I.B. Fokuz commetary on "Artsy Girl"

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TO HTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.



Before Gilead wrote the song, the vibe of this instrumental had so much imagery of its own. Before words were even thought of, I knew it was going to turn out to be a very intimate story. The flutes were mesmerizing with an ambiance that grabbed you by the instant you heard it. So when he finally presented me the song after he wrote it, I was blown away. This story is a story that should be heard by all. This song is like meditation that heals the wounds of kids born in a box that never had room to breathe and grow.
The first verse about the girl and how she felt like an outsider in her own neighborhood hits a vital point that is never talked about in the hood. Why, maybe because the so called popular crowd is only attracted to popular music. But then again, whats the difference between popular music which is only popular to an agree, compared to popular art forgotten with no importants to the younger generation. I remember when I was a senior in high school, seating in a classroom of only black kids. My math teacher made a comment about the Beatles and everyone laugh as if they had no interest because the Beatles were for old people. I was probably the only black kid in the classroom that knew a Beatles song and had an appreciation for it. I spoke up and said "the Beatles are dope" and everyone stopped and look at me to see if I was being humorous or serious. They quickly left it alone when they didn't even see me crack a smile.
I feel like me and my comrades is like the last of a dyeing breed that actually appreciates good music no matter what genre or artist it turns out to be. When you realize that you are a fan b4 you are an artist. Your appreciation for things is much more intimate than others.
I wish all the fans and listeners of this album could have been at the studio when Lana sang that chorus. It was a sight to see. Even though the chorus might be simple to others, it was the heart and emotion behind it that convince me and Gilead to have her on this particular song. When she got in the booth, I could sense she wasn't in her full element. So I told her to shut off the lights and really zone into the song. Not knowing she was going to freestyle, I was assuming she was just going to record a layer of vocals under the verses. When she zoned out and created the chorus on the first couple of takes, I knew we had something. (You'll hear about Lana soon enough)
The second verse I felt put the icing on the cake. Him stepping in the shoes of an alien observing our worldly ways was brilliant in my book. Sometimes to get the real outlook on things, you have to step back from who you are and analyze things on a broader scale. And only then you can get a true look at the universe beyond yourself.

But overall, this is one of my favorite trks on the album. The sound-scape I built was complimented and written over well. I just hope that everyone else can at least take something from this story and apply to their lives. Life is only as beautiful as you make it.

Til next time... I.B. Out

Peace

ADVENT COMMENTARY, Track 4, 'Artsy Girl', feat Lana..G7's thoughts

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TO HTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.


This Maker track on Shooting the Breeze is wonderful. It's called 'Live It Pt 2'. It takes me to a realm where I feel that all the disjointedness in the universe, and the disconnect that I feel as a creative soul amidst a reality with stereotypes and stigmas for how Black people are to be and act, molds that that do not fit me, are 'redeemed.' As a simple drum loop translates into a polyrhythmic symphony over a droning 70ish deep funk melody with lush dark guitars, Maker has taken me back to my original home. A land where, to quote myself in 'Artsy Girl', '... the trees are violins playing/and the children train in glowstick raving'

'Artsy Girl comes from an experience I had once while driving to my parents home. The South Side of Chicago area known as the 'Wild 100's', is predominately Black, and an area where certain accepted norms of Black youth (rap music, so called 'urban' ways of dress, modes of speech, etc). One day, while passing by the Woodson Library on 95th and Halsted, I saw a black girl who defied all of these accepted norms of 'Blackness', having the appearance of an emo rock enthusiast with torn jeans, head down in her own world and all that. Now of course this isn't the first time I've seen something like this, but the way it hit me at that particular instant and where were a 'kairos' moment to me, providing me a perspective of this that I never had before. The Woodson Library was a place that I would go to as a child to raid their music collection for the likes of Queen, Neil Young, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Beatles, and everything I wasn't supposed to be listening to as a 'Black' kid growing up in the 'hood.' My friends used to laugh at me for it. In the girl's face, I saw the same sadness and alienation from her surroundings that I felt. At the beginning of the song, I say that she must be my sister, because in this South Side of prescribed notions of being 'Black' and 'normal', we had the same appearance. We 'looked alike'. We possessed the appearance of those who would venture creatively outside these boxes, and treat art as life. The picture that comes out is unlike any other. To see her crossing the intersection of the very library where I had broken down my own notions of 'Blackness' and 'normalcy many years before' and understood who I really am was ethereal and divine.

