’t know if it is me, but most “beautiful eyes” are usually a light colour when described in stories such as grey, blue, green or whatever.

“We talked about, power to the people and such”
They share a common intellectual interest, surprising that he remembered what they talked about and did not try to estimate her breast size.

“Perfectly honest and complete, she would always call me “carino,”
And never Technique, bought me a new book to read every 2 or 3 weeks
Forever changing the expression of my thoughts when I speak”
As far as I know, carino is a Spanish term for something along the lines of “sweetheart”, but can be different in different contexts. The two lines after that highlight what is important about love of someone’s intellectual side, and that is that their own intellectual side is changed. His thoughts and his way of expression were influenced by her, like a mark left behind. And it is a very hard mark to get rid of in one’s life.

“I felt like a moth who got himself too close to the light
Except I didn’t burn, I turned cold after that night“
Self explanatory, but a very clever concept. I don’t need to explain anything, just highlight it

“Fuckin’ lots of different women, but I still felt alone“
Key message is that there is more to company and relationships than physical pleasure.

“Her mom buzzed me up and hugged me up, like a mother oughta
But her facial expression changed, when I asked about her daughter”
This is how one of the verses ends, obviously for the purposes of leaving suspense to the listener.

“What happened for the rest of the day is still a blur
But I remember wishing that I was dead, instead of her
She was buried on August 3rd
The story ends without a sequel
And now you know why Technique, don’t fucking fall in love with people”
Self sacrifice, or the desire to anyway, is presented here. When I read the last line I sighed with relief because Technique was back to normal! (But really it is a sad story)

“Hold the person that you love closely if they’re next to you
The one you love, not the person that’ll simply have sex with you
Appreciate them to the fullest extent, and then beyond
‘Cause you never really know what you got, until it’s gone”
And these are the morals and lessons that the artist leaves us with. It is not just a sad story, but a story with a lesson and experience. They are really self explanatory which is good if you want to reach out to all audiences and tell ‘em something straight.

It’s been a pleasure, but happy Valentine’s day everyone, but please don’t just think about the cheap cards and boxes of chocolate. There is more to love than that, oh and also…be safe!

Canibus – Levitibus; Reflection and amazing flow

Canibus (not cannabis) A.K.A. Germaine Williams  is a Jamaican born American hip hop artist. He is best known for his amazing flow and rhyme scheme combined with science that gives his work a lot of depth and imagery. Really worth checking out.

Here is one of his tracks, Levitibus from the album Rip the Jacker, I loved the beat in this one (note: the words in bold are words that are said in a sample and not the work of the artist himself, but additions)

“You want power…but you’re not big enough
so you steal it piece by piece..
take it in spoils…and step by step you’ll weaken and the power is gone”

Levitibus..

I harness the power of the chakra
With remote viewing in the darkness describin what I see in the process
Stone statues surrounded by neolithic objects
Ceoglyphs on the pompa
A dose of the palamine, make it feel like a dream
The dream state is the playground for the supreme
Critics attempt to follow a trend
Today they call me a charlatan but tomorrow I will be a God of men
To create a universe all I need
Is 1000, trillion, trillion degrees
Sodium 22, betatron and a cloud chamber
Keep the noise down so I dont arouse my neighbors
Got a message from the Falcom and the Snowman
Another note in a Coca Cola can
Showed the whole planet in coded program
Encrypted by a pro-scan modem with a low band
Hold up, let me load it in

“Darling I am a scientist..(you’re a person, you ought to think that)
You Clash with Cyanide gas and die fast’
None of this is (are you going to put a curse on me?)(there’s no need)
Rhythmical equivalent of solids, liquids and gas “

I was created by intelligent design
You are merely a descendant of the unmodified
You diss me out of pride
But when youre finished talkin bout money and bitches you’re simply out of rhymes
Even my worst album was sublime
If I don’t slow down, i’ll distort the timeline
Back through the time, turned into a 100 bars again
A master like the honorable Earl of Cannaben
The grand architect
Used to be a partisan to LeMarketson’s theory but I lost the bet
No regrets, you live and you learn
I’m through givin advice, I just give concern
Sterilize my hands to prevent catchin the germs
And try to rebuild all the bridges I’ve burned
I prefer modesty over controversy
But what am I to do when these jerks keep botherin me
Jealous ‘cos they cant rhyme like me
And they never had a scientific mind like me

