Tag Archives: Hip-hop

July 18, 2012 · 12:56 pm

Rebel Yell

Rebel Yell

Audio:

Lyrics:

‘Bout to do something bold and aggressive
Redirect my whole perspective
Rope the ‘Precious’ on a golden necklace
My spoken message knocks the wind out your solar-plexus
Kids about to enter hell when I’m running’ through your Splinter Cell
You’se a krill I’m a killer whale
Top of the food chain until my mood change
Big up Pen spit poison and produce flame
Introduce slang parallel to Wu-Tang – Only carry loose change
Don’t walk around with big bills to break
Gotta hustle up and look into real estate
Front me an advance, I’m buying property in France
I’m known in a couple camps as the trouble man
Wanna put a couple hundred grand in the mother land
You wanna pimp me out but I got other plans
I want to see you pump your hands if you understand
And you sick of seeing truth stretched like a rubberband

–Won’t Lie to y’all, I’ll put the fear of God inside of y’all

–Inspire y’all reveal facts they’ll never tell

–Holler if you hear me it’s the Rebel Yell

–You heard, if not I’ll say it louder, you heard if not then I’ll Holla

Blast a pistol just to start the race
Shooting blanks at the stars and space
Spit a dart just to scar your face
Drop the bass to bang dents in your armor plate
Kamikaze leaving no harbor safe
But it’s not absolute, I escape in a parachute
Got ginseng and ma-ca root, aphrodisiac
Born to lead the pack in a foreign legion hat
Sitting on a camel leaning back
We come in charging all my dog’s barking
Swords sharpened, carvin’ markings in your Spartans
My peeps run the streets your troops just patrolling ’em
North Korean explosion, split the atoms of plutonium
British Knights control the flow of opium
Collaborate with the triads, and supply labs with dime bags
Flood the streets let a little time pass
This is how the pacify the population, keep a hold on global domination
Watching me, I peeped your whole operation
Identified your plans for genocide
Birds of prey gonna bang on your enterprise
Want to see the truth, just look me in the eyes (uh) just look me in the eyes

–Won’t Lie to y’all, I’ll put the fear of God inside of y’all

–Inspire y’all reveal facts they’ll never tell

–Holler if you hear me it’s the Rebel Yell

–You heard, if not I’ll say it louder, you heard if not then I’ll Holla

 In my youth I was uninhibited, high spirited
Broken down by images of lynches
Found out I was underprivileged,
Studied the builders of the pyramids
Figured I don’t gotta an invalid
Got plans to make the pilgrimage
Gotta get into it get involved get interested
In my own progression,
Learn the right way to hold a loaded weapon
Got a right to bear arms in defense of my rights
On anybody make a threat or attempts on my life
You got a badge, But I don’t bow to your flag
I’m playing by a different set of rules
Middle finger to the federals
White hoods, want us hanging by the testicles
FDA, American Medical,  allows poison in our vegetables
Put cyanide and tar in cigarettes
Sign of the Times, like the Prince cassette
Barely making it in this Strange Relationship
Face it, I ain’t really made to be a patriot
to a land that holds nothing sacred
Laid it’s foundation in hatred
Built it’s economy trading my people
my people work the fields from see to can’t see you
Blinded by the root of all evil

 –Won’t Lie to y’all, I’ll put the fear of God inside of y’all

–Inspire y’all reveal facts they’ll never tell

–Holler if you hear me it’s the Rebel Yell

–You heard, if not I’ll say it louder, you heard if not then I’ll Holla

 

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March 11, 2012 · 5:12 pm

A.B. Do Well – Logo

I’m still going through the missing files I have to replace. The logo I’m posting today is the one I used as a solo rapper. A.B. Do Well was the name I went by, and occasionally still use when in the company of those that remember and respect the name. Not a huge group of people, but definitely a sincere group. The name A.B. Do Well was a combination of things, it was a play on my actual name and a mission statement. A.B. is Abdul-Baqi, the name my mother gave me. It’s Arabic and Islamic, Al-Baqi is one of the 99 attributes of Allah, it means The Eternal/Enduring. Abdul is a title in arabic meaning (devout) servant or slave of God. So my first name translates to The Servant of the Eternal (God). Do Well is my intention and/or practice of making sure I put my best into all of my endeavors. Whatever I do the goal is to do it well. A.B. Do Well when pronounced all together sounds an awful lot like Abdul. That was the thought process behind the stage name way back when I was 19 or 20.

