Alecjweatherwood’s Weblog

10 THINGS YOU COULD SAY ABOUT BYZANTINE RHYMES

1: The sample I used for this song is, as a matter of fact, one of the corniest songs that I have ever heard. If you can guess which song it is I cannot give you a prize (for I am poor) but you will have deserved my eternal respect. One hint: the song is Dutch.

2: I was not alone in creating this beat, a fact which I have shamefully omitted from the credits of the album. In fact, there was someone sitting RIGHT next to me as I was following his ideas and chopping the samples to an order which seemed right to him, and this person was the legendary Rutger Kaput (the best guitar player you don’t know).

3: Me and Rutger originally made this beat as a joke to parody the style of hip-hop popular at that time, namely the “Chipmunk Soul” style popularized by the infamous Diplomats crew out of Harlem. For fantastic examples of this style, go here, here and here.

4: Of course we have to talk about the moment when eerythang slows down (twice) in the song. The first thing that I can say about this is that this is my actual voice, no software has been used to digitally alter it. Yes, I have a low voice.

5: The second thing I can say about the slowed parts is that perhaps the better word would be “screwed”. And not screwed as in “Damn, I’m screwed!”, but screwed as in the Texan sub-genre of hip-hop originated by DJ Screw (R.I.P.) and carried on by many followers. A great example is the screwed and chopped version of “Swang” by Trae, compare the original version here with the remixed version here. (The hook to this song is already – i feel like writing awwready – chopped!)

6: If you listen very carefully, you will hear I am not alone on this song. I have brought my animal friends, namely a lion and a crow. Who knew they could do hip-hop music?

7: The lyrics to this song were all written before I made the beat. I wrote the two verses separately but explicitly in the same style. Also, they both share the fact that I used DJ Premier beats to write them to (some Jeru the Damaja beat I cannot recall at this moment and another one).

8: The guy who starts talking at the end is one of my personal heroes. It’s Jorge Luis Borges and the quote is taken from a lecture he gave on poetry. “So, as I have said, I have only my perplexities to offer you”. One of the inspirations for making this album.

9: We “Raze it Up” like Onyx (again Onyx!). This song is so HYPE!!!

10: Again, the theme of infinity re-occurs. Not only do my side A and side B stay connected, I describe my story as “neverending/tank never empty/perpetuum mobile”, the latter of which may require some explanation. It is an impossibility in physics but nonetheless people have aspired to make a machine that is capable of infinite motion and creating energy out of nothing.

There are plenty more things I could say about this song but I’d much rather hear your thoughts, so leave a note or something. PEACE