I’ve talked a little about the political hiphop group, Big Brother Resistance (BBR) I was in during the late 90’s before on the blog. But I wanted to do a proper post, influenced as I have been by the Occupy Wall Street movement going on nationwide at the moment.
This song, Newspeak, was one of three on our first studio demo that we published ourselves on cassette-only in 1998. We even have a video for the track which I’ve embedded below.
I produced the beat — which is still one of my faves to this day. But the lyrics on this joint are the clincher for me. Tim T and Paul P dig deep and drench the track in Orwellian motifs, government/mafia analogies, heeds of warning pertaining to cybersecurity and much more. And the hook is catchy as hell.
I’ve asked the guys to transcribe their lyrics and they’ve graciously provided them below. Check out the track and read along! Then peep the video. Comments as always welcome!
Down with Big Brother! Truth Shall Be Uncovered! Broad is My Mind’s Landscape, No More Checkmate!
Lyrics:
(Paul P:)
Yo, the Men In Black flashin
Lower class, they try to move up
Proles can’t do shit, they silent like a tulip that’s hiding this mic, wired to the C.I.A.
Yo, the military secret agents, ain’t of age
Class wars is race wars
Ignorance shall suffice,
Bliss by soma, but only by your own knife
Shall you die, in your dreams?
The mentals come from the neuron streams and
War is peace, yo,
Ignorance: strength
You see, that freedom is slavery,
Slavery this wrench that’s,
Tightening around you,
Starting with your head,
Having thoughts ganked, means that you’re dead
Reduction of the language is happening today,
Narrowing our thoughts, and moving it they way
Ebonics and slang, they’re dissed by the media,
The government started it, but yo it wouldn’t seem that way,
Same as Newspeak.
Thoughts of 1984
Everlasting shall be the next World War,
But it won’t matter, ya’ll
Cause war will be standard, see?
Economically-beneficent they planned it, so…
Check ya self, don’t be played by The Man
Because he ain’t white or black, it’s just for what he stands so,Down with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more mental rapeDown with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more checkmate!(Tim T:)
Like rats, we scurry and fight for scraps
And get phone taps
For trying to beat raps,
The Heat, for pulling little con games,
Rackets and hustling and putting poor suckers to shame,
Now The Government’s the newest crime wave on the block,
Cause they put the Italians to their grave,
FBI,
Or should I say Henchmen?
And face the Cappadon when you look up at the bench, man
Police petty thugs trying to shake you down,
It’s just The Man,
Trying to take you down, man…
Can’t sell buddah,
Unless you pay the mob tribute
In the form of taxation, and there’s no dispute
Keep it on the d-low,
That’s the steelo.
Really it’s the only way that you could move a kilo,
That’s why,
Resistance must live in secret
The system’s in our face, so that’s how we beat it
That’s why,
Resistance must live in secret
The system’s in our face, so that’s how we beat it(Paul P:)
Tech-nique, Tech-nology, they got the same preface,
Totalitarianism in the future shall surface so,
Watch your back, son,
And don’t burn these books
Because I keep them from being banned,
Yo, I be a crook
Or a bad boy
I read the ones up off the shelf,
If you don’t know how to get em, son, you best go use some stealth
Or, check the new school: We be some cyber ninjas,
Log on to the Internet, but watch cause we’ll get in ya,
Systems like Jobe, Java Program, break the code,
I find ya shit: S.S. numbs and then download
It’s all real in these days, we got the crazy tech,
Proceed to number 9, kid, ya best protect ya neck,
And your brain, heart, yo, especially your mind,
You let em read your thoughts, and then youse left behind
You see, your nervous system, son?
It be your worst enemy,
And only I shall see the message that you’re sending me,
When intra-personal becomes inter-personal,
Communications happening and then all is well
Except for the fact that,
In this time and space,
Some forms of communication are a disgrace so…Down with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more mental rapeDown with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more checkmate!