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Devastating The Obvious

the parting of ways

Posted: March 11, 2008, 10:56 am by dobvious

When we hit the jagged road our ears breathed a sigh of relief , for more than thirty minutes the journey was characterized by the loud screaming of a female voice who according to sources was    partially deaf and had four years ago served to conclusion a stint in prison .Her music if it could be termed as that was a mere interpretation of the words mother and fuck coupled with several inflectional suffixes to the tune of synthesized drums and a throat irritating bass line .

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The sixteen year old girl next to me has her lips all synced to the lyrics, you would think a neo rendition of Morvan and Pilatus in their hey days . Her lips stop when she notices my intent look. I smile back , understanding her position seeing that I was in a similar place roughly fourteen or sixteen years back .Unlike her modern day freedom which made it easy and open to indulge in the broad of day our past was more conservative and the radio would have none of it . Thanks to the omni present bleep that made the unfriendly to radio friendly to complete bans we had to feed our addiction through other means .

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With the sugarhill gang and simmons revival   finding us in our toddling prime and having missed the Grandmaster Flash light we fell full well into the anger revolution.

In those days the vitriol being poured was to some extent more potent than the one being consumed today . The anthem of perpetrating the act of that word again (fuck ) to an arm of the law perhaps the shining example to the degree of rot if you may . Yet naively we embraced it, unknowingly elevating the misplaced poets to near mentor ship and cult status . Weekends had us cobbled at Kageshe’s place by then the only safe place where we could consume the weekly dose of the music vids dubbed weekly over the same tape . The aspirations to be like them, dress like them sound like them and even be them grew by each minute as we watched the realizations of words .

And so it followed that it became our culture . The sixties and seventies were best defined by theirs why would it follow that we break the tradition . We were barking dogs when the call came ,cats when the need to please the masses arose . and even unforeseen incarnations as bones when the collectors called , among a host of a myriad of characters that when envisioned we became. Like shape shifting mutants off a marvel Comic book .

Slowly her voice fades , I stop the hand reaching to the player . Let it be I say to her . Bashfully she retreats . In comes a slow beat dubbed over what would pass as a synthetic remake of the one who two years back had a Dancing wish with his paternal kin granted. These tunes take me back to the memory lane as the head finds itself bopping to the swift beat , a trip that is rudely interrupted by that voice

Is it her greatest hits collection I ask ? No she says with a bit of confidence but with untold suspicion still evident in her tone ,perhaps wondering just when did dad develop a love for the art . Reading her mind is all but easy as through time i have mastered just how to interpret how the eyebrow movement had a connect to her thoughts . I smile back .

It would have to go back to sixteen years ago , I begin as I break into her second sentence . Not fair she says . I apologize in earnest as I beg her to start again . She confirms that is just a release to mark her tenth anniversary with the record label . The hits release is slated for the fall . I nod with a rather its nice to know ok .

The murrum patch clears just as the third track is setting the pace . Almost unknowingly I find my head nods to the head ringing beat as it transports me back to the place before the grand separation took place . She notes and laughs , Dad ! she says since when did you dig that .

As I was saying , it was sixteen years ago . She pulls herself up and notes - well what happened her voice all dressed up in an eager thirst .

And I begin recounting the love affair through its up and downs . Masking the escapades that changed the lifescape forever .Promising though that in one of the coming days that too would be laid bare .

Before long we start seeing traces of white and blue - let me off here she says , I will walk the rest of the way plus I see Anita over ahead we have some stuff to talk about .

Be sure to brag to her about your aging hiphop paternal mess - I shout as she slams shut the door . Will sure do she echoes with a beaming smile . As I watch her strap her bags and goes back to the institute i am filled with a unfamiliar sense   pride . A couple of meters ahead she looks back and waves cheekily . Staring time is over . I revive the engine and start the journey back home

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excerpts from the largely incomplete piece - The Hiphop Divorce - 2007
how high

Posted: March 11, 2008, 9:31 am by dobvious

Enough to have grown men fiddle with talcum powder and its affiliates just to make sure that the dampness does not cloud and turn innocence into something similar to a burn .