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1. |
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kamer-yunker outside the library tower
historical figures on a suspension bridge
literary references reneged, postmodernists glower
Harryette Mullen on the internet doing readings
walking around Los Angeles
with Japanese syllables
and nary a transplant is an organ donor
keepsakes in so far as trampling begonias
in Chelsea boots and redressed malfeasance
is wont to
so finish the action or declaim the stanza
while asking my opinions
on the latest cyborg minstrelsy
I only hear Peter Frampton
in Fermat’s theorem
drinking fernet to drown these pillory norms
this infinitesimal underground parochial hobnob
circle jerk purist, hierarchical porn
rather lose me in my process
in Santee Alley bestowed with fake watches
with the time unwound
so I’ll breath upbraiding and dressing down
I will no longer dress down
I will do it no more
because I purvey the obscenely poetic
in and of itself
kamer-yunker makes collages of
deconstructionist paper
befriends his labor
turns it extroverted
tucks it in at night, bedside reads it Hegel
Black identity trapeze artist balanced with
bagels, capers
augments corporality in scales
minor and major, intervals, quad flavors
bemused refusing sexual favors
(you know, not because chastity is a virtue or
anything… it’s just preference)
the way stuffing is dressing
the eventide is an invitation to
one’s own beheading
on the internet
neurons halved
and the speakers seem to be listening
as poetry is cancelled as a dead fad
literally a run-off elective as
digital recall takes trains of thought
to a time after brown bound hands
drove spikes in red clay and across continents
writes the self-congratulatory high yellow
Carl Chessman
let in to his grad program
on admissions of guilt
possessing 45 limericks and
five long rifle weapons
(well not that violence is a sole solution…
but it is part of praxis
I don’t know)
and now you see why it’s obscene for me
to be expressing my thoughts so freely
I should be tied up and held down
but no one will do that
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2. |
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[chorus]
progressive house
conservative ligature
what’s the mouthpiece to do
when caught up on the video
short selling triplexes for shares of NVIDIA
geothermal index on a rolodex
in living rooms
[verse]
kitchenette trivia
dismember beans of landlords
clean up on the aisle
industry of placating chores
heavy plumage, petrochemicals, petrichor,
Petyr Baelish rushing ending
due to producer’s estate executors
beseeching expedient narrative, declarative
clearance / Clarence, vector / Victor
in-flight meal with a plate of zeal
awarded to those that got their prepared statements
already languished
but I’m oft anguished that I’m most happily distracted
unworked protozoa, proletarian and comatose
just for jokes in the Canadian imaginary
rocking a bubble coat
the whole continent in leaflets, endnotes
referendum votes on commonwealth reapportioned
to pop-lock dislocation motion and redress
original people’s original history
with tissues and lotion
well that’s revisionist bullshit
like creative manners to skip and erase
from moment to moment
abstract, realist, most problematic version of futurism
when pulled by bootstraps of your country,
brocade leather had its spikes blunted
[chorus] x2
[Fatboi Sharif]
swam in aquarium
Golden Gate bridge
sheltered rocks
at Shea Stadium
monopoly moon drug
kept Jesus captive
in a cornfieeeeeeeld
searching for a new woooooooorld
battery double d's
Elvira's
wide-eyed application
climax last scene
shelter the wealthy
iron cast
psalm shadow
dry eyes from miss tragedy
underline sickness heaven sent
taught by your majesty
prescribed second string
pills harbor
possession braaaaaaain
soul searching
faulty
LSD googles
all the saaaaaaaame
[chorus] x2
[verse]
love in the time of Steve Bannon
(let me slow this down real quick)
open carry with my rap canon
I philander in Castilian
to some syncopated jazz standards.
“We don’t make that kind of music,”
I answer front face camera
updates for the story
cues card preserve my laughter
the studio’s the audience
the mix is the master
on seven to ten second loop ’til
the here is the after
now streaming:
unoriginal series of status updates
I take every interview in a fugue state
executive orders signed with
delayed tape
that rapper-producer hyphenate
early bird special to venerate
that autocrat, anarch ark, matter of fact
slap whosever daps
cited all yeah point to the all of that
case in point like saying black,
“You see these social inequities inside my club bangers?”
the rhyme-drunk rap sanger
on a dais, turning over spit
and pages
to release them flamers
so I suggest you do your research player!!
