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emeng
Member since Sep 27th 2002
2942 posts
Fri Jun-08-07 02:53 PM

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49. "so many thanks for this"
In response to In response to 43


  

          

here's a link i just found to read while listening

http://derekbermel.blogspot.com/2006/12/mos-def-and-talib-kweli-rhythmic.html

Craig and Wendy busted my chops for not posting in a while, so this one is for them.

Mos Def and Talib Kweli are from Brooklyn; the streets they mention on their tracks are just blocks away from where I live. It’s a happy coincidence that one of my favorite albums is their Blackstar (1999). I especially appreciate the technical and lyrical features of the tunes: ingenious rhythmic variation, vocal gymnastics and modulation, extended jazzy riffs that draw out the length of the cadences, thwarting of expectation at line ends.

Of all the rhymes, I find Thieves in the Night ridiculously compelling. I've listened to it hundreds of times. Even in the first few lines of the opening verse, it is clear that Kweli is evoking the enjambment and multi-syllabic rhymes characteristic of virtuosic wordsmiths such as Rakim and Chuck D:

‘Give me the fortune, keep the fame,’ said my man Louis; I
agreed, know what he mean, because we live the truest lie.
I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye
He looked at me, he thought about it,
was like, ‘I’m clueless; why?’
The question was rhetorical; the answer is horrible.
Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow
and so tomorrow coming later than usual,
waiting on someone to pity us
while we finding beauty in the hideous.

The hypnotic refrain uses as its point of departure a quote from the final page of Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye:

“…we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not passionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life.”

Mos Def and Kweli paraphrase the Morrison quote, trading off lines (Kweli’s words are in italics):

Not strong, only aggressive
Not free, we only licensed
Not compassionate, only polite
Now who the nicest
Not good, but well-behaved
Chasing after death
So we can call ourselves brave
Still living like mental slaves
Hiding like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis making you look twice

(The last two lines are sung by both).

A quick time machine trip: back in the day (Three Feet High and Rising) De La Soul dropped unorthodox rhymes like Three is the Magic Number. Mase often begins a line with the final word (or even a flipped phrase) from the previous line:

Difficult preaching is Posdnuos' pleasure
Pleasure and preaching starts in the heart
Something that stimulates the music in my measure
Measure in my music, raised in three parts

Later on, Pos continues:

Focus is formed by flaunts to the soul
Souls who flaunt styles gain praises by pounds
Common are speakers who are never scrolls
Scrolls written daily creates a new sound

By echoing the last word of a line at the outset of the following phrase, Mase imparts a distinct quirkiness to the rhythmic flow. Back to the future: Mos Def recalls De La's quiet revolution, adding his own special twist. He initiates phrase after phrase using the same technique, but instead of an echo he manufactures a rhyme from the previous line (shown below in italics).

Most cats in my area be loving the hysteria
Synthesized surface conceals the interior
America, land of opportunity, mirages, and camouflages
More than usually; speaking loudly, saying nothing
You confusing me, you losing me, your game is twisted
Want me enlisted in your usary
Foolishly, most me join the ranks cluelessly
Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the looking glass
Walking the street, wondering who they be looking past
Looking gassed with them imported designer shades on
Stars shine bright but the light rarely stays on
Same song, just remixed, different arrangement
Put you on a yacht but they won’t call it a slave ship
Strangeness, you don’t control this, you barely hold this
Screaming brand new when they just sanitized the old shit
Suppose it’s just another clever jedi mind trick
That they been running across stars through all the time with
I find it’s distressing; there’s never no in-between
We either niggaz or kings, we either bitches or queens
The daily ritual seems immersed in the perverse
Full of short attention plans, short tempers, and short skirts
Long barrel automatics released in short bursts
The length of black life is treated with short worth
Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary
That type of illing that be filling up the cemetery

...and so on. Then Mos Def tops it off with a mind-bending second chorus, illuminating a new species of rhythmic variation: an internally generated rhyme, one that expands from within. Even the most intricate of Rakim’s rhymes are embellished externally; they don't undergo such nascent development. Below, the original lines of the first chorus (the original, loosely quoted Morrison passage) are shown in regular type and the internally developed exegeses in italics:

Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain’t directed
That’s why we are subjected to the will of the oppressor
Not free, we only licensed, not live, we just exciting
Cause the captors own the masters to what we writing
Not compassionate, only polite; we well trained
Our sincerity is rehearsed and the stage is just a game
Not good, but well-behaved, cause the camera survey
Most of the things that we think, do, or say
We chasing after death just to call ourselves brave
But every day next man meet with the grave
I give a damn if any fan recall my legacy
I’m trying to live life in the sight of God’s memory
Like that y’all

Also, notice the manifold internal rhymes, including the mirror scheme in the first two verses quoted above: ABBA (no Swedish pun intended). You have to hear this poetry in motion to believe it; the page can’t do it justice.

Nerdy digression (beware!): Messiaen’s concept of non-retrogradable rhythms (outlined in his Technique de mon langage musical) is another example of rhythmic cells expanding from the inside out. The process – probably arrived at through his study of birdsong or via his odd brew of faith and numerology – often applies to smaller phrases. But Messiaen does employ it in larger sections; for example in the Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jésus (the piece, incidentally, which inspired me to begin composing) themes undergo internal augmentation, stretched across ever-lengthening time values as musical material is inserted.

