It's Hip Hop Literature Time,Boys and Girls!

Some of you reading my blog may have notice the name Rhymeweaver popping up here and there every once in awhile.For those who do not know, dude's a,in his own words,a struggling rap artist hailing from Malaysia but currently studying in New Zealand (where the milk powder are melamine free) to be an English teacher. I met him in a friendster group for hip hop zealots,and RW, being the experienced rappuh that he is,taught us noobie rappuhs some tricks and shiznit on multiple syllable rhymes,recording techniques and other boring stuff to non-rappuhs.Anyway,I did a little post on his stuff awhile ago,and this will be another 2 cents worth on his new mixtape,The Rhymeweaver Presents THE MIXTAPE SERIES VOL. 1:Music From and Inspired by Classic Literature,or TRPTMSVOMFAIBCL, for short.Which is not exactly short.But I digress.

As the mouthful-of-a-title suggests,the mixtape contains 5 songs that took their sources from famous classic literature (well to some of you anyway),which includes Billy Shakespheare's Macbeth (Ambitions as a Rider),HP Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth (Night of the Deep Ones),and a couple of songs on the Holocaust and Hitler (Maybe RW read Mein Kampf as inspiration besides Maus),and one Persian poem,Layla and Majnun.OK,to be honest,I haven't read some of the original works before,so I cannot bitchfit and wail about how RW should omit or include certain parts of the original works into his songs.But not knowing in detail the classic literature could be a good thing since it won't spoil your experiencing RW's intriguing tales.But of course those who know the original work can easily relate to what RW is talking about.And now I have no idea what I am talking about.Anyways.

I remembered when I first encountered RW,he introduced himself as 'a rappuh that specializes in multis'.And this mixtape is sprinkled with multis all around,which IMHO is no small feat because the songs are basically stories told through rhymes,and every line that follows the previous must have a connection,therefore it is amazing that he can spit lines of multis that makes sense and does not interfere with the flow/plot of the story.With his vivid storytelling,fantasy worlds with eerie creatures,meticulous plans of murder and the horrors of genocide comes to life.

I did notice though that RW likes to end a lot of sentences with 'pair words' (well that's what my teacher calls it anyway)with the conjunction AND in the middle ,such as:
breathing and crying
good and faithful
bruised and painful
pain and hardship
corruption and evil
servants and friends
bitches and wife
spouse and his son
slow and hobbling
oval head and round ears
cold and rigid
etc etc...

I am not sure whether RW purposely use this type of rhyming or he wrote it without realizing it,I for one whore this technique to death when I was writing essays in secondary school,and personally I think pair words are excellent for describing scenarios and ..well all sorts of stuff.But it sounds kinda good on the ears lol.My favorite track off the mixtape is without a doubt Night of the Deep Ones (watup Jin!),where RW describes a creepy encounter between a man and some locals of a small town,which turns out to be bizarre hybrid fish-man creatures. RW told the story with such clarity that you can actually see the whole tale unfolds in your mind's eye.Not really feeling the love story though (The Eye of the World) since I am just a bitter cynical bastard.

For those who like classic literature told with a breath of fresh air,download this mixtape quick, or preview it here.I'm sure you won't regret it.For those who like dumb shit club songs,go download Nelly's new album and give this mixtape a miss.Another reason why you should at least give RW a try is because dude's a hardworking man; he actually included in the mixtape: the 5 songs,the lyrics,cover artwork,notes about the songs,the original works,RW's biography,RW's links, preview of his upcoming mixtape,link to feedback,AND a subscription.ALL FOR FREE. Respect,homie.

Weaving Rhymes

Alllll righty then..sorry RW I know this is a bit overdue,haha, but allow me to introduce you to a homie of mine,who goes by the name of The Rhymeweaver, I won't go into details about his info,you can get more of that from his page. I knew him in an online hip hop forum awhile back,and he shared some of his experiences and knowledge in recording and rhymes and songs-making and how to get fly bitches and drop fools.Joking on the last two.Anyway,he had an album called Hymns of Wrath & Passion (you can read about fellow emcee emcee david's review of his album here), and will be getting his mixtape out sometime soon.

There are several tracks that are released as a sneak preview to the public on his website, consisting of two audios and a video. One of the songs is Get Filled, a party track featuring his partner-in-crime The I.R.V. of his group Flow Finesse. At first I thought it weird for RW to release a club banger, since his other songs dealt with issues you would be hard-pressed to bump your head in a club to, but then versatility is something not many emcees can boast about,so I guess its all good.By the way,Get Filled reminds me of another wicked track,Return of the Tres by Delinquent Habits, which is also a fucking dope song (I really need to brush up on my adjectives,fuck it),man the Latinos really know how to throw gangsta parties.Anyway,throughout the song there are some clever metaphors and punchlines (to the average song listeners,YES,rap are about things like these,among other shiznit such as multi-syllabic rhymes,internal rhymes,flows,creative story telling,witty humor,serious issues,social causes,voicing for the oppressed,to delivery to breath control to pronunciation.But that's another story for another day.),the first line will make you prick up your ears ("Yo I pound mics like sterling",get it?pound?sterling?no?),however IMHO I think the I.R.V.'s pronunciation could be improved since I can't really listen to what he is saying,but besides that its not bad.Go to his page and check it out.

Another song is Forbidden Verses, which is about a traditional Malay black magic practice known as santau (What,no toyol?the little green man,not Khir Toyo), you can get more info on this forbidden art on his page.The first time I played this song,it was four in the morning.I was alone in my room, and the whole house was asleep,lights all turned off.I finished listening to the first verse,and feeling a wee teeny little bit sikit sikit eerie,decided to turn it off and go straight to bed.Thanks RW for the fright night.This is the reason why Asian ghost movies are so much more scarier,they are sooooo much closer to home.So if you are sitting in front of a window like I am,take a look outside.Anything there?No?You really sure that's a twig?Not fingers?OK I'm scaring myself so I'll just end here.