[chorus]
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3. |
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blacksmith Django with all the fingers
hammering on overtones unchained
selling photos of the forge
to tabloids, incognito metal dinger
summer income in noir winters
alliterated birth certificate
each frame illustrated
so the legend is accessible
for those less literate
disseminating the synonyms
democratizing the chagrin
let all plaintiffs be plaintive
when defendants guarantee wins
and appellate got wrong syllable emphasis
(like what?)
esdrújula marked atop a rutabaga
root note truancy avoiding
Kamala Harris’ booty warts
aquiline hamsteak in a pantsuit
for glass ceilings and ladders
no chutes for a lowercase T
in veritable etymological roots
new client got me up late night
breaking down syntax in a wooden pipe
up a fifth floor walk up
chalk it up to my time in Suran
House of Earthly Delights
Muckraker Jones been on the phone
multiple personality soliloquy
given a long distance dial tone
burying the lede in a gossip column
like Raskolnikov on Pawn Stars
refusing easily offered loans
ask/axe to the face questions in AAE
“like, can I get surveillance tapes
for the corporate offices of BET?”
(I don’t know)
slipped through the back entrance
covered my tracks with a Brazilian butt lift
berimbau strung around my blue collar neck
and down to the coat stitches in the trenches
(like what?)
I needed proof, a mechanism, a device, a motive
a manner of explanation self-apparent to
even the most oblivious of brutes
but, decahedron spell cast ten points
burden of responsibility, like
in a corner cubicle found a list of
censored approaches to artistry
burned the analog copy
erased the backups
detonated the sodium metal of my
blood pressure readings
but the private eye blinked
so my evidence never made my own proceedings
damn!
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4. |
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[The Koreatown Oddity]
kicking doors off the hinges
being ignorant
a lot of Black musicians
couldn’t come through the entrance
had to go through the kitchen
even if the reason why people buy tickets
was ‘cause their name was on the marquee
i don’t need the car keys to get me started
just a push of a button
if you comprehend the jargon
‘cause me and mines we gonna get ours regardless
a gem still shines through
amongst the pile of garbage
who gonna get thrown the farthest
when we’re talking about trust
I danced on the tarpits and didn’t get stuck
once, what’s a box?
(what is it?)
an irrelevant element
especially when I expand the space within beyond the measurements,
bullshit they selling it
just to be employed
and I ain’t buying it with credit or bitcoin
I’m from the LA when Big Boy was a big boy
as a kid eating spaghetti at Bob’s Big Boy
wicked gremlins get a small window to enjoy
the payback is more digits when I send the invoice
opposition is met with laughter
you gonna respect my craft like classic Black actors:
Delroy Lindo, Keith David, Clifton Powell
young Black and gifted with infinite styles
no tricks gimmicks or thirty day free trials
[Rhys Langston]:
my political awakening began as a
Black kid in a synagogue
recitation of ancient rites
turned digital from analog
obsessed with consumer tech
I stayed inspecting specifications on IGN and CNET
longsword was my major skill
and I chose the small afro in
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
you know, comparatively,
to racist online trolls I was something like
the Xbox Live voice chat
Colin Kaepernick
fin de siècle, you know the mid-aughts’
snail’s pace in high speed technology
rebooting a DSL modem
and dunking on regulation at 14
just to load up the Afro-eccentric character creation screen:
real bifurcated Negro nerd
bumping Vernon Reid and
watching Tayshaun Prince highlights,
post-tournament eating pickled turnips
and mistaken for Persian in Van Nuys
(you know, I mean I could probably learn
some Farsi on the side, whatever)
misidentification of Rhys Langston
so it goes what I’ve surmised in feeling
single Black mother renting a two bedroom in Los Feliz,
me and my brother not realizing that was a zenith
20 years later the rental market got us leasing
our European features
now forms this cane river Creole teetotaling
21st century genius
and you can either recognize or you can suck my
latte-colored
prosody
(thought I was gonna say something else
didn’t you?)
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5. |
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reclaiming mind against the dictum
charge your phone on a hill
in an art park
as a public health crisis
echoing siren on the unseen boulevard
below in the same arrhythmia
undiagnosed at this moment, personal nationalism
corporally broaching my subject,
on a predicate’s edges
to fall like I am jumping
into a retweet about
rock-bottom healthcare
not the specialist I am, no
bespoke regicide hotline
with a high deductible upheaval
electing for broken electronics,
I will schedule therapy once
played enough quartets of snark
and I plant by bare feet
far from my intial thoughts’ street view;
to see now
all metaphor unbecoming
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6. |
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[chorus]
in the suburbs of Babylon
entertainment denouement
journalistic integrity lost in ancient Chaldea
on the shores of the Levant
bemoaning the trap as foreign arms
selling borderlines and aid as mephitic carte blanche
[verse]
inches, yards, false starts
colonial rules and parochial hearts of palm
dates crestfallen and cottage cheese
aged in interethnic conflict rewound and paused
shuffling interleaved arrows;
mutually exclusive discontent irrigated
to streams of bone marrow
imperialist Will Smith crying on a projection
that our slogans lack the precious mettle
celebrity conductors please stop your coal exhaust
rappers please clarify your statements
and languish any opportunity cost;
what is it, what it ain’t
corrugate dependent clauses
send Thomas Jefferson’s ectoplasm
through an infernal noise gate
(and among other things I have to just ask)
please decolonize your VSTs
set trip on the hegemony
print wavs to pamphlets at Senate proceedings
before them disrespectful elders
distribute the hearing aids
upturn your lip and bare your teeth
[chorus] x2
in the suburbs of Babylon
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7. |
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marinara in the Marianas
tortellini at high tide
sloppy when drives collide
floppy, anhedonic the chords
tonic, wiry Giannis-like
oktapodakia, falafel out the troika
great barrier reef with the lightness
in sharp relief, refined
with toothpicks and twine
a seaman’s knot many leagues below
professional comebacks
under the Tuscan sun
with an Etruscan truncheon
Fox Searchlight on the shore
licensing Black Power music
made by Italians
the hull breached in AAE
vernacular barnacle anagrams
and ramshackle detritus and facile
Kwame Ture’s face plastered full mast
around the port and archipelago
is that Europe’s boot to Africa?