“Darling I am a scientist..(you’re a person, you ought to think that)
You Clash with Cyanide gas and die fast’
None of this is (are you going to put a curse on me?)(there’s no need)
Rhythmical equivalent of solids, liquids and gas “

I’m above average with verbal semantics
The aurora borealis in the form of a rap ballad
They look at me like “poor bastard
Why cant you manipulate billboards with all your metaphor magic?”
No matter how hard I practiced
Every microphone I saw I grabbed it
Obviously thats the wrong tactic
I went through a long period of mourning and sadness when I wrote that Stan shit
But if you wanna see some hardcore Canibus just say so
And i’ll come out the eggroll with seven death scrolls
If you can find a better flow?
Then I can find a dinosaur on the Galapagos archipelago
Hey you shouldnt fall for the naivete
Lyrically I’m the illest when my beats is OK
Food for thought, nutrition for the whole brain
Keep your neurotransmitters warm on a cold day
I’m ahead of my time, or so they say
I guess thats why I already feel old and grey
Okay, thats enough knowledge for today, I’m killin em
You best not forget it cuz this is Levitibus

“Darling I am a scientist..(you’re a person, you ought to think that)
You Clash with Cyanide gas and die fast’
None of this is (are you going to put a curse on me?)(there’s no need)
Rythmical equivalent of solids, liquids and gas “

Now the placement of the sample (which is the first thing you hear) is part of the piece. It is usually related to the subject of the artists work in a very intimate or a very loose way. Here, the woman telling the listener that they are not big enough and need to steal power bit by bit is somewhat telling of the independent nature of underground hip hop artists. They are usually not signed to major record labels and have smaller budgets to work with, and making sales can be tough in the face of such opposition. So they have to slowly build up a fan base and slowly get to be known in a step by step process.

“I harness the power of the chakra” The chakra is a concept used by Eastern/Oriental spiritualities to denote the natural energies that run through the human body resembled by “wheels” or “flowers” (from the Sanskrit word). To harness that suggests that the artist is of a high level of intelligence and consciousness.

“I was created by intelligent design
You are merely a descendant of the unmodified
You diss me out of pride
But when youre finished talkin bout money and bitches you’re simply out of rhymes” I see intelligent design, in this particular case, as his own design. The artists image of intelligence was created by his own design, his own original work and lyricism that got him to where he is. The descendant of the unmodified are the commercial Rap “artists” which he shows contempt for. They are all the same, talking about money and “bitches” with no original ideas of their own, just that of their record labels and contracts.

“If I don’t slow down, i’ll distort the timeline” A moment where the artist glorifies himself; a practice common in underground hip hop mainly because of Rap battles/ MC battles where rappers diss each other with rhymes as a competitive sport if you like. In this case, the artist’s very powerful nature is such that if he slows down, time itself is distorted and that is something that is usually very hard to do for a human being!

“I’m above average with verbal semantics
The aurora borealis in the form of a rap ballad
They look at me like “poor bastard
Why cant you manipulate billboards with all your metaphor magic?” Semantics is usually the study of meaning and language, and how humans express themselves through it, this magnifies the deep nature of the artist’s work and the very fact that he knows and seems to use such a word in the correct context implies that he is indeed quite intelligent. The aurora borealis I think means the northern lights (physical phenomena, not the book) and a rap ballad is a story telling rap (story telling with rhythm and poetry). The last two lines refer to how the commercial Rap industry look down upon him and ask that if the artist is indeed so good, then why is he not “on billboards”? or in other words why is he not known?

“I went through a long period of mourning and sadness when I wrote that Stan shit” Stan meaning standard, but now as we can all hear his work is pretty intricate and complex.

“If you can find a better flow?
Then I can find a dinosaur on the Galapagos archipelago” Obviously a challenge to all those who listen. A strong resonating message of self confidence towards the end.

“You best not forget it cuz this is Levitibus” And that is the closing line, I thought it may have a meaning but I can’t really find anything. However it is only a one letter difference from the word “Leviticus” which is the title of one of the books in the Bible (Old Testament). A quick search reveals that it is the third book (after Genesis and Exodus) where the covenant of God and the Jews is built up as well as the laws being laid down.

Well today I learned the nature of the book of Leviticus, a synonym from the northern lights phenomenon, the meaning of semantics and the Jamaican origin of this amazing dude! It’s been good.

More stuff to come!

Rhyme Asylum – Alliteration, meaning and the N word

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!