I.B. sampled Susan McKeown, one of my favorite Celtic singers, for this instrumental, providing a melancholy flute for my bleak, unveiling lines. The 1st verse is about the artsy girl, the 2nd is about me. Of her I said, 'Cus the South Side ain't no place for Afro Beatles, Coldplays and Evanescences/For a split second, she lent me her presence/She'd rather not be messed with/So I admired her from afar/Caught in a world only she and dead guitarists possess/It's purple painted and wretched/From Black folks disconnected...' Who she is is not what 'Black' or 'normal' people are understood to be. Her very existence ruptures the understanding of those around her about identity. This verse is a sketch of her. In vs 2, I speak of myself as a person who went through and still goes through this. Except I paint myself as an alien who happened to fall in this planet but seeks to get back to where I came from. I put on records of envelope pushing rock and jazz, and they remind me of home. When these artists died, '..they disguised traces of their essences as they sunk back into the clit of mother earth/So here I'm stranded/By peers reprimanded/Scorned for being different 'til I could stand it.' As a person who has ingested the aesthetic and art as my life, my religion, my 'Bible', I can't be from this planet. The fact that I am synonymous with art restructures every racial bias and boundary, putting the power of creating my identity in my own hands, as well as the power to exist in the world without adhering to the legalism that these categories usher in. I determine what it means to be 'Black' for me, and I even determine if I want to do away with that label, for the letter kills, and the spirit gives life, to steal from the Apostle Paul. Sometimes we're not understood by others and even ourselves, as these oracles and emotions come through our earthen vessels to you, oracles and emotions we have no control over. I say about this 'And I wondered why they'd run when I use my pen/It would pierce them/I only saw it as red wet paint/I knew not it was a bloodbath/Cus when I spoke the darts they laughed' Art that cannot be readily understood (read Walter Benjamin's 'The Artist as Producer') is shunned by the masses many times. Skech 185 catches this sentiment best when he exclaims 'Fuck if it's real, I need some shit that I can ride to/You're all being lied to' That is the 'running' that takes place when people flee from what's real. It pierces them as soon as they hear it, see it, etc. It slaps them out of their dream of rims, hoes, business as usual, and confronts them with the grittiness of a failing economy, racism, poverty, and outdated models of God that cannot speak to these ills. We, who wield this presentation of reality as it is and not as the record company told our favorite rapper to tell it to us, are ridiculed many times. 'That's that weird shit. We don't want to hear that. Throw some d's on that bitch.' Our speech and way of life is 'otherworldly'.


Lana sums up the song perfectly with her chorus that entraps us into the heart of the song, and bring this very heart to each of our chests. She says 'We meet in between these two worlds/We come together as one/We are against the world/Me and you/And I love you too. As soon as I.B. and I heard it (a piece that she freestyled in the studio), we were like, 'That's it!" I almost cried. Wonderful. But this is exactly what is. Brother and sister meet in this song, even if only in passing. We're not from here. If you're not from here, come back home with us. Let's join with this world and help to change it before we take our spaceships to that Electric Church in the distance.

IB Fokuz Commentary on trk 3: Sophia

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TOHTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.

Sophia, a beauty in itself...