where geography be cross-fading the people
two decks at bat
culinary wave caps, chef’s hats, bonnets
Robert Irvine yelling at me
deadlifting the volta of a Petrarchan sonnet
plating dishes, reading receipts
hierarchy on high heat
in the kitchen thawing
all my frozen beliefs
is this what it feels like to rap about the culinary arts and oceanography?
(I don’t know)
marinara in the Marianas
tortellini at high tide
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8. |
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[Rhys Langston]
Rhys Langston type beat
dissociating before a mirror
meet and greet
the Negus of Narcissus
skin fade from a 3B
intaking reflections
fathoming a deeper chest heave
gentrifier of color cosplay
clutching ABV rhyme tome to
Far Rockaway
ashy ankle in the causeway
flood upon the link in bio-dome
Pauly Shore type careerist in diachrome, like
minus the jaundiced arches and
diabetic crowns
has it a certain way:
with race-induced psychosis
from cultural mitosis
to live as a hologram of
colonial blood quotients
ethnic tackle upon the Bass Pro rod
flung into the ocean
and with a perfect mount sings
as one enters the threshold
the counter beeper rings
for what more pedestrian masters bring
Chocolate Davis type serve:
silver platter
Jehovah’s Witnesses playing doubles
twin shares yielding thirds
Chocolate Davis type serve:
eyewitnesses of the trouble
reporting (what, what) the capital Word
Chocolate Davis type serve
Chocolate Davis type serve!
Chocolate Davis type serve:
silver platter
whet whistle ring finger uncovered
flipping the bird!!
[Frankie Jax No Mad]
been a problem since the nine fifth,
seen the ankh on the chest
think he from the crypt,
if I’m honest kid,
trust the aura switch,
words slick through the orifices,
assist if u see three six insisting,
I’ll ring bells to the cerebell,
when the road curve it’s a straight L,
can’t tell bonobo from homo to alien
to ‘nother alias
till I’m riding on the spaceship,
what’s the maiden name,
all saints raise palms to the sky and pray,
what y’all say,
brother ándale,
rat race to the sky,
what the fuck
guess I’m waiting to die,
but living eye to the prize,
and am I in a disguise?
should I tell em goodbye?
nah nigga I’m too nice,
see ‘em roll on the dice,
get right see a different typa light,
no price on the life,
Iron emperor lion with some soul on his side,
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9. |
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[Jouquin Fox]
tooth and nail for our sanity,
tooth and nail for this bachelor’s degree.
smoking mids, watching
alt-right, left extremes.
Arizona, Antarctica fields;
over-consumption is a black liver,
sloth sin. too much sabbath makes Jack
drunk, jealous, heavy. too much work and he’s dull.
confusion from over-stimulation makes him manic
even full detachment drives him to Riker’s.
Questlove doesn’t look at social media before noon.
under consumption, a pill, an hour, criss-cross, apple
sauce: hands in the lap. of a therapist, their hand’s tight
transmissions in psychic wards, over hers.
could be into healing’s unwinding waters.
[Rhys Langston]
pharmacology in front effects
creative director with the after effects
inclusive of all discontents
exclusive first run in-step
when the prescription is snuff
strawberry blond moustache
smeared jerky Bachelor’s chewed tough
framed in whale bone
excavated from bluffs
this is a fraction of a penny per stream
as avant-garde before antitrust
cloud sound as fermented fish
in nordic playlist cigarette butts puffed
on the fjords of social welfare
iron ingots and settlers
flaxen and fair
now paying tolls and fares
ad homonym homophone
pectin, gum arabica sucked dry
by Norse tongue
like even the God of War
pink-washed the Blades of Chaos
in Pepto Bismol and Tums
sublimated his diuretics
in diurnal rhythms
and David Jaffe’s on the apocalyptic internet
putting premiums on poorly designed polygons
tragically, in other news
the metaverse now needs disambiguation,
fuck.
