A Box Braided Jesus
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 Temple1Also known as Christ's Prophetic Action in the Temple. Commemorated during Holy Week as Holy Monday — the day after Palm Sunday. The trickster turns the religious into irony. Life is situational baby. Go with the flow., 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:
A Box Braided Jesus (Lyric Poem Rap Bars)
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 Rocker/2Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987) by Public Enemy, and "Chief Rocka" (1993) by Lords Of The Underground. Sonically and traditionally sitting the speaker.
With more heat than Chewbacca in the summer sun/
Don't try to summon son with words you muttered dun/3Dun 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.
Or I'mma get 'er done just like the super/4'er is the word her, mimicking vernacular from Larry The Cable Guy's Git-R-Done. The word Super and the following line are a reference to the song "One Beer."
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 Leeroy/5Reference 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.
But I come graced with braids. Radiant smiles make the dark/
Side run wild6Monday of Holy Week is Jesus cleansing the temple. The inner temple is cleansed by the true self within all of us. That radiant energy that often creates insecurities for the shadowy parts within us. How do we balance these two? I'm like Jesus kicking the darkness/
Out his temple. I cleans any soul with the bottom of/
My sole7"... bottom of my sole" — one way of looking at this is fighting fire with fire. Fighting darkness with darkness. Also points to a forthcoming line: "These are under belly bars like 9 tail demons, thats why I got keep breathing.". In other words that a chancletazo/8In 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?
For your asshole/9What a profane ending. But, in order to cleanse dear Sancho, you have to get dirty eh?
NOTES
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. 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. 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. '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. 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. 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. "... 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. 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. What a profane ending. But, in order to cleanse dear Sancho, you have to get dirty eh?