A Box Braided Jesus (Lyrics)

A Box Braided Jesus

and now Miguel

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Prolog

An English paraphrasing of the intro from the audio track. The intro clip is from a Dominican comedy movie titled Perico Ripiao.

Two men are debating a moral dilemma. Should they let their Friend, who has his hands tied behind his back, kick the crap out of this poor military man who is hogtied on the ground?

This same military man slept with their Friend's beloved. The Friend caught his lover in the act with the hogtied military man. Crimes of passion now have our Friend on the run because he and his boys — the two men debating — escaped jail.

The First Man debating was a former military man who did dirty work for the conservative regime in political power. He carried out assassinations etc. All in the name of holding up a traditionally strong man type regime. The First Man has now turned to Christ and renounced his evil ways. He does not want to allow the Friend to fall into the trap of seeking revenge. But, The Second Man who is a jokester type — a Socialist and a Communist — he is advocating for the Friend. The Second Man and the First Man are social enemies. But all three have been on the run after escaping jail and that predicate has made these three boon companions.

The dilemma this military man and communist find themselves having is around, What would Jesus do? Should they allow their tied up Friend to kick the crap out of the hogtied guy? Would Jesus take action and ever throw hands with the devil? These are the underpinnings of the conversation that follows.

"Didn't Jesus teach us to forgive, we can't allow our Friend to go down this dark path" says the First Man.

Referring to Mark 11:15-19, when Jesus Cleanses the Temple¹, The Second Man said, "Remember! When Jesus came to the Temple he handed out ass whippings. He kicked over tables, chairs, and baskets of food man! He turned every thing over with a fury of kicks"

"Wow. But Jesus did all that?"

"Listen man Jesus didn't play around. Lend me your Bible. Look what it says here." The Second Man places his left fingertips on his tongue, turns the page, and begins to read:

Lyrics

I'm a box braided Jesus came to speak truth to power

Made them cower whenever I came in them Kawasakis

I'm a Rough Rider. They tried to talk tough proper

To a Bum Rush rocker a number one Chief Rocker²

With more heat than Chewbacca in the summer sun

Don't try to summon son with words you muttered dun³

Or I'mma get 'er done just like the super⁴

You called to get your back or plumbing fixed

I'm kinda like the chiropractor who cracked your back with

The way he put his foot in them raps kid; I mean

Sho'nuff you would have thought I was Bruce Leeroy⁵

But I come graced with braids. Radiant smiles make the dark

Side run wild⁶ I'm like Jesus kicking the darkness

Out his temple. I cleans any soul with the bottom of

My sole⁷ In other words that a chancletazo⁸

For your asshole⁹

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. Also known as Christ's Prophetic Action in the Temple. This event is commemorated during Holy Week and is titled Holy Monday. It is the day after Palm Sunday, when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. The symbolism and intention in referring to this scripture is explicitly referring to a sort of cleaning or purification that occurs in the physical world (spring cleaning) as well as in the psychological realm (the third space is nothingness). However, using this comedy piece as an opening, points to the last words of this prologue as an embodiment of the trickster who attempts to turn the religious into irony in order to navigate the impermanent state of text/words within the living world. In other words, life is situational baby. Go with the flow. ↩
2. 2. Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987) by Public Enemy, and "Chief Rocka" (1993) by Lords Of The Underground. Sonically and traditionally sitting the speaker. ↩
3. 3. Dun means man but other layers of meaning point to other people talking sh*t, and referring to those sh*t talkers as dung. "It isn't what the man comes but it is what comes out" — see Matthew 15:11. ↩
4. 4. 'er is the word her, mimicking vernacular from Larry The Cable Guy's Git-R-Done. What is this fixation with the hard er sound? The dropping of the softness in the sound of selected words or phrases. The word Super and the following line are a reference to the song "One Beer." ↩
5. 5. Reference to The Last Dragon (1985). My first time watching this was with my wife in undergrad. One of our very first date nights in the dorm room. ↩
6. 6. Monday of Holy Week is Jesus cleansing the temple. And so, the inner temple is cleansed by the true self that is within all of us. That radiant energy that often creates insecurities for the shadowy parts within us. But, how do we balance these two? How do we create self compassion and allow the shadowy hungry ghost feed from the radiance within? ↩
7. 7. "... bottom of my sole" can be read in many ways. But one way of looking at this is fighting fire with fire. Fighting darkness with darkness. And could allude to the narrator's false sense of bravado around cleansing "his" temple. Also points to a line from a song that is forthcoming: "These are under belly bars like 9 tail demons, thats why I got keep breathing." ↩
8. 8. In Caribbean Spanish dialects refers to a slap with a flip-flop (chancleta), often used as a form of discipline or playful correction. The chancleta and the threat of a chancletazo to shoo annoying people is a legit fear. It also speaks to the divine feminine warrior energy — you see that video of an Indonesian woman single handedly beating about 10+ riot police with a slipper? There is a playfulness that comes across with this line too. Attempting to poke fun at sorta Biblical and self help themes of higher selves shooing away unwholesome things. We need to embrace the totality of the self, doing otherwise is foolish, and can make good comedy but can also turn tragic. You ever read Don Quixote? ↩
9. 9. What a profane ending. But, in order to cleanse dear Sancho, you have to get dirty eh? ↩