I’d bet that close analysis of Cecil Taylor’s or Eric Dolphy's compositions and improvisations would yield similar internal motivic development. And these types of structures have elements in common with Theme and Variations form (e.g. Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann…). But Blackstar achieve their variation with words, revealing layers of meaning that set their accomplishment apart from purely instrumental works. Their particular brand of rhythmic surgery – slicing open the chorus and expanding it from within – is a novel architectural model for rap music, perhaps for any song form.

Do such innovations have wider implications for composers and creators? Yesterday I was discussing this rhyme with my buddy G-Spot out in L.A., and he made an astute observation: “The structure reinforces the message.” It’s true; the circular and internal aspects of the development so clearly evoke the cycle of despair and the patterns of behavior that Mos Def and Kweli strive to elucidate in the song. Any breaking of conventional barriers can encourage artists of all stripes – consciously or unconsciously – to forge beyond the familiar. Blackstar made only one album, but in doing so they upped the ante immeasurably; for that I shall always be grateful.

  

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Mos Def was on another level tonight... [View all] , HighVoltage, Sun May-27-07 12:26 AM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
maaaan, i know that show was good!
May 27th 2007
1
Richmond, CA?
May 28th 2007
15
Nah fam, Richmond Virginia.
Jun 01st 2007
18
RE: maaaan, i know that show was good!
Jun 04th 2007
29
TOLD Y'ALL!
May 27th 2007
2
That sounds tight.
May 27th 2007
3
RE: That sounds tight.
May 27th 2007
4
the band was...
May 27th 2007
5
      Anybody recorded the show?
May 27th 2007
6
      no.
Jun 15th 2007
71
      Is Charles related to Roy Haynes?
May 27th 2007
8
      im not sure, but Charles was killin it all night
May 27th 2007
9
      The presence of ....
Jun 07th 2007
42
May 27th 2007
7
May 31st 2007
16
Are these cats touring?
May 27th 2007
10
for real.
May 27th 2007
11
bout time..
May 27th 2007
12
nope
May 27th 2007
13
wow
May 28th 2007
14
did you tape it?
May 31st 2007
17
RE: Mos Def was on another level tonight...
Jun 01st 2007
19
what up richmond!?
Jun 06th 2007
37
It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 01st 2007
20
i dno what rwq is but id love to see this..inbox if it pops up
Jun 01st 2007
21
RE: i dno what rwq is but id love to see this..inbox if it pops up
Jun 01st 2007
22
RE: It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 01st 2007
23
RE: It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 02nd 2007
24
*WHOOOSH*
Jun 02nd 2007
25
RE: *WHOOOSH*
Jun 03rd 2007
26
Oh shit, this is tight!
Jun 04th 2007
27
RE: It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 04th 2007
28
nice.
Jun 04th 2007
31
RWQ
Jun 05th 2007
33
RE: It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 06th 2007
38
RWQ
Jun 08th 2007
46
RE: It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 10th 2007
57
RE: It's driving me out of my miiiiind
Jun 13th 2007
61
I wish I had read this before...
Jun 15th 2007
76
His new flick Be Kind Rewind
Jun 04th 2007
30
uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 04th 2007
32
Holy shit!
Jun 05th 2007
34
RE: uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 05th 2007
35
RE: uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 06th 2007
36
RE: uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 07th 2007
39
RE: uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 07th 2007
40
RWQ
Jun 08th 2007
47
RE: uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 10th 2007
58
RE: uh, and another one (c) biggie
Jun 10th 2007
59
thanks!
Jun 14th 2007
68
RE: Thanks !
Jun 15th 2007
74
I'm tired of seeing Mos Def with a band...
Jun 07th 2007
41
1. you're crazy
Jun 07th 2007
44
      you are misinformed man.
Jun 08th 2007
51
BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 07th 2007
43
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 08th 2007
45
RWQ
Jun 08th 2007
48
that was a great read
Jun 08th 2007
50
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 09th 2007
52
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 09th 2007
54
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 10th 2007
60
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 13th 2007
62
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 13th 2007
64
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 15th 2007
72
appreciate the love...
Jun 22nd 2007
79
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 23rd 2007
81
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 23rd 2007
82
RE: BLACKSTAR shine bright....
Jun 25th 2007
88
RE: Mos Def was on another level tonight...
Jun 09th 2007
53
why you callin' him a bigot?
Jun 09th 2007
55
I guess it's kinda wrong
Jun 09th 2007
56
yo HV i know you got more tracks
Jun 13th 2007
63
what... like this?
Jun 13th 2007
65
      yesssssss! (m. albert)
Jun 14th 2007
66
      RE: what... like this?
Jun 14th 2007
67
      too good
Jun 14th 2007
69
      RE: what... like this?
Jun 14th 2007
70
      RE: what... like this?
Jun 15th 2007
73
      thank you sir
Jun 16th 2007
77
      got heat?
Jun 22nd 2007
80
      good.looking.out
Jun 24th 2007
83
      just like that! oh:
Jun 24th 2007
84
      I've been coming here a long time but...
Jun 24th 2007
85
      dude its not that hard
Jun 24th 2007
86
      I'm embarrased it took me this long to figure it out
Jun 24th 2007
87
RE: Mos Def was on another level tonight...
Jun 15th 2007
75
This is why I miss being up north
Jun 17th 2007
78

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