size matters.

who needs a major when you’re rollin’ with the biggest label evar?!?

these folks hit me about participating in their campaign to draw attention to the Invisible Children Rescue Mission and i obliged.  i submit a track to their enormous compilation; all you have to do to DL the cut is register with the site, find my profile amidst a crapload of others, watch a short video about the organization efforts, then start all over.  at least that’s how it went for me and the homie.

so here’s what i’mma do:  i’ll give you the link to the song here, but just so that i’ve fulfilled any obligation to the folks puttin’ this thing together i’ll post a related video for you to peep.  that’s fair, right?

RA Scion – “kasase” – pronounced kuh-SAH-say

produced by MTK

lyrics to go (part 7 of 7, finally) “black patch war”

“There ain’t a thrill in the world to compare with building a business and watching it grow before your eyes.”

- James B. Duke

yeah, i guess it has been a minute.  no excuses and no apologies, let’s just keep it movin…

buried in this shallow and forgotten grave of previous entries you can find a most interesting response from an eager (not to mention well-educated) listener posted some months back.  he came on the offensive with pertinent questions about my connection to and interest in the Black Patch War.  was i aware that the Night Riders were comprised largely of Klansmen?  did i know that these lawless mobs who employed savage violence to pursuade poor farmers to join their cause also used the opportunity to lynch innocent black men?  was i, in fact, racist?  i was shocked; not at all by his interrogation and loose assertion, but by the fact it had taken nearly 6 months since the EP’s release for someone to raise the question.

not that i haven’t been suspected and accused of being racist before – i understand that comes with the territory.  being white and male requires you to be extraordinarily sensitive to the effects of your actions, your words, your silence.  i’m not a careful dude, but even at times when i haven’t been outright reckless i’ve been ignorant.  or arrogant.  or both.

but now,  in the context of this brutal and bloody War, what did it mean to a hiphop audience that i would appear compassionate and sympathetic to a splinter cell of the KKK?  well, you tell me.

guys are gonna wanna, go out and play sometime – just take this advice i give

‘possum hunters posse up, now

it’s in the name of the father we ride, right or wrong only god’ll decide (1)

dismiss diplomacy, don’t bother we tried (2)

they don’t play fair, the sharecroppers profits are marginalized

for law enforcement a farmer resort to homicide

we fought for our lives before this mess

check a storied past, patch of distress – a shred of dignity (3)

a scrap of prospect left in me, leave the pistol empty

shotgun got somethin’ for the enemy, it’s the

black.  patch.  war chant bangin’ on em

to fifth-third send word of another bank bombin’

ranks mobbin over the hilltop on horseback

surround the storehouse, four corners and torch that (4)

been in the poorhouse before and i don’t want that

for my boys, hear the voice at the point of contact, listen

don’t lose your self-respect, trying to gain revenge

advice to heed, yeah – follow the rules, i’ll lead

i plead ignorance to business affairs beyond the field (5)

but on the real what we’re dealing with here’s extraordinarily

heavy-handed – look where your property landed

now come play monopoly with vigilantes and bandits

i’mma stand this ground, with plans to expand the compound

interest rise over the cries of “man down!”

empathize with the planters of antioch, we can’t stop now

divine decree, and how

the flag of hoptown will be ours now, you’re under siege (6)

you’re one of these whether or not you wanna believe (7)

pledge allegiance – come the son’ll receive, the company be

numbered as somethin’ we hung from the trees ( 8 )

from the seas of judah move a multitude of discontented

consider me a spiritual descendant

woe to those makin’ unjust laws, what i sayeth

is like a modern-day isaiah

may the lord be the judge of my sins, look what we’re up against

more sufferin’, no support from the government

poor and covetous, i pour a cup and it’s

not enough to fill up – we’re overrunnin’ this

operation taken down, klan vandalism

a coups de gras for the law of the land’s evangelism

silent brigade engage in a whisper

send shock waves breakin’ – how you shakin’ a fist?  it’s the

black.  patch.   war chant bangin’ on em

a higher callin’ the fire of sodom rainin’ on em

Canaan fallin’ – flames rebuke the lot of ringleaders

this james b. a duke, not a king

he as savage as the pack he employed, capital gradually

voided, now flatter me or see your tobacco destroyed, listen

don’t lose your self-respect, trying to gain revenge

keep in line, see the sign, victory is thine

he the vine, we’re the branch where the fruits borne (9)

and some of y’all been on there too long, spoiled rotten

the regiment developin’ a loyal followin’ (10)

contest and rest under kentucky soil – not a problem

all i’m askin’ for is a fair market at the auction

i put my work on the block – gimme my portion (11)

a good return and if not, i’ll put the cross on em

target for the marlin – amoss endorsement

this manifest impressed on parchment – y’all can read, right?

figured the herod-type particularly erudite

terms affirmed by the testament of old

where the servants learn – test ‘em with gold, yeah we got that

armed for combat, over crop tax

cease the fraud, you aint god, damnit – stop that

1) blind fanaticism;  it’s plagued humanity for centuries, and just as it was the basis of justification for violence and aggression toward non-conformists throughout europe, so was it the authorization to fight non-compliance in the south.  “only god can judge me” =  no accountability to man.

2) it is a well documented fact that the independent tobacco farmers of kentucky and tennessee tried for years to fight corporate interests through various channels of state and federal legislature.  they were unsuccessful.

3) check this link for a brief history on the region’s long-standing state of depression.

4) burning down warehouses used to store corporate-owned tobacco was a common tactic employed by the vigilantes.

5) sure, we’re not talking about highly sophisticated, degree-holding executives here – we’re talking about farm folk.  it was important for me to acknowledge the humility in this regard; the arguement was never about what was good or bad for business as a whole  – a point often times lost on those who are not students of business and markets and trade.  the real issue was respect for the order of things.

6) a reference to the brief coups that usurped power in hopkinsville on december 7, 1907.

7) coercion, duh.

8 ) possibly the greatest cause of consternation for those already uncomfortable with the direction i’m headed in here; yes, it’s a reference to lynching,  a clear threat to the organization of the american tobacco company that the night riders would resort to such acts if pressured.  the reference was never intended to glorify or otherwise condone the motives behind the lynchings carried out by the Klan.

9) self-righteous, but ever reverent.

10) some estimates say the silent brigade was well beyond 5,000 members strong.

11) a slick metaphor – you see what i did there, bringin’ the old and the new together?  try to keep up, would you?