On The Doc (Lyrics)

On The Doc

and now Miguel

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Prolog

“On The Doc” was written, recorded, mixed, and preformed by me, and now Miguel.

This is a track I wrote May 2021 (Watchmen dropped May 13, 1986). It was sparked from an idea I hope to continue to explore around what it means to read and write as decedents of slaves, and put this question in relation to Hip-Hop and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. This idea began with me working through the death of the Comedian, and MF DOOM. The beat on this one is by Damu The Fudgemunk, “Coco Mango” off DOOM’s Born Like This. There will, more than likely be more edits to this one, but wanted to put this out to give “Muskie Fish Fry” more context.

¹

Lyrics

I get raw for you just like a warrior²

Kick haphazard rhymes but I ain’t stalling ya

I took the two seater converted the coops for you

Dropped the top on your melon in a second

More quicker than a hater who wanted a lite to decent³

Seven, But instead they were met with heaven

I guess that’s the life of Pablo step in diablo

Shoes, see Prada⁴ ought to order the prodigal

Son some founds that would leave em chilling in nautical

Gear for years they don’t be seeing the piers like

Ship stuck in the ocean, but I owe this to my

Peers⁵, I been riding on the Doc[k] for a year⁶

Been writing for like fourteen years

Haven’t released nothing cause all that fear⁷

Left me stuck, on the dock of the bay, with a can of Old Bay

Consuming these crabs in a barrel to plan my escape

Listening to Dr. DOOM as I consume my food⁸

This the desert island chronicles of a Watchmen got him

Looking for the masked man who had past hands with

Time. Yellow faces with blood running⁹

Time is running out. I poor a little brew for the

Masked man, I’m blue like Manhattan

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. From Watchmen, a Black youth reading the comic, “Tales From The Black Freighter.” What was in the freight? A Black history they try to wash away, but, a could Cain wash his own hands of those stains? ↩
2. 2. Big Daddy Kane, “Raw” (1988) ↩
3. 3. Anthony “Melon” Fantano’s famous review of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). ↩
4. 4. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” by Kany West. See, Kanye West Admits He “Posed As A Backpack Rapper.” See, Hayley Hynes, “Kanye West Admits He ‘Posed As A Backpack Rapper,’” HotNewHipHop, November 13, 2021 ↩
5. 5. Many layers here but I’ll point to one. What was really on that ship in Tales of the Black Freighter (the comic within the comic of Watchman)? Slavery, it’s legacy is ever present. Honoring those who did not make it to the other shore either voluntarily or involuntarily. Survivors' guilt? Be on the look out for another reference to the Black Freighter towards the end. ↩
6. 6. Reference to Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay—inspired by the San Fransico Bay (released January 8, 1968—a very important year). I moved to NY to CA, but, far from “Frisco Bay.” ↩
7. 7. What does it mean to write as a descendant of slaves? What does it mean to write and make meaning through writing when that same tool was used to dehumanize you? And, how brave are you who decides to write despite the history and legacy of slavery in the “new world.” ↩
8. 8. I will point to two layers, but there are more to come as I continue to work on this theme. MF DOOM transitioned Oct. 31, 2020. He was a raper who had a comedic style, wore a mask, and was know as the super villain. One of the questions I asked in my Muskie Fish Fry post was, “Who Watches the Watchmen?” Alan Moore never answered this question for me so I thought, isn’t it the villain who watches? I mean Pennywise, the most diabolical—in my opinion—is a clown and he is most definitely a watcher. And when we don’t answer this question, we don’t get a chance to reflect on how Black bodies, art, and intellect, if not appropriated, is vilified or laughed at—but what villain isn’t scary and funny (feel free to help a brotha out with any scholarly sources that reference this sort of theme—I’m sure Mama Morrison’s Playing in The Dark has a line or two about what I’m pointing to). Another layer, Watchmen starts with the death of the leather mask “hero,” the Comedian. I very much admire MF DOOM’s pen and production, but, I too am grappling with the problematic sides of Dumile’s MF DOOM’s transphobic and homophobic lyrics. MF DOOM in many ways like The Comedian hero [villain] in Watchmen. ↩
9. 9. Watchmen (1986) comic book cover (first image below), the doomsday clock within the story, and Operation: Doomsday (1999) (second image below). Not only the transition of DOOM but also a limitation of the naive belief in the purity of underground “real” Hip-Hop via Kanye West’s unraveling and a list of Hip-Hop icons who have fallen and thus taken the culture down with them.

