Thursday, March 8, 2007

Conscious Hip Hop

I got this question from one of my friends and decided to talk abit about it here. What does a 'Conscious Brand' of Hip hop mean? Is it more along the Common/Musiq genre? Socially aware hiphop?

Conscious Brand of Hip Hop:
Common Has His Heart In The Right Place.
There Needs To Be Someone With
The Revolutionary Vision of Che,
The Word Play of Eminem,
The Story Telling Ability of Nas,
The Ability To Produce Loving Vibes as Bob Marley,
The Courage To Bluntly State The Problem as Tupac Did,
Yet The Heart & Dedication Towards A Solution To The Many Divisions That Define Our Modern Society.

Conscious Meaning Conscious Of The Many Forces
That Go Into Manipulating Reality/Perception. The Revolutionary Quality
Comes Into Play Because Once We Understand What Is Really Going On, We Make A Conscious Decision To Bring About Change. I Hope I Didn't Overstate This Answer, But It Is My Life Project, So It Is Hard To Summarize.

Who is Opm1??

Opm 1 is both a Hip Hop Artist & Producer. From a young age, Opm 1's multi-cultural background has allowed him to relate to the realities of people from different cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Opm1 is an international rapper in the truest sense of the word. His musical inspiration has come from all corners of the wrold where he has lived and travelled, from Italy to Egypt, from Jerusalem to Switzerland and all over the United States. This diversity is reflected not only in his musical expression but in his broad fan base as well, which is racially, religiously and culturally heterogenoeous as Opm1 himself.

His music has attracted audiences not only for its undeniable musical power, but for its lyrical prowess as well. Strongly influenced by the life and struggles of revolutionaries like Martin Luther King and Che Guevara, his lyrics are at times thoughtful, at other times angry; but nearly always 'revolutionary' in their bend. Opm 1 doesn't shy from pointing out the hypocrisy in much of today's music, while embracing a delivery which shares much of the same appeal of today's top artists. Stylistically OP has been compared to Jay-Z & Eminem, yet he offers a message which has the potential to resonate with an even wider audience. Not a purist, however a 'mainstream' sound can still be heard in occasional songs like "Stripdown," in which he considers an artistic transgression of sorts, or as he puts it, "one of my many bad habits," but one that fans seem to more than forgive.

His skill in freestyling, and his unique ability to tantalize audiences with his occasional seamless transitions to verses in his arsenal of foreign languages, are earning him a growing respect in his native Bay area. He is one of the most prolific artists, having produced already three of his own full-length LP's, and among the most original acts to emerge in recent years. Poised to explode onto the hip-hop scene, Opm 1 will soon be a hard presence to miss, and a tough voice to ignore.


------
Want your music to sound as classic as Opm1? Then produce, mix, master and create beats for your project using our newly updated studio located in Pinole. Op will personally handle your project until it sounds more classic than what's on the radio today. Contact us via email to set up details.

Monday, March 5, 2007

On the Reality of Paradigm Conspiracy!!!


This is an essential article on "Paradigms" and "Conspiracy". I found it extremely captivating and enlightening. Please check out the article and spread the word. Thank You!

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Jerusalem

Who is Che?

Who is Che Guevara? A random google search can depict to you the many sides of Che, some see him as a villian, some see him as a legend, some see him as a terrorist, some see him as a new world bringer. I see him as a Revoluntionary.

Che Guevara was a freedom fighter. The imperialist presence in Cuba meant that the peasantry and the country side were exploited, that the resources were extracted.

See, the Capitalists always believed that they had the right answer and on
top of that they had a hunger to further accumulate capital, from the slave
trade to the modern day they have always been about one thing, and that is
selfish gain at the expense of someone elses freedom. So what Che did was
to stand up for the many people he came to call his brothers. The common
citizen whom he came to love and represent. So he stood up against an
imperialist regime backed by the United States and succeeded in liberating
the people from this rule and introducing education to parts of the country
that had never had it. He stood for brotherhood, freedom, revolution away
from the overbearing forces of imperialism, truly act as a modern form of Colonialism.

Interesting, because this country has really
pushed the negative image of communism to the point where people associate it with a failed regime and of course they love to point to Russia as the Prime Example of this regime being doomed to failure. Well, Cuba, contrary to what some people might think, is in fact a Prime example of how Socialism has a greater commitment to the people, their livelihood, their education, while sustaining a sense of togetherness, brotherhood, and connectedness.

So, I see in Che a man that wasen't afraid to risk his existence in the name
of a movement that would embetter his people and eventually even all across
the world. He travelled to Africa, where he made a great effort to
introduce his movement as a way to counteract neo-colonialism/imperialism
..>..>and strengthen the concept of a social movement for the people. There are
many people ready to lay their lives down for an ideology that seems to
sustain ethics, democratic principles, freedom, etc when in fact it
contradicts itself in its attempted union with capitalistic principles which
are founded on exploitation. An irony that makes this self-righteous beast
doomed for self-destruction.

Well, I hope this sheds light on some of my views; there is a lot more to it. My perspective is highly influenced by a Universal Spirituality that does not answer to any mans Worldly Dialogue but to a greater force that defines Truth in a larger sense then just what we are conditioned to believe.