By Sunez aka SkillastratorLO

Poetry class in the soldier’s barracks

filled assignments of metaphors

Attached to paratrooper texts in flown syntax

And similes that go into the clips when the reserves need A-Alikes

Liberation is the planned logic of our supremacy’s livelihood

I knowledge the chrome of the gun

And the shots that Wise The Dome

The oppressor can’t stop poems that roam

that hone in on the homes of the recruits in reboot 

Ready to take root

But first another song before we take route

Sing along to songs that finally don’t dilute

This teacher takes attendance by hands up in arms over independence

The God Rakeem Shabazz is not an MC, not an A&R on an indie label nor an industry shaker rattling algorithm desires into snaked comp piles of sound slop sold. Rakeem is the Gil Noble of this era, an exceptional journalist, a scholar who writes with liberation as the only thesis and interviews all the warriors in the trenches in the cause. From the scholars to artists and everyone else insightful in between, Shabazz’ documents them all on his Wise The Dome podcast. In two years he has become an institution for those seeking higher learning in a Pan-African/All Original people stance without the bloodsucking evangelism and pseudo-scholarship. Collecting many of tomorrow’s greatest MCs and today’s shining stars in this next decade of the Invisible Renaissance, the Wise The Dome album is the most important compilation this year, Wise The Dome.

The immediate magic of this LP is that the pan-African magnitude of Rakeem’s ideology is reflected in the massive diversity of MCs from all over the country with roots beyond the FBA falsely simplified African American stereotype of shade and lone American roots. With only one producer, Furious Stylez, the achievement is even more grand as the need for consistent orchestra and adaptability is the ultimate dream goal achieved. The “Can I” sample (not snitching. The crackers that charge know this sample) on “Love Hell or Right,” the great cymbal notes on top of blaring strike bass piano note on “On The Map,” the bolero crate (I know this on but this one is definitely snitching) vocal and guitar strum lift on “Something About,” the clipped strings and flat underbelly bassline on “The Truth,” or the bright chime notes, rumbling bass and sanded drum break on “Hour Glass,” there are subtle identifiers of familiarity yet vast distinctions through each song. 

The Wise The Dome podcast

You will not hear a compilation where so many MCs express their lives and insights so passionately because the songs aren’t just exhibitions of skill. They are displays of their being, where they stand on issues, how they identify the enemies of their existence and the fortitude by which they deal with the wrongs ever accumulating. There are the Gods A.P. Da Overlord and Nowaah the Flood giving slavery the horrid imagery to today’s parallels in a definitive statement (“Blackman is God, bitch. Now you know you need me hoe” – A.P.; “This not as easy as it looks/ see them babies can’t eat them books – Nowaah The Flood) through “On Trees.” B Dot The God (“”They turned us into Champions that hate to win…Words cutting deep sharper than the knife razor thin/ This society is a prison they try to cage you in but the mind/ But the mind floats like a leaf in the days of wind”), Aaqil Ali (“I’m a God and I will never stay planted on the ground/ Now I levitate with the knowledge I was given…”) and the Earth Backwood Sweetie (“Work on myself daily until my betterment till something i couldn’t fathom I start developing out of your element/ verbal etiquette into the deep key mechanisms of human consciousness of higher vibrational resonance”) building to a focused militancy on “I Cee You World.” This structure of the militant song is repeated with so much originality the compilation is overwhelming from “Home of the Slaves” where Olu Ase (“13 abominations scattered an awesome nation…Banned the drum but couldn’t ban them temp of the tempo…”), Jaylon Musa (“Black cars, we Black stars in this Black world, you see this Langston Hugh(es) on my skin.. white wash history, but you can’t remove what I am”) and Blaq Chidori (“Ain’t no one to blame we ain’t flawless…/ White women and men that confuse genres … Trauma harvest the organs the uterus placentas…) add on with absolute creativity. My 5 Percenter family, veteran greats in Hip Hop as Kasim Allah (“4 Horsemen”) and Bazz-O the Great (“Rakim and Hakim”) build with their exceptional baritones while burgeoning builders Nito, Dialek Dubai and Echo dominate “On The Map” with stylistics where Nito speeds up to a double timed tempo, Dialek Dubai doubles the tempo in speedup and slowdowns and Echo rhythms in a potent staccato. The cleverness of K!ng Jvmes (“shoulda known you was on some bs when i woke up and heard you playing summer walker”) and Backwood Sweetie (“my method mary but in reality you’re all i need”) turn “Love Hell Or Right” into a dynamic hit while 

