sunezBy SUNEZ
Ghetto Government Officials, the loose knit, extremely varied, widely branched union of spiritually empowered proletariat talents. Grassroots artists and thinkers the great Wu-Fam Sunz of Man member Hell Heaven Razah has brought together. As a writer, militantly penned and martially studious, I am honored as one of the GGO Ninja Navy. So through the 9,000 miles of ignorance we suffer, I search for the select GGO throughout the world. And we look up to Rhode Island we immediately see that GGO Secretary of Defense with his debut album Rapolticiz. Surely the lost album of 2013 andone of the toughest street militant scrolls penciled over Su-Preme’s superior beatmaking.
Automatik’s mixtapes, The Raptism [Listen & Download Free HERE] & The Rapture (Raptism 2) [Listen & Download Free HERE], established himself as GGO’s first new artist of militant merit, with pertinent subjects not the relevant pop topics, mic presence and great beat selection. With an intense enunciation and strong clarity his intentions for social commentary through cleverness resonate through Rapoliticz. Thematically, he completely honors the legacy of Razah the GGO President. Throughout Rapoliticz, he uses clever metaphoring, injecting new visuals of commentary at every bar turned concluding with clever battle imagery. Nowhere is this more epitomized than on the second verse of “The Dream” : “The American dream where the Boom Bap was the click clack/in the hood where we kick raps to the siren and the gun kick back/shell dropping make the high hats/the bass of the ambulance engine/shoot outs is like a drumline/the presence of one time raise the tension/the angel of death play your funeral with musical notes/the politicians steals seats with unusual votes/ain’t nothing new but the Pope/as we hang on to the noose/we hoping they loosen the rope/little kids skip rocks across the water dreaming of making it past further than the slaveship that desert us/we speak the truth and they get nervous/they try to hush us and dumb us down hoping we not heard of/luckily dodge murders attempted on my temple/I use immortal instruments in the city of bones/ On my gitah, I sit on my throne…”
All the subjects for a young soldier’s manual are all present from the essence of the Hip Hop we holding as “Cornbread,” the nature of the streets (“Hood Politicz”), that wisdom that puts the battery of life in his back (“My Elevation”), the effects of money on friendship (“True Colorz”), his personal historical survey of this beautiful counter culture of Hip Hop (“Boom Bap”) and the accompanying survey of the hell it comes out of (“Graveyard”). There is so much Automatik has to share that the more songs he pens the more of his concept detail will spring forth. For Rapoliticz, the goal of covering the main subject matter was striven for and achieved.
Automatik is using this debut to present his entire thematic presence for a catalog of longevity. It becomes absolutely successful with Su-Preme manning the tracks. Su-Preme isn’t a good producer of what we’re calling Boom Bap; he is absolutely the textbook ideal definition of it. His presence is throughout the greatest of Sunz of Man and Hell Razah albums and he produces all of Rapoliticz for a career defining work. Great Hip Hop tracks often hit you properly when you can revel in the union of high hats, snares, bassdrums and funk basslines yet obsessively pick them apart and fiend for the select fragments. Su-Preme plans and plots his tracks so strongly the listener’s addiction gives way to this compartmentalizing of each facet for deeper enjoyment. The Soul sampled bassline on “My Elevation,” the drumroll with the bass and snare kicking in unison on “Tough Talk,” his funk basslines “Boom Bap” blending the b-boying guitar riff and steel drum bop rhythm, the bass drums and Asian strings on “Youtube,” or the bottomed out and stuttered boom drums and snare work on “Hood Politicz.” Then there is the classic “Cornbread” with the Bruce Lee guitar riff, the cymbal crashed break, the gritty funk womp bassline. Here it’s Su-Preme’s introduction of it by layers that collide on Automatik’s entry that make it so strong. Su-Preme is a beat master, knowing how to enter tracks, dive them out, pitch his drums, smash his snares and use his high hats for obsession timing.
Many MCs are mere talents that ought to share it. Many beatmakers just have a load of good samples to make good beds for those talented MCs. For Automatik, he’s a talent of developing concept skills and already powerfully diverse content and devastating mic presence for the impoverished brothers and sisters out here. For Su-Preme, he is a veteran who is long overdue for the great stature his rugged instrumentals deserve. So Rapoliticz, just as the intentions of GGO, is Art we need—another beautiful score for ugly life. Another reason I’m honored to wear the GGO stripes.