Attention powers that be!
We are the confused masses.
We are many although we don't have a means to give you an
accurate accounting of our total membership.
We are united regardless of the fact that we don't know how
or where to meet on a consistent basis.
We are organized in our own peculiar way.
We are passionate about the issues. What issues?
They change everyday. Sometimes
hourly.
We shall not be ignored any longer even though we can't be
sure we were ignored in the first place.
We will show up to the polls en masse...at least as many of
us as can find our proper polling places.
We will not be slaves to special interests because we cannot
launder large 'donations'. Utilizing tax
shelters is beyond our capabilities.
We will boycott if someone bothers to direct us where to
stand with our signs and bullhorns. Also
if someone could inform us where to obtain large quantities of both items that
would be immensely helpful.
Lastly, if the person reading this is not part of the 'powers
that be' please know that we sincerely apologize for taking any of your
time. We didn't know where to send this
message. On the off chance you know how
to get a hold of the aforementioned 'powers that be' we would really appreciate
it if you could forward this message to them.
Ah, waveriders. Good
of you to join me. Today I'd like to
fulfill my contractual obligation as a staff writer for The Ripple Effect and write
about a lost classic I believe is deserving of your attention. Yes that's right! It's time to jump in the way back machine and
focus our gaze on 1991, the year when the self titled debut album from Organized Konfusion was released.
As you might or might not know, depending upon how long
you've been reading this site, I love hip-hop.
It's true. As much as I need
distorted guitars, and believe me I desperately need them, I also have a
burning desire for intricate wordplay in my healthy listening pyramid. Vitamins and minerals people. A to zinc.
Fortunately there are albums like this one which I can rely upon for my
daily nutrition.
What qualities make Organized
Konfusion stand out to my ears?
First and foremost the two emcees delivering the rhymes are
exceptionally skilled. Prince Po (short
for Prince Poetry) and Pharoahe Monch both knock their verses out of the park
throughout the entire album. The two
men's varied speech cadences, rhyme patterns, and vocal tonalities easily
differentiate one from the other but in the end these differences work together
to create a compelling whole.
Second, this album is a product of it's time. That means that the music and beats are constructed
through sampling. It just so happens
that those samples of live instrumentation lend a truly organic feel to these
songs that I find more ear pleasing than purely electronic compositions. Also each one of these tracks is bursting at
the seams with lyrical content. I'm
talking quality and quantity here folks.
Prince Po and Pharoahe Monch both spit hot fire and the average of their
words-discharged-per-minute is off the charts!
Call me simple minded but I'm more inclined to be impressed by emcees
who unleash copious amounts of cleverly constructed rhymes than ones who
specialize in simplistic phrases repeated to fill time.
Intrigued yet waveriders?
I hope so. While you can stream
the entire album on youtube (and I strongly suggest that you do), I've embedded
two links to individual songs below in an effort to provide a glimpse of what this
monster has in store for you. The first
is the music video for the excellent album opener "Fudge Pudge". The second is for the altogether extraordinary
"Prisoners Of War".
Heed the lyrics of Pharoahe Monch who said, "C'mon
everyone let's flow to the rhythm of my tongue / To the rhythm of a
drum". You know what to do friends.
-Penfold
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