“Hour Glass” becomes one of the most beautiful songs you’ll hear this year where our reality of warriorship becomes an abstract painting of brilliance.  Set off by LRB with, “As I travel on borrowed time having conversations with God sometimes can be sublime trying to activate the mind when it’s clouded in the mystique like a husband at his death bed staring at widow’s peak” followed by Cashmere P’s car on the road metaphoring the mind’s path imagery with,  “Shining since i got the knowledge up the light just brighten us/ the original controlling your soul through dolbydigital / i think the flow spiritual / lethal and chemical/ I’m guided by divine principles that allow my escape on basslines and drums and interludes the way sinners do…” the song’s turns paintings into revolution booklets as Bomani builds (“Writing rhymes in cuneiform/ you could master chaos by staying calm/ you bringing harm you gonna need some more than just praying palms/ you forgiving crackers acting tough with your baby moms/ manhood is lacking you synchronize your thoughts and your actions/ organizing your manhood is active…”) and Njeri Earth punctuates the understanding (“The outcome a piece of sanity, security, serenity, so goes my soliloquy to the beat”). The talent of Furious Stylez to produce for anyone is proven here as well as Rakeem’s ability to match MCs up goes from the pairing of whatupVERN, The Good King Justice and Rome Mallory on the high snare, high violin bump groove of “Shine” or the gorgeous overload of complex rugged lyricist beasts Def Soulja, KnowitAll, IAMGAWD and Ja’King the Divine on the choir effacing, long horn blare and sparse drum spash and bass pump of “No Devils in Hell They Are All Here.” The quotables are abound throughout the LP and the way we learned of great Black scholars from Ivan Van Sertima’s African Presence..books, listeners here have an audio guidebook to the future of the Invisible Renaissance era with this album. The Wise The Dome album and its core podcast been essential. 

ORDER THE NEW BOOKS BY SUNEZ:

(To order DM @sunez on IG, @sunez7 on Twitter or email sunez97@gmail.com)

The MANTRAS ACROSS THE MEDINAS LP LYRIC BOOK

By Sunez aka SkillastratorLO

All the lyrics to the powerful LP by @kingkvmal and I, #Sunez, with #ScienceOnMusic analysis of the lyrics as well as extended essays and builds on the creation of all the songs as well as the many issues and topics presented through them.

Mantras Across The Medina is an album uniting the soulful introspective verses of Chicago’s King Kvmal of C-Medina (Chicago) and the revolutionary poetry of Sunez Allah of Medina (Brooklyn). Both Gods of the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths, their brotherhood has merged to make these crafted songs on a myriad of subjects upholding their passion for freedom, justice and equality. It is a work created with love for their families, people, crews and their culture. Kvmal is one of the most underrated and unsung MCs to create music with a long rich history making him an unparalleled song crafter, producer and arranger of the Hip Hop song. Sunez, aka SkillastratorLO, of the LO Lifes and The Leftovers NYC collective, has been a premier Hip Hop writer/journalist/author for over 25 years. Having made his Hip Hop writing a creative and documentary element of Hip Hop, MCs from Prince Powerule (aka Marcano of The Leftovers NYC), Agallah, Willie Waze, Skanks the Rap Martyr and others have brought him into the booth to add on his poetry and prose on wax. Kvmal went further and pushed Sunez further into creating an entire LP of spoken word, verses and straight MCing with him.

The mission with Mantras Across The Medinas was to express the blues, heartache, emotion and layered builds they’ve accumulated through song.

PURCHASE HERE:  https://sunezkingkvmal.bandcamp.com/merch/mantras-across-the-medinas-lyric-book

THE REAL OF 2022

by Sunez aka #SkillastratorLO 

Sunez’ annual REAL OF work is the ultimate analysis of the best musicians and artists in Hip Hop music today bracketed into a revolutionary new system of ciphers that categorize this entire musical universe.

Sunez’ annual REAL OF work is the ultimate analysis of the best musicians and artists in Hip Hop music today bracketed into a revolutionary new system of ciphers that categorize this entire musical universe.

In THE REAL OF 2022 book, the following ciphers is the new innovative way to present the massive world of Hip Hop music this era the author has called The #InvisibleRenaissance (2010’s onward), has shown and still has not been completely seen. Instead of small or long lists of opinions judging the best, the presentation of this whole universe of great work into categories of styles, titles, truths and identities the artists fall into. They overlap consistently and the notations begin to cover all of the diversity. THE REAL OF 2022 proves the waste of so-called number one or top ten to top 50 album lists, often meant to promote the said media and legitimize pop acts, does not present the immense world of excellence, in bulk, that Hip Hop music is today. This continues the series of books begun with last year’s The Real of 2021 (And 2020!).

Included:

Real #ScienceOnMusic analysis:

Over 550 albums analyzed

Over 300 artists profiled

Over 460 pages total

Also the crate collector great MaxLO’s top list including his best 260 LPs & 700 verses of the year lists for 2022.