As for the logo I was keeping with the esoteric/mystical theme from the group Sight Beyond Light. For that I took the initials from the group name, SBL, and fashioned them into the All Seeing Eye, which is usually associated with the Eye of Horus and typically is a symbol for the sun. It also alludes to the Third Eye, which is a symbol for higher understanding and enlightenment.  For A.B. Do Well I borrowed the symbol of the Masons, a very widely known fraternal order that is for some reason considered a secret society. Their symbol is the compass and the square, tools for designing and architecture. The roots of the Masons is in building, generally with stones. But the compass and the square to me represent taking the long view and exercising proper and precise planning to achieve wondrous and dynamic goals that leave an indelible mark on society.  That’s a great symbol and philosophy to adopt. A but lofty, but if you don’t dream big, you don’t achieve big. Anyway, here’s a pic of the recreated A.B. Do Well logo.

Nice and simple, but I didn’t use the square because I was saying I had a more rounded view. YOu know how it is, you think you know everything at 20. More than people that have been around long enough to know better. More than ancient orders that have had centuries to think and plan. But like I said, lofty.

I was thinking this is a little to basic and played around with a nice new image based on a more modern logo for the Masons.

I kind of wish I played around more with the logo when I first created it. I’m really liking the update. I guess I have an excuse to start rapping again. This logo shows some growth and refinement. Pretty slick.

Well I’m sure I’ll have another lost logo up soon. Until then, Peace, be well and Do Well.

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March 8, 2012 · 6:23 pm

P & Q Video and Back Story

I made a bunch of iMovie videos for some of my old songs to put on Youtube a few months back. They’re on my video page here, if you haven’t seen ’em check ’em out, they’re fun low budget takes on the songs I barely had money to record.

But anyways, I fully intended to make one for P & Q back then too. The chorus talked about  the if P then Q theory of logic learned in basic algebra, or Sequential One,and I wanted to use the text book Sub-Conscious and I used when we were in high school. A book pretty much every high school student in New York City used since the late 80s. Integrated Mathematics, Course I. I couldn’t find an image for the book online for the life of me, but mysteriously I found it yesterday. I only looked for it because my friend Rah Unique (@rah_unique) tweeted that he was now playing the song using the hash tag #NP, and he shouted me out @countbaqula. So, I found it and it’s very low resolution, but it was enough to make a mock book cover for the song.

 I took this and made this:

I may have gone a little to crazy trying to distress and age the book, but I was a man possessed. I was so happy to finally get a basic image that I played around with it for hours. After making the cover it was time to go ahead and make the video. And there it is below, for you viewing pleasure.

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February 26, 2012 · 1:45 pm

Sight Beyond Light

Well a while ago my external hard drive said I over worked it and just straight up quit on me. No two weeks notice or anything, super inconsiderate. But when it left it took all the old files I had on it, including the vector file of the logo for my former rap group, Sight Beyond Light. I waited a long time to recreate the image, but I finally did. I also through in the way it was laid out for the first single on Low Tech Records, our super unofficial record label. I mean the music was official, we just never registered it as a business. But that was in 2000.

Anyway, here’s the sticker/artwork for the first single. DJ Eclipse from Fat Beats and NYU Radios Hip-Hop Show, Halftime Radio, was super impressed with the professional presentation. I can’t take all the credit though, my band mate Blu Jemz(formerly JMS Inja) offered his input about the color scheme. Man those were the good old days. The four man crew was A.B. Do Well, that’s what I used to go by , Blu Jemz, Soem(he now goes by sTERRYo), and Sub-Conscious. We would be in the lab constantly. Soem and Blu Jemz made the beats for the most part, but our boys Rio Murray, Omari Toomer and Jon Abrahams also through their sound into the mix. Omari would lend vocals from time to time as well. Enough reminiscing, here’s the logo in question.