   

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Muskie Fish Fry (Lyrics)

Muskie Fish Fry (Lyric)

and now Miguel

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Muskie Fish Fry (Lyric)

Prolog

An imaginative piece that is related to a verse I did a few years back around the time of hearing about DOOM’s transitioning. At the same time, I had a family member transitioned as well, and Jan. 6th happened. I’ll make a more official post of that older verse, but, if your curious about it, let me know and I can send a rough version. I recorded my vocals and mixed this joint all on my foldable TV dinner table. Check out this notes to see the processes.

“There, it's done. Now that the representative from South Africa has been mind programmed All of the world leaders on earth are under my [mind] control.”¹

Lyrics

DOOM Supply

The demise of supposed cold guys

Coded lies notify the loaded die

The snake eyes the poem I wrote for 5 weeks of²

Haulin rhymes yo It’s all in line with

The narrative I’m callin mine³

A rendition on a Watchman fiction check the

Vision hope that when they⁴ dismiss the masked comedian

That maybe he a median, somewhere

Eatin’ em the Muskie lung, a dish pie

Barrel chest rich guy⁵ pretending to be Villain⁶

But really he just fish fry⁷

Remarkably the narrator ain’t spark a leaf⁸

Why, to Prove his theories are true check Siri

And see who, really the fool

Slam on them cyber truck brakes grab up a stool

Come ‘round here let me drop some jewels

Them pot holdin mittens that DOOM be grippin

Made him toss the tool that bronze ring⁹ he had

Was at the end of the spool That Clotho’s¹⁰

Held she kept it very well for me dude

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. “Dr. Doom Master of the World,” Spider-Man episode. ↩
2. 2. See the poem Self-Style-Eyes (Poem) by and now Miguel ↩
3. 3. I heard a whisper from beyond say, “The narrator, the rapper here, is getting a bit gassed off his flow. He needs to remember he is a portal and drop some of this ‘I’m mad nice’ act. Know your place,” they, The Fates say. I guess I was feeling myself. ↩
4. 4. The Fates, specifically Atropos. ↩
5. 5. I’ve read a book titled Rich Dad Poor Dad and I always felt weird like, what’s with the paternalistic dynamic. I didn’t like how the title infantilized the reader. like, he straight up sonnin you—the disrespect. Why do these dudes who have money want to be father figures and bosses so bad? Like they are shit leaders let alone nurturing fathers. To me, it feels like ghostly echoes of the plantation system. ↩
6. 6. Robert Downey Jr. is the new Dr. Doom. Musk LARPS as Tony Starks, the Iron Man but, he also cosplays as a Nazi fascist. Musk has some DOOM imposter syndrome going on. I mean look at how these cyber trucks bite The Villains (MF DOOM) style. Straight bitin’. Oh the layers of irony. So funny! ↩
7. 7. MF DOOM, Mm..Food Nov. 16, 2004. ↩
8. 8. Lachesis provides the material, she allots. The narrator is sober in the sense that he hasn’t touched alcohol or marijuana since 2019. ↩
9. 9. “These old things/ About to throw 'em away/ With the gold rings that make em don't fit like OJ/ Usually I take them off with Oil of Olay/” by MF DOOM song “Potholderz.” I read this as sort of giving up the ghost of Hip-Hop, the magic of it, as MF DOOM transitioned on Halloween, 2020. I took liberties and switched the Gold ring to a Bronze Ring as to play on The Bronx (one of the birthplaces of Hip-Hop) and to point to the fairy tail, The Bronze Ring which deals with a magic ring see The Blue Book (The Langs' Fairy Books). The story of The Bronze Ring and this line is meant to reference the verse on, A Page Made a Magnus, where I end it by saying “Dope is mean also green so I have to magi this whole regime.” ↩
10. 10. The Fates. Specifically, Clothos, who is the spinner, represents the present moment. I am transmitting here and signaling the beginnings of a thread I’ve been given. Don’t shoot the messenger because, if you do, the Faits will have their way with you. You’ve been warned. ↩