This trk really hit home as soon as me and Gilly put our pens to paper. But don't get it twisted, we took our time with this one. And the reason why we took our time, is because this subject had so many interpretations and many broad feelings on it. So taking a stab with our point of view had to be honest and most important, relatable, or in other words inspiring. That's why our verses reflects the present of the now so much. Building imagery on our own individual paths, evolving as this spiritual energy embraces us all one way or another. My verse really broke down my view and position as an emcee and where I stood spiritually. This song was beyond the flesh, this song is a mirror image of who we really are inside. Now a days, I believe our children are not being taught about how precious life is and what they can accomplish if they knew how important their voice and actions were in the center of these days of confusion. And I think its me and my comrades responsibility to speak on these issues whenever we have the privilege of open ears at our doorsteps. Gilead pretty much explain in detail where we were going with this, so I guest you can take this as a certain state of mind we were in, when created this trk.

It doesn't matter if you're catching the holy ghost or catching Sophia, it will always be that force of energy that you capture in it's brightest moments. It makes you feel free from the dark days and daily stress that is poured in your cup every time you walk out your door. When you find Sophia, you lead by example.

Until next time, Peace.
I.B. Out

Track 3 'Sophia'..Gilead7's thoughts

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TOHTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.

I'm writing this from the back of Cafe Florian on 57th St. Sitting with my laptop (peace to 2nd thought, who came through with the goods). Got a lot of songs in my ITunes library. This makes it hard to decide on what I should listen to. The collection of songs overflows with creativity. So much creativity. This is really what the 3rd ADVENT song 'Sophia' is about.

We're gonna go with Simon and Garfunkel's 'Scaroborough Fair/Canticle for now. On to 'Sophia." It's a hard concept to describe (at least for me), so theologians reading feel free to add or correct me.  In the book of Proverbs, what has been translated in some English versions as 'wisdom' comes from the Greek, 'Sophia'. The original Hebrew word is 'hokmah'. Sophia can be translated as 'God's creative agent in the world.' In other words, the creative work of God is carried out by Sophia. In the Gospel of John, the term 'logos' serves a similar function (thanks in part to Philo, a Jew who had become Hellenized, and spoke of wisdom as 'logos', or that through which all things come into being) with the author of this Gospel asserting that Jesus is synonymous with God's creative agent in the world (and the 'logos' was made flesh). Sophia can thought of as the life giving and life sustaining force of the universe; the ultimate guiding reality that humanity should strive to encounter and emulate. That's what this song is all about. Hendrix's 'The Wind Cries Mary' is blaring through my headphones right now btw. 

I haven't told you anything about the song. Irresponsible me. I.B. and I are at a point in our artistic lives where our creations need to to be recognized by a wider audience. Not just on some fame shit. We believe that our music has a significant contribution to pay to the world, with all of its joys and ailments. We have a lot to learn from Sophia, this endless ultimate creativity that impregnates the universe. So, we're not gurus who have something that the rest of you don't. We're on a journey with our lives and our art to pursue as much as we can handle with our 'feeble ass minds' to quote Reverend X The Spirit of Truth. This song is simply our speaking openly about a journey that all of humanity is on, and we 'glue our hearts to the millions, to the children that walk /their own path to find out they really wasn't lost'. That is the background of the song. 

The 'text' of the song reflects just what I've said, Let me point out some ways how. I should probably listen to Susan McKeown's version of 'Johnny Scott' while I type this part. Let's click that up. IB speaks about in the 1st verse about how his situation is '..portholes jammed,' and also references about how artists who take the road less travelled and create authentic art are overlooked. He also implies that those who chase after passing fads of music and urban culture (like many commercial musicians do) were on the path toward Sophia just by being alive but they have become sidetracked by what corrupt record labels and cultural norms have told them they should be. He says,' the gat that you raise is just a flag/you can wave it all you want, but what it mean if you don't last?' I B assures us that following the organic nature of the universe, the creative agency of Sophia, the energy of the universe, is to a large degree innate, and we can get there by not keeping up with the Jones', but following our heart. Many times, this is what leads us to that wisdom, that wisdom that is so powerful it changes in ways that allow it to give answers to whatever period its seekers find themselves in.