The all seeing eye, again I can’t take full credit at all because my brother came up with the initial sketch. I just vectorized it in Adobe Illustrator. Anyway here’s a little video I made for it way after the fact.

 

Also, I always wanted to go all Dark Side of the Moon with the logo, but other members of the band thought it was corny to rip off the Pink FLoyd album cover. I thought it would be so fitting and cool and at the time I’d just seen the Wizard of Oz Set to that album. There were moments when the synch up worked to amazing effect, but those moments were few and far between. Anyways, here’s my homage.

See that, that’s effing brilliant right there.

Well that’s one design file down. I don’t even want to guess how many there are to go, but I suppose the logo for the label is a must. I loved that old Low Tech Logo. Maybe I’ll have it up soon.

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February 21, 2012 · 11:03 pm

Beeboy:Thug-O-Nomics Logo and Beeboy Emblem

Here are some more graphics for the Stunning Beeboy and his supporting cast of malevolent MCs. The new banner above incorporates Beeboy’s emblem, a stylized letter B with wings and a stinger jutting out of the bottom curve of the letter. A pretty good hero insignia if I do say so myself. This element and the goggles are the most enduring of Beeboy’s look. I’ll see if I can find the original sketch  I did in color pencil way back in 1996. Here’s the Emblem in all it’s glory.

Here’s a nice little graphic with the Logo, Emblem and a fun sketch of Beeboy.

And now for a villain I haven’t introduced yet in the prose. He’s Beeboy’s oldest enemy, I came up with him shortly after Beeboy. Back when I created him I called him Rah-Rah, which was what we called loud and brash thugs around the way, inspired by one of Redman‘s verses, because I love me some Redman. Get his albums Whut? the Album, Dare is a Darkside and Doc’s Da Name and  you’ll find out why. Anyway, Rah-Rah wasn’t a name that could endure, Redman has been off the airwaves for a while and I wanted a name that would have staying power. Thug-O-Nomics just popped into my head and I never looked back.

Thug-O-Nomics is the quintessential studio  gangsta rapper. Tough in the recording booth, but the first to run from a fight. He’s excessive and gaudy and really likes gun talk, but never really ever owned one, or held one. His Medallion is two Glock 9s with silencers attached to the letter S, made to look like a dollar sign, it symbolizes that he gets his money through acts of violence. I think it’s the best thing in the world.

Take a look below and tell me what you think.

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February 9, 2012 · 1:11 pm

Beeboy: King Midas and Mogadishu Logos

Just a run through for Logo Designs for the main antagonists in the first Beeboy story. Working on some art work now for a possible cover and some pin-ups to print the short story for sale around the way, maybe at local comic shops. As we know no rapper/musician/comic book character is worth much without his merch, so of course I had to hook up the villains with menacing and/or regal graphics.

For Mogadishu, as described in the story a bloodied military stencil letter M, bullet holes optional.  Showed my Lady Friend, she prefers the non perforated Mogadishu logo.

For King Midas I dug into the Pen and Pixel® well and blinged him out to unreasonable levels. But it’s also there as a flat graphic for people that like to keep it simple.

Beeboy Created by Baqi Abdush-Shaheed ©

Mogadishu and King Midas Created by Baqi Abdush-Shaheed and Glenn Bryant ©

Logos TM & (C) Baqi Abdush-Shaheed aka Chuck Spears

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January 25, 2012 · 12:45 am

Beeboy Art and Comics

Here are some comic strips and character designs for Beeboy and some assorted cast members.

Beeboy and Tabi Tha Tigress © created by Baqi Abdush-Shaheed
Mogadishu and King Midas © Created by Baqi Abdush-Shaheed and Glenn E. Bryant

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January 20, 2012 · 5:29 pm

The Stunning Adventures of Beeboy pt. 3

Chapter 5

I locked eyes with Mogadishu despite the chills I felt seeing how furious he was. I could hear his breathing becoming more shallow and rapid. It was a symptom of his anxiousness. His mind was moving just as rapidly. Suddenly he glanced to his right, then turned to look back at me and lunged toward me with a howl. I was sprawled on the stage before I knew what hit me. Then I heard the gunshots. Moga got off me and asked if I was alright. He told me I owed him one.