A Page Made Magnus (Lyrics)

by and now Miguel

A Page Turned Magnus

and now Miguel

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A Copy of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, printed in Madrid the set comprises the 1608 third edition of book one and the 1615 first edition of book two. Photograph: Daniel Leal.

A Page Tuned Magnus (Lyrics)

Lyrics

E-vapor ate his throat, envy mindless hope

Unforged fable, dope. Under

Rocks? Slips out like he made of soap. Y¹

now Miguel faked the unforgettable joke. That

Death plays, the unruly of blokes an ancient senior

More noire than the goats and Baphomets

See he’s in homage with the Hobbits²

A page3 made mage no Suge Knightin’ em

Can’t Sir. em cause there ain’t no sirin’ em

Audio SP the ace, standard play in space

A lox Spector. amulet watch hexer

Digital magick³ subtle hat trickster, sir⁴

Un-hack the constitutional man-trix⁵

Article a6 Chapter 12 is the basics. I’ve

Read around well to evaporate it. Chopped

It and sampled and rearrange clips

Record and Mix I own Masters no slavery tip

To serve mankind, the twilight of ‘62⁶

That raw white sugar and also indigo blue⁷

Opioids that Britten smuggled onto China’s seas

Dope is mean, also green, so I magi this regime/

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. Sea water foam bursting through rocks. Under the pressure, I spill out. “Be like water” - Bruce Lee. “Y” Spanish for “and.” ↩
2. 2. A reference to the author (and rappers) height. Shoutout to all my Five Foot Assassins, A Tribe Called Quest, RIP Phife Dawg. ↩
3. 3. A mage does magick, see: I’m pulling from image of the below note. Also, the word for mage in some Indian traditions is, mantrik a person who practices mantras and spells. And well, Mantronix too right? There is more to be said here, but I'll leave it fairly open as I’d like to save space for footnote 6. ↩
4. 4. Here is a hint, sir. This bar’s flow is a reference to Jay-Z’s, “Thank You.” One of my favorite songs. ↩
5. 5. This is a Matrix reference as well as a subtle Mantronix reference. But, primarily the misogyny, specifically towards Black women, is being touched on here. Learn the craft, understand the pitfalls from other artists that practiced anti-Black misogyny. Break it down per my lines preceding to make things wholesome again. Harmony Holiday’s Serious Delirium has a cool article that unpacks this a bit which I read after writing this piece. But another layer here is around sequencing in production, swing, and using multiple time grids—see Dill Time—is also pointed to here. Tapping into the Afro-polyrhythmic roots is a form of un-hacking the hack jobs of overly processed inorganic art. Also, keeping with the magick theme, A mage needs to reconcile with the toxic masculine magic of patriarchs. Reclaim femininity by honoring all ancestors. ↩
6. 6. Reference to Twilight Zone, “To Serve Man” and the year of its publication, 1962. Referencing Civil Rights and Decolonization struggles. ↩
7. 7. The empty calories that foiled the global economy of the plantation system. Void of any nutritional value. ↩

