TREIZE & TRUTH VOL. 6

So it's been a minute--I know, but don't worry, keep reading and there's a surprise in store for ya. So right now I'm in the midst of maybe one of the most stressful periods I've had this summer. I have two finals, two papers and just got done with a 20+ page statistical report so needless to say I'm a little peaved.

Anywho, on to more positive things--there has been a lotta creative blood flowing and I'm not gonna lie I got an unexpected source of inspiration from two separate sources.

1. Sooo the beat challenge. Tried to scrunch my way through it, putting out sub par material. Not so much in that I didn't try, but it was more a result of my eagerness to enter the competition before it was too late. So I put out my "illest" track with one focus unfortunately. Sound. Now listen to me because we're about to get into some good stuff if music's your thing. There are several things that go into a good track--the most important things being musicality (sound, flow), lyricism (the substance in your rhymes, clever punches, good stories, etc) and in some cases marketability (catchy tunes, easy to follow, appeals to a mainstream demographic). There are more, but it's my belief these are the essentials.

Mainstream media, at least in the musical arena, desensitizes many to the more literary and substantial elements of music and rap. Lyricism gives way to high end production for musicality and an image for the masses, a "marketable" message. The controversy surrounding issues like why Common or Mos Def, who are obviously better artists than maybe soulja boy (I actually like the guy, but he's an obvious foil here) don't sell nearly as many records. Well first, what makes Common and Mos Def better in the first place? They have a substantial amount of lyricism, basing their rhymes on reality, teaching, themes and larger ideas. They follow literary trends in the shaping and structure of their music, causing it to best represent a fusion of music and poetry. The sound, most times is good, but typically underground and "true" hip hop beats fail to make up for the lack of marketablility present in the artists. They define themselves by sticking to the original roots of hip hop, that is counter culture delivery and a concern for what comes from their mouths. For this reason, they are less likely to appeal to an uneducated mass whose priorities are sex, mayhem and the reinforcing of negative stereotypes. All mainstream music isn't bad and all "true" hip hop artists aren't good. The fact is I produced a relatively mainstream track that when put under a microscope and analyzed for its true quality, won't hold up against tracks that "speak" to people and reflects substantial thinking and effort. This is why I (and apparently a lot of you) felt Meadsazanck deserved the title. He wrote better, gave you something to think about, not just listen to. This was inspiration no. 1

2) Reading Queen and everyone else's comments basically showed me that the standards by which I make music must be defined by a true feel for the world around me. I have to actually produce memorable material. All the more clear was this fact when I looked at the best lines in Queen's opinions. Quite frankly, I was in last place.

So I hit the proverbial booth, lit a fat one and decided to really just spit what the hell I was thinking, regardless of what type of shit I think people wanna hear. I didn't necessarily want to write about some deep, depressing topic, but I did want to tell a story and make a point. So the experiment began with a beat I picked for my (shameless plug coming up) solo album (A beat ironically picked for its ease of use with the autotune Tpain effect) and I went back to tha dirty southern style of rap that I grew up on and did when I was a kid. To give you an idea, think Pastor Troy, Master P. I'm an english major, so I knew I could add some good lyrics to the mix and after a few minutes of just doing TREIZE, I came up with what I consider to be one of my favorite tracks. It's definitely going to be a track on the upcoming SC APPROVED mixtape and my solo album. Oh the surprise! Almost forgot, here's an exclusive preview of the fruits of my labor.

TREIZE- Blazed