◊Conscious Hip-Hop◊

Spirituality + Philosophy + Lyricism

Inspiration: Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ramana Maharshi, Lao Tzu, Luca Brazi, Eckhart Tolle, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Shunryu Suzuki, Gangaji, Papaji, Buddha, The Dalai Lama, Thomas Merton, Adyashanti, and Tarthang Tulku, Dr. Amit Goswami, Richard Feynman, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Daniel Goleman, Rick Hanson, Brian Greene, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi, Paulo Coelho, Robert Lanza, Walt Whitman, David Quinn, Albert Einstein, Deepak Chopra.

BLACKOUT Album Description:

"The songs wrote themselves." -Paedsu

Spiritually inspired and philosophically jam-packed with deep metaphorical trenches every scale of the way, this hip-hop album seeks, among other pursuits, to engage the listener in a "tour of the mind." The first five tracks consist of an "inner journey," primarily aiming to shed light on various spiritual topics with strong taoist, advaitic, buddhist, mystic, and christian elements to illuminate an undertone of "oneness." The next portion (tracks 6 & 7) aims to expose and shatter various conditionings and preconceptions held about the state of the world, drawing on various topics of "conspiracy," such as the notions of "psychological warfare," "consumerism," and "The American Dream." This is not to say that such conspiracies expressed are true, rather the artist wishes simply to bring them to mind as intellectual pieces worthy of consideration. The final two tracks seek to gradually shift the focus of attention away from the illusion cast by society at large to the illusion cast by the mind, often referred to as the "ego."

Although each song focusses on a fairly specific theme, there is a mixture of spirituality, philosophy, and conspiracy prevalent in all of the tracks. Furthermore, much of what is expressed is not meant to be taken literally, but instead, a more metaphorical approach is necessary to adequately grasp the ideas being presented in this album - as some say, it requires "reading between the lines." The artist dubs this genre of intellectually and spiritually engaging lyricism, "conscious hip-hop."

A final note: Most of the work on this album was produced and written spontaneously, with the words and melodies simply appearing upon the forefront of consciousness, making their way down into the pen or keys in an unobstructed flow of passionate disengagement. The artist hardly feels the ability to take credit for this work, proclaiming that "the songs wrote themselves."