A Start (Lyrics)

by and now Miguel

A Star

and now Miguel

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Lyrics

Word to Carl Sagon, everybody is a star

I’m just Bronx boy who be studyin’ the bars¹

Like Neil Degrasse Tyson, I am Caribbean

I pray, the Black Fates, follow him across²

This Odyssey. A journey to be one with who you are

May her mathematics guide em in the space across (the stars)./

Thats Katherine, Dorothy, and Mary Hidden Figures³

Say Her Names, time to unmask them figures

An asset. No need to hide them figures

My Girl yous a Queen. MVP of the Team

In Spanish yous a tesoro, Its seen in your genes

Not only talking about the fit but how the sun hits different

Yous a Healer, like Henrietta4. Relax⁴

You got cha bad easily secure the bag

Forget them other haters, who be tryina block your blessins

Your the stuff of stars⁵, never second guessing it

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. Lyrics spat over 9th Wonder's "A Star U R." Studying the bars of the bards, the poets. ↩
2. 2. Drawing on the book title, Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (1987) by Martin Bernal ↩
3. 3. See article “The Story of NASA’s Real ‘Hidden Figures’ and Movie, Hidden Figure” by Elizbeth Howell for Space.com, (2017), ↩
4. 4. See The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) Rebecca Sckloot. Healer is making reference to the HeLa gene. ↩
5. 5. See Carol Sagon “Stars: We Are Their Children” from the TV show, Cosmos (1980) both women, and Stars. Opening the verse and closing it with Carl Sagon. ↩

Water Moon Howling Pt. 2 (Lyrics)

By and now Miguel

Water Moon Howling Pt. 2

and now Miguel

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Lyrics

I got your letter in the mail today. I guess I’ll read it right now ...

‘My love, our body is cold. This hibernation

I can’t be waitin’. Want to taste them hibiscus

Lips desire¹ drips from the ripped sky scrappers

I’m likin’ ya flava. Styles glossy Cameo²

Jewels right placement missing you Now or Later

Is an understatement. Silent “ohs” a secret

Kiss to you these wired lips I want em to

Cry free. I’m dumbed to drink starlight from hips

But joy is right now fadin’

Peace only follows when siloed from soil that

Would spring the strangest thought see, you the,

Only Fan free to think that you could ever

Howl at me, whenever, you should

Shoulder my calves like I’d shoulder your half. Come and

Take a bath at my alter, sacrifice right see

Cause, milky moon drops drip from me frequently

But our love is cursed you petty Demidog³

Why can’t you be Divine, the key chieftain in Heaven?

My God! this star filled bed you got me …

(Sounds of thunder and rain)

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. The word Desire, “the original sense perhaps being ‘await what the stars will bring,’ from the phrase de sidere ‘from the stars,’ from sidus (genitive sideris) "heavenly body, star, constellation’” see entry on Etymonline website. ↩
2. 2. The practice seems to have been rooted in the ancient Mesopotamian stones that were carved for use as identifying seals. From The Met. Also, see following line for the reference to “Candy” (1986) by Cameo. ↩
3. 3. Inuyasha ↩

Water Moon Howling Pt. 1 (Lyrics)

by and now Miguel

A Mario whining in the “Never Really Was” music video, image of Mr Winans.

Water Moon Howling Pt. 1

and now Miguel

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Water Moon Howling (lyrics)

Interstellar flame the breaths we exchange

Sola¹ below lung flutter lost love hung of a

Long gem stoned lobe, the Bodhi’s son²

The roads we’ve run, miles a blazed with blame

To stun, the shooting stars, phenomenal, I’m

Missing my wish, a Mario Whining,³

Bathroom cracked cries, on a Weak End singing

‘I don’t wanna know …’ why?

Gazing with lips, partially parted dearly, probably

Panting wearily the Breath, in taking

The amazement of here in you

Crime history ain’t as thrilling, but I’m fronting like

‘I’m chillin’ I’m cool’

Cause below the blue shades is a boy hurtin’

Way before all of you I crave to be more to you

But here I am, on pale blue dot⁴

Smaller than interstellar dust are love just might …/

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. Solar plex ↩
2. 2. Buddha had stretched ear lobes, and sounds close to lobo, Spanish for wolf. Craving and awaking, a theme I like to play with. The romance of seeking awakening. ↩
3. 3. Reference to Mario Winans’ “I Don’t Want To Know,” also, Super Mario. I’ve been watching a lot of Super Mario, the animated version by Illumination. The following line is also a reference to the MetroBoomin and Weeknd remake of “I Don’t Wanna Know (Creepin’).” And also, Super Mario’s high-pitched yelp when he dies (I wanted to add that in the original version). ↩
4. 4. Carl Sagan's book, and poem, Pale Blue Dot. ↩