For the Rupublic (Tiberius Gracchus) [Track 07]

Edulution: 07 For the Republic (Tiberius Gracchus) - Apollo, Lyceum Recordz by Lyceum Recordz

Disclaimer: 
In my music and poetry Tiberius Gracchus is more of a mentality or character than an accurate representation of who Tiberius was as a historical figure. 

For the Rupublic (Tiberius Gracchus) is an intense lyrical spoken word poem, ultimately about exposing the truth and condemning those threatening the American democratic republic. Problems in America are therefore unabashedly explained with a vindictive tone and condescending rhetoric. “Amputate antecedence, leave regents in grievance” is the same as saying; I will remove/cut/truncate those who govern or are in power because I am a disobedient intellectual (“heathan of reason”) who will “poetically defeat men” that act in a hedonistic fashion (i.e. immediate self-gratification) and with a disregard for humanity and their fellow man.


In the For the Republic video I use the cover of Noam Chomsky's spoken-word lecture series called Propaganda and Control of the Public Mind. I flashed it in mocking a subliminal advertisement. Not only does Chomsky talk about who (Edward) "Eddie Bernays" is and how he "made a toy of the public stage" but it also expands upon how and why leaders in government and business have been trying to 'regiment our minds.'


One of the more important details of Chomsky's recording is that he talks about, what James Madison would call, the minority of the opulent against the majority. To make a long story short, there is a wealthy business class in the United States that consciously and actively sees the American public as a group to be marginalized and manipulated so that the important decisions in society are handled by those in power.  
Pleabs were Romes common-man. Tribune means representative and Tiberius was a plebeian tribune. Tiberius, a representative of the people, started a revolution and succeeded in instituting agrarian reforms that redistributed land and wealth throughout the Roman republic.  

The second verse explains the tragedy and scope of American problems while employing the use of the lyrical technique, alliteration. I have “skill with indignation (which means anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean).” “Industrial inundation, wast intoxication, make haste to save the nation, face inculcation, race to restoration” is my way of saying that industry is flooding the nation with waste, we must face the corporate ideology (inculcation), and race to restore our republic/environment.

The rest of the poem is fairly straight forward, with the exception of the forth verse. To be explicit “make infrastructure a commodity, instead of financial sodomy“ means to make the production of infrastructure a good/article of trade instead of bundling sub-prime mortgages, betting them in derivative schemes, and just ‘shuffling money around.’

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love Wins! Hip-Hop, History, and the Occupy Wall Street Movement!

Image
MLK Memorial in Washington  There are many individuals today who are quick to criticize hard-working, honest Americans like Russel Simmons; calling him a hypocrite for supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement--while owning a credit card company. Well think about this; Thomas Jefferson is seen as the quintessential patriot saying “all people were created equal” but owned a plantation full of slaves. The important thing to focus on here is that both Jefferson and Simmons are talking about the functionality of the system. They are saying that if we put the right policies into effect, it won’t matter how much money “I” make because it will be redistributed through taxes, for the benefit of EVERYONE! (In Jefferson's case, it’d be illegal to own slaves) ...And, since taxes are not currently redistributing the national wealth properly, “I’m gonna give (my money) away, anyways!” (Although, Jefferson never freed his slaves.) Still, like Russell says, his credit card company “don’t ru
Read more

Apollo vs. Dionysus (The Dichotomy Explained)

Image
Apollonian and Dionysian is a literary, philosophical, and/or psychological concept that represents the figurative dichotomy between Apollo and Dionysus in Greek Mythology. Apollonian thought is concerned with logic, rationality, perfection, art, beauty, clarity, self-control, humanity, and creation. While Dionysian is prone to excess, instinct, chaos, intoxication, destruction, passion, nature, the irrational, and the illogical. Friedrick Nietzsche expands upon this concept in The Birth of Tragedy where the hero and main protagonist of the drama tries to make order (Apollonian) out of his unfair and chaotic (Dionysus) fate. Apollo’s Music and Dionysus Rhythm represent the Apollonian and Dionysian forces. Apollo’s Music is an introduction of content and an overly chauvinistic style of lyricism that displays an eclectic vocabulary that would take a dictionary or years of education to fully grasp in meaning. And Dionysus Rhythm is designed to evoke an energetic relateability while be
Read more

Mind Control [Track 13]

Image
Edulution: 13 Mind Control by Lyceum Recordz "None are more helplessly enslaved than those who faslely believe they are free." - Johann Wolfgang Goethe  Mind Control picks up where The Rebirth of Hope left off. The intro sets the stage for the song's intensity and creates an allure that the listener is not going to necessarily like what s/he hears, but it is necessary to recognize because people are playing with your mind like it is a Nintendo game. The use of the word 'Nintendo' here is suppose to be as an inter-connecting reference to " Puss & Cush (Nintendo)."  The first verse touches on the reality of conspicuous consumption, how it is promoted by the corporation, and then continues to be perpetuated by mass conformity.  This pursuit for material wealth has us to the point of having trash heaps which leach methane gas.  The second verse is a whole mess of knowledge and information crammed into 16 bars!  Pluralistic Ignorance  i
Read more