Category: Intellectual Hip-Hop

(read the full story here) “…Why this title? Being a white Western male abroad, you travel trailing centuries of history behind you. You are always White Man – you can’t escape that. This album is partly an attempt to shine some honest light on myself as White Man, along with that long tail of history and the ugly little elephant-in-the-room I travel on.

It’s also partly a homage to the humanity and courage of the people we met in Iran, who lead their lives in the shadow of an oppressive regime but still remain so hospitable, warm and funny. I promised I would tell the world some of your story – here it is.

And of course, White Man (Moves) is a scrapbook for the memories of good times and brilliant people met over the course of an adventure. With that in mind, I dedicate this album to all those people – this album is full of the sounds of your voices and your streets. Finally, I offer White Man (Moves) to Laura. I never remember to take pictures, but here’s something to remember our trip by.” -Dizraeli

“Welcome to the mixtape. These words woven from old ideas & new perspectives are not something I came to alone. I’m blessed to be in community with some next-level magickal individuals. Much of what motivates me to make & share music is the abundance of inspiring conversations & ideas condensing from the unique atmosphere in our Appalachian holler.

Amidst mass media fear-mongering, I don’t believe I’m alone in hungering for authenticity, revolutionary conversation & solution-oriented ideas. I felt called to export some of these rare tropical fruits of thought & perspective to contribute my small part to the larger conversation.

Evolution is the topic. How are we going to adapt to all the ways things are changing? This mixtape is a freely given gift to hip hop culture which has given me so much, and anyone who desires to live in a more beautiful & harmonious world.” ~Numinous the Bard

“Orlando-based rapper/singer E-Turn will release her third full-length, Young World, this fall on Fake Four Inc. Backed by the soulful, melodic boom bap of Swamburger (Solillaquists of Sound), E-Turn utilizes a multitude of deliveries and croons to issue a call to arms against the maladies of modernity.

The title of the album refers to how in the grand scheme of history, life as we currently know it is extremely young. Hip hop is young, too. While early returns of the digital age are awash with tales of rampant greed, cruelty, and alienation, E-Turn expresses hope that the tools at our disposal can be used for the greater good of humanity. And hip hop, at its best, can play its part. Entertainment helps us forget ourselves. Art helps us remember ourselves.”

“Special thanks to every brethren and sistern from around the world that are featured on this album. Special thanks to Amos The Ancient Prophet for making this happen. And many blessings to all my brothers and sisters from our mother earth. Let love and happiness continue to fall upon you always.”

“Ghost Pipes (Monotropa Uniflora): Herbaceous perennial plants native to temperate regions of Asia, North America and northern South America. Their lack of chlorophyll gives them their characteristic translucence which lead to the common names of ghost pipe, corpse plant, ice plant, and ghost flower. These rare heterotrophic plants can grow in near total darkness since, unlike photosynthetic plants, they do not draw nutrients from the sun. They instead pull sustenance from surrounding tree roots and forest brush via mushroom mycelium. This relationship is not symbiotic, it is more parasitic in nature. Though the ghost pipe does not contribute anything of known value back to it’s host, humans have discovered valuable uses for the plant. While the entire plant is technically edible, this is not the best use. Through extraction, M. Uniflora has been found to create an effective pain relieving tincture helping those with both physical and emotional suffering. It is said not to erase the pain entirely, but to put the person beside the pain in a more cognitive sense of acceptance.
These songs are ghost pipes for myself and others.” – Anthony Maintain

“As an openly queer rapper, Texas’ Chris Conde combines the classically detached spheres of hip hop, indie rock and avant-garde experimental art punk of the drag variety. In their sometimes hysterical but always poignant bars, Conde strives to relate to their audience through an honest communication of their personal narrative of overcoming drug addiction, internalized homophobia and self-acceptance.”

“Five years after releasing Return of the Astro-Goth, Yugen Blakrok descends from the vast cosmos and delivers to the world an impressive lesson in style, with her second album Anima Mysterium. Far from the stars but heavy with their radiant wisdom; it’s towards Earth, humanity and the obscurity at its core that the South African rapper directs her incantations.
Accompanied by Kanif the Jhatmaster’s beats, Yugen’s flow sows the frontiers of a world where the subconscious frees itself and confronts man with his most hidden secrets. Yugen’s poetry has something Ovidian, depicting her as an agent of Metamorphosis, a reincarnated goddess in terrestrial form calling humanity to itself.

“Why in the deepest darkness my soul beams like a lantern, Engineered in female form…silent carrier of the force, I’m a sandstorm in desert dunes, a shadow with a torch” Land of Gray, Yugen Blakrok”