Rap Roots

While I didn’t say “Yo, yo, yo!” or the N-word a lot from 2005-2007, rap music was still very important to me in those times. It all began in early 2005, only a few months removed from George W. Bush’s electoral victory over John Kerry. Just when the republican junk was getting too much to bear, my brother James puts a CD in the stereo from a guy named Immortal Technique. My first Immortal Technique song was “Freedom of Speech” from the album Revolutionary, Vol. 2. When the words were flowing from his mouth like a raging river of lava and angst, I was immediately enthralled. I wanted to get the entire CD and hear more of this wise sage’s words. It didn’t stop there. I eventually started digging into the music of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Busta Rhymes as well. Just like Technique, these bands didn’t disappoint. They were my go-to rappers whenever the world became a colder place than it used to be. What do these rappers have to do with writing? Well, it’s because of these people that I started to get into poetry more often than I used to. Actually, my first poem came in the autumn of 2004, months before listening to my first Immortal Technique song. In a way, though, this first poem could be interpreted as a battle rap of sorts. I was taking a creative writing class at Olympic College and there was a student who was a huge asshole critic to the other authors. So I wrote a poem about him that insulted him, his mother, and pretty much every other family member he held dear to him. This poem, then called “Ode to Patrick”, gave me the confidence I needed to continue with the battle rap genre. Listening to Immortal Technique and other rappers gave me even more confidence to continue with poetry. I had a good base in 2004, but listening to rap music kept the ball rolling in the right direction. Ever since then, the ball rolled over my victims like a massive snowball filled with sharp crystals. But this was in 2005-2007. After that period in my life, I was strictly a heavy metal fanatic with bands like Nightwish and Soulfly assaulting my senses. I’m still a heavy metal fanatic to this day with bands like All That Remains, Disturbed, and Five Finger Death Punch doing even more for my fucked up brain. As far as the battle raps are concerned, I’ve stopped doing them since 2010, but I still write poetry of other kinds to once again keep the ball rolling. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you, Immortal Technique, for fighting the good fight and standing up for the little guy. Keep putting out those records of yours, because I’ll keep buying them!

　

***SKIT TRACK OF THE DAY***

“There’s more to life than how many women you have sex with. There’s more to life than how many girls you have on the side. There’s more to life than all that stupid shit. In the end, honestly, what matters most is the love between people and how much somebody cares about you.”

-Immortal Technique’s ex-girlfriend reciting “Truth’s Razors”-