New Music: Parab Poet - Babelism

 

This week's new one comes via Parab Poet's new album, "Babelism."

Parab Poet is a Saskatoon MC and head of the Hip Hop Hippies (which includes DJ Chaps from Side Road Records.) Recently, he's been putting out some cool beat-tapes, but with the 9 track "Babelism," Parab Poet brings back the raps. And not only the raps, but the beats and mixing as well!

"Babelism" is a reflective life record and features Parab touching upon where he is spiritually, emotionally, and musically in these crazy times. The production isn't the most intricate, but it allows Parab's lyrics and flows to shine. The record also features a verse from the late Zumbi of Zion I.

Check it out!

Babelism

Zion I - The Search & the Seizure Mixtape (2008) / GoFundMe for the Gaines Family

 

 

So I felt like I pretty much had to share something from these guys... But what? Everything they've done is still pretty easy to get a hold of going back to their earliest tape EPs. Except...

I remember what really excited me about this digital mixtape was the closing track featuring an absolutely killer piece of sample work utilizing one of my favorite Muse tracks "Knights of Cydonia" (I'm not a Muse mega fan or whatever but that song is dope). However this mixtape, put out right before The Takeover (arguably the tail end of their golden era, although everything they've done since has been great as well) contains a great cast of rappers (K-Flay, Del, The Grouch etc.) and is a great example of that classic Zion I sound; melody driven D&B-y production with soulful thought provoking lyrics.

It's gone from their website, it's not featured on Bandcamp, but it's still up on his Dub CNN site which is where I believe I originally got it. They want me to direct downloads to them as opposed to sharing it myself, so go ahead and grab it right here. It's pretty ill I gotta say:

 

 Seize It!

 

So given that you've got the free goods, why not consider donating a bit to the Gaines families GoFundMe? Zumbi's passing left behind three young boys and it's a tough world out there especially lately. They're rapidly approaching their 150k goal but every little bit is I'm sure appreciated. Check that out right here.

Thanks as always for reading, see you guys next time!

R.I.P Steve "Zumbi" Gaines

 

 

I gotta say this one hit me hard. Not only do I have a tremendous amount of respect for Zumbi and his unparalleled ability to craft songs that bridge the gap between indie and mainstream while still remaining intelligent and real as hell, but it is entirely fair to say his work is the reason I ever gave hip hop a real shot, and consequently the reason I'm even writing on this blog today.

"Silly Putty" was a bit of a local hit in the early part of the 21st century, and I remember hearing it on the radio and being instantly captivated. The production was phenomenal and completely unlike anything I'd ever heard before, and the lyrics spoke frankly and sincerely about matters of the spirit with a wisdom and maturity that instantly made me a fan (at this point I didn't even know who the Grouch was, but his contribution to the song was obviously notable as well.) The song was especially important to me given that the type of music and especially hip hop coming out around that time was not to my liking at all. Sexually explicit for no real reason in very misogynistic ways, materialistic, unintelligent and just all around un-good. I guess it's all a matter of preference, but I will say that at 16 years old Zumbi convinced me to give rap a chance, and the rest for me is history.

Fast forward a bit, and I was staying at a friends house while completely unable to sleep. I did some digging around in his music folder looking for something to alleviate the boredom of listening to him snore and the discomfort of trying to fall asleep on hardwood. I found Mind Over Matter. I remembered "Silly Putty" and I let the album spin and was transported to another realm entirely. Amp Live's spacey drum and bass influenced compositions sounded to me at the time like the music one might hear in another dimension, perhaps even one that exists to accept us after we pass. Especially notable are the songs "Trippen", "How Many", "One", and "Innerlight (Icy Mix)" but the entire album is (in my very humble opinion) a serious standout in the history of hip hop and most especially in my journey into the culture.

Covid-19 is changing the course of humanity in all sorts of tragic and unexpected ways. Zumbi's death is to me one more reminder of how serious this disease is. But I didn't write this to speak on that. We hear it enough. I wrote this to take a moment to remember teenage me discovering hip hop, what I feel is the true "music fan's music", and for the first time being truly moved by poetry. I'm going to link that album. If you haven't heard it (very unlikely) please do give it a listen. If you have heard it, take some time to get reacquainted with it's magic and soul.

 

Mind Over Matter

 

 And if you don't already own it... I'm linking iTunes instead of my usual favorite vendor Bandcamp because it contains the Innerlight remix and Bandcamp, for some inexplicable reason, doesn't.

Zion iTunes

 

Stay safe and cherish each other. Thanks for reading.