In Your Corner by Revolution

"In Your Corner" by Revolution, a West Philadelphia native, is a very refreshing, positive and encouraging hip hop track focusing on loyalty, integrity and love, real love, the type of love that only comes from true loyalty and integrity.  Revolution is not only a skilled and artistic lyricist, he also endeavors to uplift his listeners through his music, other creative arts, and through cultivating friendships, evident in his latest track "In Your Corner."  Check out the laid-back feel-good video for the tune below:

Not just because I spent a good bit of my formative years growing up in West Philadelphia, I tend to really appreciate the hip hop that comes out of Philly, from Eve to The Roots to Cassidy and even Will Smith (his earlier stuff).  A good deal of philly hip hop always comes across genuine, authentic, community-driven, and Revolution's music fits this mold as well.

The song "In Your Corner" speaks of something I consider a rare and lost art.  Loyalty.  The ability to stand by a friend through right and wrong, ups and downs, thicks and thins.  An act lost in today's society due to a lost in overall integrity.  Getting flustered and lost in others' judgements of us, we tend to drop integrity, devalue the worth of our word, hold and give little trust, and often find ourselves feeling is if we have no one to call on, not realizing it's because in possessing no integrity and putting forth no loyalty, we in turn receive no loyalty and integrity from the ones around us.  A self perpetuating act that leaves trust, few and far in between.

Revolutions brings it back and informs us to take pride in loyalty, exercise it and allay any distrusts by simply letting your friend know straight-up that you are in their corner and willing to fight with them when they do not want to battle alone.  He drives these points hope with poetic glory throwing in lyrical gems such as:

• "When you're running through the flames, I'll be there running too.  I'll meet you at the finish line, waiting right in front of you."
• "To everybody special in your life, take time to let them know that you will never take flight.  You're still there whether they're wrong or they're right.  You're still up in their corner, you're along for the fight."

 Leave a comment on his youtube video, and stay in his corner by checking out his website at revolution-musik.com, and showing some loyalty!

Analyzing Integrity by way of "Tailspin" by Manteye

Tailspin by Manteye is an Americana-esque pop rock tune headed up with a soothing piano line, hints of a soulful organ, and headed up by thoughtful well-sung, catchy vocals.  Manteye showcases a wide range of vocal emotion in this song, along with a respectable knack for writing not only a great hook, but moving lyrics.



A lyrical phrase that caught my attention in particular: "It's as if integrity don't mean nothing anymore.  It jest wears down all your defenses."  People tend to assign power to the wrong things and un-assign it from the right things.  For example: feeling a sense of power in anger, threats, sarcastic wit, physical force, et cetera (as opposed to recognizing these things for the weaknesses they truly are), and finding weakness in truth, altruism and integrity.  Truth has always held the power of faultlessness, now we see it as a crutch or view it as an unintelligence.  True altruism possesses the power of strengthening yourself by strengthening others, and now it is viewed as an inevitable response to being conquered.  True integrity was once a source for one to possess power: acts of chivalry by men, acts of keeping-ones-word by officials.  Now, with the death of chivalry, and the unpopularity of principals, acts of integrity and the holding of a true and consistent moral value system is seen as a weakness, an insecurity that must be guarded.  So when one's integrity is questioned or put to the test, our defenses are challenged and slowly worn down.  It's when we reevaluate and begin to see integrity for what it truly is, strength and power, that our drowning tailspin will end in glory.

Rainy Day by Rubin

Now this is the type of art for us Whimsicals of today!  Rainy Day, enamel acrylic on canvas by contemporary artist Anya Rubin, embodies an unconventionally beautiful yet accurately fragmented depiction of modern day reflection.  With many different shapes, trials and happenings piecing together to for the gestalt of a wistful, or perhaps patient, seated female figure, Rubin accomplishes the very difficult task of conveying to you exacltly what she wants you to see, yet allowing you the opportunity as an art lover for vast interpretation.  TV Fish Bowl hales Rubin's art as revealing " what could be called the collective consciousness of contemporary society," as she capitalizes on the concept of forming a whole through the synergistic collection of many moving parts.

 

 I like this piece on a social level because it is easily appreciated by contemporary art connoisseurs due to it's undeniable confidence in conceptual prowess, yet accessible also to those unfamiliar or even disinterested in modern art or art all together for the very same reason.  It speaks.

But I like the piece on a personal level, because (apart from the fact that I feel it sums up the perception of our memory with time...memories fade with the millions of other stimuli that poke us from every which way, but still remain as a faded stamp among the bombardment) it puts into Art, a concept I have been trying to put into words, but have not jumped into yet on this blog, since it's still a budding yet seemingly fundamental concept:  The concept of the construction of many little working parts banding together to create a whole as it applies to the microcosmic level of many atoms making a molecule, many molecules making a cell, many cells making tissue, much tissue making an organ, many organs making a body, many bodies making a family, many families making a society, many societies making state....and the macrocosm level of many continents making a planet, many planets making a solar system, many solar systems making a galaxy, many galaxies making a universe and....so on?

If at such a microscopic level at a division even smaller than atoms, quirks and bosons, many independently different aspects of matter and energy coalesce together to form something greater, and if at every level on up this gestaltan concept remains in tact, does it not render that at the end of the day our entire galaxy could just be an atomic particle within a molecule of the acrylic paint making up one of the many pieces that form our wistful yet patient Rainy Day female figure.

