After my pep talk to self on “Silver Lining”, I’m prepared to embark on this journey, this song represents a form of meditation to get aligned with my purpose.
This is one of the few songs that has some actual production beyond loops. However, it was all done on my Pioneer DDJ-200 controller. In 2012, Felipe Cuauhtli of Los Nativos, gave me a breakbeat that he played on live drums, which he titled “Rebirth”. At the time, I was DJing heavily, and a decent amount of those gigs were for, or at least had a prominent presence of, B-boys and B-girls, so this was to be an exclusive breakbeat for those moments.
I stumbled on that breakbeat while working on this album, and decided to try to do something with it. I don’t remember what led me to the Jackson 5 piece, but I found the part I wanted to try to loop before I tried to sync it in tempo with the drums, then before I did that, I noticed how it sounded. It wasn’t on beat in the traditional sense, but it sounded perfect. That’s what I mean in the first line, “Let the drums speak to your soul, while the sample represents a loss of control”, because the drums are strong and powerful and very intentional. Meanwhile, the sample is literally looped in at a random point that just worked, a metaphor for how some things in life work.
I actually tried to recreate this on the S2400, but could never get it to loop perfectly “wrong” again. Luckily when I originally happened upon that mistake, I recorded it straight into the DDJ-220, and loaded the file into Ableton so I could write to it, because I was never able to get it to sound the same. Sometimes the demo version is THE version.
This song is a perfect reminder to trust your instincts. I recorded a full demo version of this album, and I first sent it to a couple people (Jel and Lynn) to listen to on 11-12-2021, and then I sent it to a handful of more people over the next few weeks or so. Everyone who listened to it, AND also responded to me with feedback, commented on that song specifically as a favorite. It’s definitely one of mine as well.
As for the song’s concept, one central theme in my newer music is about being single, and the effect that has had on my happiness. This song blends that into the grander idea of searching for happiness, and some of the aspects that I think are a part of that, which is ultimately about the art of love. The love of artistic creation. The love we share with family, friends, and significant others. The love of the existence of love…which makes the scratch of Rakaa Iriscience of Dilated Peoples, all the more perfectly fitting.
LYRICS:
Let the drums speak to your soul
As the sample represents a loss of control
That’s the life that I know, I’m the type to go slow
In no rush, it’s a must, that I trust what I know
In a sense innocence can be intimate
Once you lose what you love, that’s the end of it
Even if it isn’t, that’s the way I treat it
Nurture it to keep it, keep no feelings secret
I’m open book, but I’ve been overlooked
Now I’m going nova, oh, the time it took
Is never what it seems, no matter how it looks
Applies across the board, just like a rook
This is just the hook, the verse is up to you
This is stream of thought, it’s inertia too
I’m a person who has a certain view
Of the importance of following your purpose through
I’m immersed in truth, riddle my verse with clues
The answer’s there whether it occurs to you
….remains to be seen, my chain's been released
I plan to roam free like a beast through the trees…
Forward to where I’m from…
So, far I have come...
(HOOK)
Forward to my future
Back to where I'm from
Following my path
In tune with the drum (4Xs)