Let me take it home while playing GZA's 'Beneath The Surface.' My verse hosts me reviewing my career. You'll hear it. But simply, I planned to be a lot further than I am in my creations, like overseas, on tour, etc. But where am I? I'm '...in holes in walls where I hold the steel.' As I find Sophia, which is a never ending process, my passion to spend my life doing art for the audience of the world and contributing to a harmonious universe become one. This is a level when you can't tell where Sophia ends and where I begin.

Briefly: The DaVinci Code samples at the beginning of the track simply enforce that Sophia comes in a variety of forms from Christian to Atheist, Masonic to Pagan, etc. Sophia is NOT any of these forms, but transcends them. Also, Sophia is very closely related to divinity in the Christian tradition. Much of the tradition would say there is no difference. Sophia is a female, and coincides with how God is referred to as female throughout the record. Go Bahamadia. Listening to Respect The Architect.

PS. The waitress in this joint is beyond beautiful. Beyond goddess. So be it.

WE'LL SEE YOU AT DARKROOM FOR THE SHOW ON THE 23RD>>>>2210 W. CHICAGO...FIRST OFFICIAL UNVEILING OF THE ADVENT IDEA

I.B. Fokuz commentary on Trk 2: Baptism

And we continue...

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TOHTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.

"Baptism" was a fun trk to do. "Just so you know", I asked Gilead to give me a CD of songs that he would like for me to sample so I could kinda get a vision and sound of where he wanted to take this project. And also, I felt it would be more of a comfort zone to have a sound scape that mirrors what he listens to on a regular and what inspires him as a fan. Like I said b4, I aimed to link his past projects to "Advent" but also letting the songs on this project bring imagery. I wanted it to feel like the listener can actually see his steps into becoming complete.

Since we started the album off with the self title trk "Advent"(explaining his transition from darkroom to death Penalty Shots to now). The next trk had to be that traditional 2nd song that kinda gets the album rolling. The sample I used came out to be very atmospheric to me, as if it was a breath of fresh air. So I suggested coming off "Death Penalty Shots" with dead bodies on the floor everywhere in the room and picturing this song as a door that he is finally opening, that leads him down a path of his own spiritual evolution. Which he executed perfectly!!! I can go on and on about how I feel about this trk, but really in my heart I'm curious to see what the people feel. So please, tell us your thoughts and tell us what you got from this trk: "Baptism". Until next week.
Peace
I.B. OUT!!!

Track 2: Baptism...Gilead7's thoughts

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TOHTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.

Ok ya'll...

To make up for this lengthy exposition of 'Advent', last week's track, this one will be a bit shorter. This is also because I have to finish a lecture on the relationship between theology and philosophy in 13th century universities and the major thinkers in this movement. Anyway, let's get to it.

This song contains a triumphant sample from Kate Havenevik's 'Travel in Time', found on her Melankton album. She opened for Air at a concert in Chicago that I attended along with the austere Pastor Jose Morales, Eli and Esteban Rolon. Morales (DJ Rhemaogix to ya'll trance/progressive heads) passed the record on to me, and I was like, 'We gotta sample this.' In the hands of I.B., the atmospheric sounds turned into a perfect introduction into a new way be of being me. IB uses hard yet elegant drums that complement the samples borrowed from Havenevik, thus creating a suitable red carpet entrance for a Tomorrow King. It's so suitable that a wretch like me hesitates to walk on it with my vocals.