"Look" by Anti

"Look" by Anti, an indie alternative-hip hop artist influenced by an array of genres, is a laid back and mellow production with a haunting and almost soothing chord progressions along with an almost hypnotic percussion line.  Hints of Mike Shinoda but with an aspect of raw realness come to mind.  It's poetry set to music.  ​In 2/13, Anti will release Blend, an EP featuring the singles "Look" and "Choices," for free!  Check out "Look" below.



"Look" tends to phase tangentially onto an eye-opening (no pun intended) topic I often find myself musing over.  How we tend to lose love for our partners or friends due to an increasing intolerance of their flaws.  The caveat being that we are indeed only seeing our own flaws in them and are in essence simply unable to tolerate ourselves.  They reflect to us each day our own weaknesses through their own, due to our intolerence.  It's a difficult concept to grasp let alone put into words; but it is a fundament for internal growth once understood. 

The greatest human strength is love, i.e. forgiveness.  Thus, the greatest human weakness is the inability to forgive....whether it be to forgive one's self or others.  So when someone presents you with a flaw of theirs that you just can't get over or tolerate (i.e. forgive), then you are being presented with your greatest flaw...the inability to get over, tolerate, or forgive (i.e. love).  This inability is a weakness, an insecurity.  So when slapped in the face with your own deepest insecurity (again the inability to forgive others' flaws), you begin to feel a halo of negativity associated with that person and want to get away, break up, or spend less time with them, or even worse, hurt them to show some sort of superiority (essentially a misguided attempt to show strength through an act of weakness).

In a slightly confounding, yet succinct and poetic way, "Look" touches on this subject.  I would encourage not only the artist, but the reader, to look deeper into the concept and unfold it to a raw ingestable state in order to arm oneself and others with that knowledge, and to utilize it for further self-growth.

"Why Dare" by Ate A Clock

"Why Dare" by Ate A Clock, a professional musician (fiddle player/singer) and Singer/Songwriter from Melbourne Australia and living in Dublin Ireland, is a haunting melody with new-age sociopolitical lyrics yet a spacey Thom Yorke meets George Harrison feel.  The chord progressions played elegantly and classically on the guitar introduce a soothing feel, and you're whisked away throughout the tune.

 

The song asks "Why Dare?...Why care?"   A very simple yet appropriate life-question.  Why dare to dream?  Why dare to ask for that raise, to ask for her phone number, to sell those stocks...to get up each morning?  Dare.  It is always the risks in life that warrant the great rewards, as one is not living until they take risks....until they further from crawling to walking thus heightening their ability to explore.  If you can garner enough inner strength to take responsibility for the outcomes of your decisions, then you have nothing to fear.  Why dare?  Because without our backbone, we are not whole.  If we are not able to take-on the baton and run, we are simply standing still, we are not living.

"Sure as I'm Sitting Here" by Five Townz

"Sure as I"m Sitting Here" is a classic-esque rock tune by emerging rock/blues/folk band, Five Townz.  With a great catchy hook and some nostalgic BeachBoys style harmonies rare in today's rock music, Five Townz pumps out some good retro warmth.  The type of warmth we don't realize we're complaining is missing in modern music when we gripe about music no longer being as good as it use to be.

"Sure As I'm Sitting Here"

The song presents several life idioms and backs them up with "as sure as I'm sitting here."  There is only one thing human's have in their control, and it is the belief that they exist.   The only thing I can prove to myself with inexplicable certainty is that I exist and am.  Not sure in what context I exist, but I exist. To try to convey truth by swearing upon your mother's grave, or to bet your bottom dollar, or even to sign a document, none of that holds the same authenticity to you, than the belief you hold that you exist.  So to say, "I love you, I swear on my last penny" or "I love you.  Here is a document stating that"...holds no candle to..."I love you, sure as I'm sitting here"...as certain as I am that I exist, the only certainty I 'know' to be true, I love you.

"Suffocating" by Daley Phillips

The tune we look at for this week is called “Suffocating” written by Daley Phillips, a songwriting and production team out of Boston.  It starts with a good ol’ classic rock guitar intro.  It’s got that late 80’s early 90’s comfortable rock feel that came about before all the effects took over music.  It’s got a catchy refrain and great melodic discourse in the rhythm and lead guitar with a good use of the four chord structure.   Could have been cool and fun as a hard rock tune.

This song is about feeling suffocating within a relationship and the want to stop struggling.  Most people allow the weakness of their partner, within the relationship, to get them down, allowing themselves to be controlled by the other’s weakness.  And it’s a downward spiral.  With each using their insecurities to gain control over the other’s insecurities.  It’s like a battle between two animals made of insecurity-claws.

But once you’re on top of yourself, then either the person you’re with will leave because they prefer insecure / abusive-esque relationships, or you’ll get someone who will want to be better too, because you’re better, because they see you are in control of yourself, and they want that for themselves.

Being the best you can be is infinite, so there is never a pinnacle.  You can always be better.  And once people start to realize that, they will never feel suffocated, because nothing can suffocate infinite progress.  The knowledge that we can always be better as individuals is the innate truth that is buried beneath all of our insecurities.