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| ^for the ladies |
It is easy for me to put on a show and be cocky,
So I can show you some really fancy movement.
But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself,
And to express myself honestly, that, my friend, is very hard to do.
Bruce Lee
(From a soundbyte used as an intro to a Binary Star song)
THIS SHIT BLEW MY MIND WHEN I WAS 15 YRS OLD.
And it was THE SONG got me into NON-COMMERCIAL Hip Hop.
If you've never been introduced to underground, let this be your introduction.
If you've been into it, then you already know the deal. Classic track:
Binary Star {HONEST EXPRESSION}
Like sands through the hourglass,
So are the days of our lives.
And for that live moment we thrive.
Awakening as we make the dead come alive.
Rise and walk, my son, come into the light.
Inside the dark, we illuminate mics.
Give Knowledge to Mediocre,
The Will to Neanderthal.
Filter to the smog,
Digital to analog.
We steady advancing,
Rhyme enhancing,
Simple minds can't keep up with this.
[Senim Silla]
Imma put it on the table.
I ain't a thug n***a and player, I ain't playful.
I'm just Senim Silla a man without label.
Standing on my own 2, just trynna stay stable.
Speaking what I know, doing only what I'm able.
...
[One Be Lo]
I ain't hardcore, I don't pack a 9 millimeter,
Most of y'all gangsta rappers ain't hardcore neither.
Whoever get mad, then I'm talkin' bout you.
Claim you fear no man but never walk without crew.
...
I ain't got nothing against nobody trynna make a decent living,
It ain't the money that's the issue.
Only if that's the reason why you ain't making decent music,
THAT'S what I got beef with you.
This stuff hits the heart, and transferred a feeling that I hadn't gotten from Pop music.
But I knew from FEELING it, that I was into it.
I can't do this song justice by just writing/talking about it... You just have to isolate yourself from other distractions and be focused on the music.
-I know for many people who dig underground, there is that moment when you realize the difference between what you THOUGHT was hip hop on the TV/Radio, and what was ACTUALLY hip hop in the Underground and in Real Life.
-And the main distinction with that is that the REAL RAW hip hop is an organic thing, not a manufactured thing. It's not cooked, processed, and presented on a platter for sale. But you don't need me to tell you what "REAL hip hop" is, you can see it for yourself if you know someone involved in the culture, OR if you are that involved person yourself. The manufacturing/packaging/marketing side is the business side, the commercial, it's commerce, which is important too, but that's not what makes it RAW.
How does it become NOT raw?
-When an artists' sound gets TOO manufactured, and taken away from the essence in which it was created, it loses authenticity. (See: Nelly Furtado, Black Eyed Peas)
-The plus side is that artists get money, the down side is that the culture, or whatever they originally stood for, is slightly watered down. It seems to be the pattern, the more you water something down, the wider an audience it can reach. Another way of saying it is "the best way to destroy a good counterculture is to water it down and turn it into popular culture." (See: Beats, Hippies, Rock n Roll, Punk, and Hip Hop)
-Change is necessary though, and so is making money, to an extent, so you can't fault any artist for that.
BACK TO HONEST EXPRESSION
-For me, It just blew my mind, back in 2003. And it blew the door open for a whole undiscovered genre of music to flood my brain.
-But this song (along with "Reality Check") particularly changed my perception of what HIP HOP music could be.
-I didn't know this type of stuff could have even existed.
After discovering Binary Star, I got into BLACKALICIOUS....GIFT OF GAB and CHIEF XL.... Alphabet Aerobics, then Chemical Calisthenics, then
Make You Feel That Way
and Swan Lake... Then I got into Pete Rock & CL, and once the floodgates open. They don't close.
"85 percent represent ignorant"
^the significance of this single line was not realized to me until college when I learned about the 5% Lessons.
But BACK TO HONEST EXPRESSION.
-Maybe it was the Bruce Lee sound clip too.
Listen to the song here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSeE4QvYC7o
What you must hear is Binary Star's MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE album. 1998 Classic!