King Midas and his street team, the 14 Karats ran up in the club guns blazing. I don’t know how I didn’t notice. I must have been too focused on what Mogadishu was going to do. I felt a buzzing in my head, but I just figured the danger was coming from Moga. King Midas had it in for both of us and he wasn’t taking any chances this time. He was supposed to be here to judge the battle and it completely slipped my mind entirely once I saw what Mogadishu looked like in person, all six and a half feet and near three hundred pounds of him. I kicked Midas’ ass last week and beat him in the battle. Mogadishu and King Midas had a long-standing beef. That’s when it hit me that this battle was a set up. Midas was going to up his rep by eliminating two of his enemies at once. But Mogadishu saw it coming and I’m pretty sure he just saved my life. I did owe him one, and it was mere seconds later when I would come to repay that debt.

One of the 14 Karats jumped up to the stage with a golden knife and slashed at Moga. I kicked that fools fronts in, grabbed his arms and threw him at two of his partners that were approaching the stage. Moga nodded his head at me and cracked his knuckles. ”It’s a problem in here now, fam.” That’s all he said then he rushed at some of the remaining Karats, dispatching them quickly with world shattering punches to their faces. He was making a beeline for King Midas, who was still firing shots wildly in the club. It was surreal, some of the Karats were still coming for me and I was so ready for the ruckus.

I was a blur, my pop and lock jabs and windmill kicks were making short work of these henchmen? His crew? Other than canon fodder I really don’t know what to call them. One came at me swinging a golden pipe, trying for the back of my head. I dropped back and bent my knees like I was doing the limbo and his swing landed wide off the mark. Then I rested my hands on the ground and kicked him in the jaw. Another leaped at me with a katana. I rolled to my left picked up a microphone stand and used it to deflect the sword which got stuck in the middle of the pole. As he was struggling to remove it I tossed the stand to the side got him in an arm bar then slammed his face on the ground with more force than was probably necessary.

Mogadishu didn’t seem to be having as hard a time with these goons as I was. There were about 10 of Midas’ flunkies scattered around the dance floor of the Ziggurat club. One was lodged inside of a turned over speaker, another was shoved headfirst into the drywall. His legs were all you could see. Moga ripped this spot up and now he was lumbering toward King Midas who was trying to reload his Gloc before Mogadishu could get to him. Moga reached into the back of his pants and pulled out what I swear was a cannon. At the sight of that gun Midas dropped his gun and ran for the exit. Moga stood still raised his gun and took aim. I heard a loud crack like thunder as Mogadishu let off one shot, missing Midas but obliterating the window and blowing the passenger side door off of an SUV parked in front of the club. Midas was still running and Moga yelled out, ”You’re a dead man walking Midas. Gunning for me twice. Twice? But your bitch ass can’t shoot for shit.”

I was like, ”Yo Moga, ease up man. There are still people out there; you might hit one of them. I’ll go after Midas and, I don’t know, drag him to a precinct or something.” Moga gave me a mean scowl and said, ”Jail, nah man anything less than the emergency room is better than he deserves. Personally I’m trying to toe tag this cock gobblin’ boxer streak sun of a bitch.”

We were arguing about it long enough for Midas to get away and for us to hear sirens approaching. I said, ”I understand if you want to shake the scene man, but I’m going to give the cops my statement and try to help out here with the clean up.” Mogadishu looked at me with a doubtful smirk on his lips.

“Man, just when I was starting to respect you, you say some old punk shit like that. I respect your skills though.” Looking over his shoulder at the wreckage of the bar and the broken remnants of King Midas’ crew, Mogadishu says, “Yeah, I guess I’d better get out of here. If the cops ask, I bounced as soon as mo’ foes started shooting.”

He gives me a pound then walks up to the shot up SUV, hotwires the engine and drives off with the passenger door slamming open and shut as he heads back to Brooklyn, turning the corner to avoid the oncoming police cars. The bartender and host crawled out from behind the basement door, and seeing as I was the only rapper still there, he gave me the prize money. I take some plastic handcuff strips out of my pouches and start locking up the unconscious 14 Karat Gang before the police arrive.

What a heck of a night.

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