Simply, this song draws from the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist at the age of 30 (Matt 3:13-17, among other places in the gospels of Mark and Luke also).  There are differing takes on the significance of Jesus baptism, but one that is commonly taken is that this baptism was a 'rite of passage' so to speak, after which was able to embark on 'fulfilling his father's will.' In other words, this was the precursor to his ministry of peace through violence to the current oppressive order, thus ushering in justice for all regardless of their religious, cultural, and class identity. I relate this to my own art, this song being my own 'rite of passage' into a way of being in the hip-hop culture that works toward a consciousness of the interelatedness of all people and things. In a brief sketch (not 185, peace to that TK though), my hip hop history has been about a thesis (Christianity and following it as it was traditionally articulated, as seen in my records up to and including The Darkroom), an antithesis (the departure I took from this in The Darkroom and Death Penalty Shots), and the synthesis of the two (the goal of ADVENT).  ADVENT is not about a turning away from me as was stated in my first post on the song 'Advent.' Rather, it is about a turning toward who I am fully, no parts excluded. After going through these joys and pains, I am finally ready to do that which I am supposed to do: use art to make humanity conscious of how the separate is more together than it realizes. For me, 'Baptism' is where the idea/reality/metaphor 'God' intersects with the world, for both are equally represented and enacted. In order for there to be a 'baptism', both God and the world have to be present. What sense does it make to go through a rite of passage and have nothing to pass into but some spiritual fantasy world that may not exist anyway? I'm reminded of John Wesley's phrase 'The world is my parish." For me, it's reciprocal. I can only save the world as I allow it to save me. 'That's what 'Baptism' is about. I shed the dross of useless battle rapping and struggling against ultimate reality and channel both the natural and the metaphysical to change my now into a rich later, and it inevitably changes me also. The song ends with a Deftone scratch from Common, '...writing for freedom.' I write for freedom. You write for freedom. Whatever you do, live for freedom. She will 'baptize' you into this freedom, and will be well-pleased with you.

Track1 Advent Commentary by I.B. Fokuz

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE SONG OF THE WEEK, GO TOHTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ADVENTISHERE TO LISTEN TO IT.

Man, where do I start. First of all, its a pleasure to not only work with another gifted lyricist, but a genius in our modern day times. Like Gilead said, I was very impressed by his first record dark room. I grew up in a christian household myself, so I knew what it was like to be taught about faith and God most of the years as a kid coming up. I honestly believe, that it is more easier for someone who grew up in the church to rebel against their teachings than someone who never was exposed to those certain teachings and accepts it as a breath of fresh air. The whole concept really touch me as a fan. This was one of the biggest reason why I wanted to do this record with him. At the time, he was just dropping DPS, his second album. I decided to link up both of his albums as an continuation with this album. It created a lot of imagery for his next journey and also mine. So here we are, "Advent".

The first track is actually the first song written and recorded, ironically. With this song I felt it had to represent his transition into a new and fully complete artist, so I wrote the chorus in a way to capture his past, his present and his future. His Advent! The first line for example, "I'm seeking, bleeding, leaking through this merit, Love/ It's got me possessed, I'm leaping like I never was/". It's like a search for a free spirit, which we all look for in some part of life, a reinvention of ourselves. Then I said, "Apart of this cycle, and whirlwind of nothing/ This darkroom is plummeting, I bound to shoot, busting/". There I was building imagery on his struggle with God and how he thought he was backed into a corner throughout his obstacles. Then moving on to, "Death Penalty, Blaw, its time to move rushing/ through this outer space that, makes us all function/". Everyone gets to that point, where there is something inside you that drives you, when you've had enough. It's like your on the edge, and no one can see things the way you see it at that particular moment. It's a magical moment in some cases. You learn a lot about yourself and your will in those moments. And ended it with "If you're ready to build and tired of it crumbling, Advent is here now, its time to change something/". That last line represents when you finally reach that point of knowing what you are capable of. It's your decision to change it or let it be. I think today, were not asked that, let alone taught. So a lot of people are lost in there own mental cave because they never knew how special they were to begin with. In a lot of cases we are not perfect by far or blessed to be presented with that type of thinking. In the world we live in today, they just say "shit happens". Nobody cares anymore!

So hopefully with this album, we can reach people that are caught in this state of mind and give them a boost from experience. Reinventing yourself could be one of the best things that can happen to you because there is a stronger confidants and a stronger vision for what the future holds. Well, that's my two cents. Look forward to talking next week about Track 2: Baptism, until then peace.

I.B. Fokuz