This book is something only Sunez could write. Cover immaculately designed again by the Almighty #Paragone of Celestial Productions 

#GoTryToFindAnotherWriterWithMyKindOfGrammar

THE P.E.A.C.E. COURSE:

BUILDS ON TEACHING THE KNOWLEDGE OF SELF

Sunez Allah has been a 5 Percenter, one of the Gods of the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths since 1999. Sunez, a prominent creative who has pioneered the establishment of the Writer element in Hip Hop as a writer/journalist/historian, published hundreds of articles, essential books, host of DJ Toshi’s Classic Storm Radio show and his own podcast, The Power Write Show. He is a member of the prominent Lo Lifes organization as well as the anti-gentrification collective, The Leftovers NYC.

Sunez has been an author and editor of major works on the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths including editing The Immortal Birth by Allah Jihad, The Righteous Way & The Righteous Way: The Golden Jubilee Edition, and The Righteous Way: Infinity Edition by Starmel Allah and co-editing the Knowledge of Self: A Collection of Wisdom on the Science of Everything in Life.

As a member of the 5% NGE, he has taught the longest running course at Allah School in Mecca, in Harlem, New York City. The P.E.A.C.E. Course book is a collection of prose, essays and builds written on the knowledge of self, the 5% teachings and his pedagogical insights amassed over these last 22 years. 

Art On Art: 

Creations That Born This Hip Hop Writer Element

by Sunez aka #SkillastratorLO 

Art On Art is a collection of poetry and prose by Sunez, a Hip Hop writer/journalist/historian for over a quarter century. Back in 1995, in order to make his work an element of Hip Hop, Sunez realized the works covering, analyzing and presenting other artists also had to be creative themselves. They needed to be Art On Art! Thus, the Writer element in Hip Hop would be fully born in complete outright acknowledgement. Embedding poetry and prose into music reviews, features, interviews and any other journalistic coverage of all sorts, his work has become an element of Hip Hop. 

Art On Art: Creations That Born This Hip Hop Writer Element contains over 120 poems, songs and works of prose that are inspired by the hundreds of artists, albums and events Sunez has written on since the 2010s, the beginning of this era he named (in 2012), The Invisible Renaissance.  Here in Art On Art, those poems and prose are extracted and left standing alone so that Sunez’ Art on all this incredible Art is highlighted.

With an immaculate cover created by Pecue, one of the leading artist/designer and music producers of this era, the many themes, insights and realities that Sunez has lived and seen are represented in this wonderful work of art.

To order DM Sunez IG, Sunez7 on twitter or email sunez97@gmail.com

THE REAL OF 2021 (AND 2020!)

by Sunez aka #SkillastratorLO 

Sunez’ annual REAL OF work is the ultimate analysis of the best musicians and artists in Hip Hop music today bracketed into a revolutionary new system of ciphers that categorize this entire musical universe.

In THE REAL OF 2021(AND 2020!) book, the following ciphers is the new innovative way to present the massive world of Hip Hop music this era the author has called The #InvisibleRenaissance (2010’s onward), has shown and still has not been completely seen. Instead of small or long lists of opinions judging the best, the presentation of this whole universe of great work into categories of styles, titles, truths and identities the artists fall into. They overlap consistently and the notations begin to cover all of the diversity. THE REAL OF 2021 (AND 2020!) proves the waste of so-called number one or top ten to top 50 album lists, often meant to promote the said media and legitimize pop acts, does not present the immense world of excellence, in bulk, that Hip Hop music is today. This is the start of the ONLY book series that will.

Real #ScienceOnMusic analysis:

Over 800 albums analyzed

Over 250 artists profiled

Over 400 pages total

Also includes the crate collector great @maxlo201 Top 200+ LP & 500+ verses of the year lists for 2021 (And 2020!)

This book is something only Sunez could write. Cover immaculately designed by the Almighty #Paragone @celestialproductions 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

#GoTryToFindAnotherWriterWithMyKindOfGrammar

To order DM Sunez IG, Sunez7 on twitter or email sunez97@gmail.com

Sunez Allah aka #SkillastratorLO of the LO LIFES
#LOVEandLOYALTY A #LoLife

The organization of these principles around a counterculture, an expressive arts of creation that uplifts the ideas and thoughts of an oppressed people, is why I’m an honored builder amongst legends, knighted by heroes of Medina (Rakim Supreme Shabazz Allah/Rudy Lo, Thirstin Howl the 3rd, Bonz Malone) to further create in my element as a Hip Hop Writer (creative author/principled journalist/honoring historian) of #ArtOnArt & #ScienceOnMusic. So the world may find love that locks in with the action of loyalty though they may never find another writer with my kind of grammar…

Living and sharing the pillars of:

#KnowledgeOfSelf

#LoveAndLoyalty

#OriginalCreativity

Peace, Sunez Allah

aka #SkillastratorLO