DECODED

['... The story of a million MCs all over the world who are looking out their windows or standing on street corners or riding in their cars through their cities or suburbs or small towns and inside of them the words are coming, too, the words they need to make sense of the world they see around them. The words are witty and blunt, abstract and linear, sober and fucked up. And when we decode that torrent of words- by which I mean really listen to them with our minds and hearts open- we can understand their world better. And ours, too. It's the same world']

Shawn Jay Z Carter - Decoded

Words give me such strength. Choose to tell it, and it appears- instantaneously. 

Words allow us to visualise things before they are. Words allow us to tell stories of a desert a thousand miles away whilst in the safety of our homes. Words are power that humans hold of the highest degree.. They give us a verbal way of communication that relates to people across the world. Think of the  prominent books across all time that have touched hearts and cultures: The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill A Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice to name a few classics. 

These novels have been read and reread many times because their message still resonates with us long after the author himself has withered and died. 

The characters they've created however still have a tangible influence on today's culture. Understand that only words, used correctly, can have such instant impact. 

That's why I am so in love with rap and rap culture. I love words and I love melody, so crafting both together to create an unique sound with an underlying strong bass is just a piece of heaven for me. I can't quite explain it,  Rap moves my soul. I say this because in my opinion there is no purer art form then words. So, to conjure up words with such essence, such feeling does something to me. It's unexplainable. 

You'll either love rap or hate it, but please don't dismiss it. It is a true art form. To craft words in such a way that it sits between a bed of beats is a true talent. The conception of the entire track is solely at the discretion of the artist. It could not be any more personal or raw. Whatever the emotion: happiness, anger, disgust it is expressed through the words the artist uses. 

Rap can be witty and funny or serious and shocking. It can take your breath away with the clever stories it tells. It can have single, double or triple metaphors all at work in one line. The multiple meanings in one song make it a dynamic discipline : the stories that are told come alive, ignited in the listeners mind at that very second.  

You do not need props or paint in order to tell a story, tell it and it just is. 

Such power should never be under estimated. So this entry is much my  overdue tribute to the power of words. After all these years, whether I have wanted or not, the words have come and still keep coming. 

After all these years, it's still the only way I am able to tell my story.  

BE.