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10. |
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[Big Flowers]
this that shit that keep you warm
this that fleece!
out of every fold out of every crease
coming fucking clean
word to Rhys!
I don’t need no grease
just like my drive I read between the lines
message redefined, redistribute wealth
crumbled earth and paper
only real alliance
mumbled something about my earnings
and I felt realigned, stopped my stumbling
natural heat I don’t need appliance,
I got half a mind to lay my chips on the table,
splash the woodgrain
even if though they all cracked,
mama taught me never gamble
keep all my eggs outta one basket,
burning like Hot Cheeto by the dozen
Frito Lay down to my frame, wicker man
chasing artisanal bags to the bitter end
I touch green and see the color of my fit
change to match it,
stash what’s little left underneath the mattress
sleeper cells for the cash like
we walking up in Reno,
either that or on scene for Casino Royale,
word is bond, Barry
still, I know y’all barely understand me,
double strength elastic y’all gonna have to
rubber band me, but my airhead stretched so wide
it’s hard to manage
6h no parry
ain’t only one way to terminate the plot
nah it varies,
keep some herb mixed with my motivation
while it’s cherried
chariot carry me home
they can bury me there
when I’m pile of bones
it’s gonna be a while though
[Pink Navel]
Buzz Light Year astro blasters
traveling to Emerald City
with my headphones blackened
from the heat… lolling, cool meme,
I guess discrete if you assume it’s calling, me
the artistry of being weird is pretty deep,
I noticed i was nervous with my pointed feet
inward like a pizza shop,
french fries when you need to stop..
thats like some mnemonic memorization device
used for safety
one could also say that rapping has the same inflation
but… does it ?
I achieved all this from using Magic Muffin
I resume all beat making with past concussion
a witness, i guess the sentence should’ve finished I
tongue tied is a phrase frequently utilized,
three times a day at the drive through could you super size?
no? that's fine
I'll just take a number four, a number five
[Rhys Langston]
I’ll take the 405 to rap
on the world’s largest standing bridge
to plush generousness
forwarding the gap in the beat
to the next artist
outsourcing the verses
solely speaking the ad-libs
DJ Khaled muff diver
breathing like Enrico Caruso
under the ribs
[Old Grape God]
I like posse cuts
and tossin' my guts on the canvas, literally,
I got a brush in my hand at this goddamn moment
my name longer than your discog
I’m not a proponent of any get rich quick scheme
this diction ain’t free from friction
I steep the psilocybin just bingin' on my addictions
I’m only happy when I’m makin' shit
I’m only happy when I’m makin' shit
I’m only happy when I…fuck it,
let this Safeway Chinese food soak up my depression for a minute,
free thoughts get me lit,
standin' up for myself
they thought it was a bit,
wipe the snot from ya lip
that drip ain’t fly,
is that a costume or is it your disguise?
do shake go with them fries?
I’m only happy when I make up my mind—
sometimes I wake up blind
with angels yelling in my ear,
sometimes I go to sleep
weeping someone else’s duct puddles,
backwood drier than the other side of the pillow,
swallow them human-sized pills
and my pride at the same damn time,
grandpa tellin' me to change the color of my glass,
but all that’s left is red wine,
I need a digestif for my digestif,
went for a walk for more blocks than
Mutumbo’s career and I didn’t find peace
just street after street
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11. |
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I will stop at nothing
extend limb and feel mobility crushing
un-sequenced, scattered luxuries
and my voice box full of stuffing
dressings, fixings, MacGuyver’d
epoxy, aluminum wire, ready-made
sculpted tableau portmanteau
union broken by below rust belt blows
will wind knock sheet body rock to
headspin to boogaloo to
failed coups on placating cable news
even suspended maneuvers staying shrewd:
one thousand platitudes unmoved, unmoored
history set in sound pack loops, auto dictation
guns at the ballot box of the collective imagination
critiquing the political ecology
domain on a scrambled IP all the way to
mutated anomalies re-reckoned
unmastered stem files laid separate;
root directory necklace piece
excuse me getting lost in
phenomenological spreadsheets
the Parthenon of taxonomist upkeep
a stop sign that in fact hides specificity
repurposed chi, hemming on leopard print jeans
with an ethical slut mouthpiece
all up everywhere
yelling “au contraire” in the vanity
beignets fried laissez-faire
even crisped and sugared the footnotes
rarely does it take this little for me
to coat a separatist throat
entire spinal column limited to 600 words
of experts' comparative quotes
insurance don’t cover the vertical though
so I step horizontal into
un-quantized chainlinks of events
with neither carabiner nor gold-capped incisors
for the lack, but not the diminution
hurdling inertia on the side of less is more
yo, I will stop at nothing
and when that lap time is best
I’ll set the pen, brush, string on the floor
and start huffing, an allowance to
bend and stretch more than subservience
means over-trusting
but trust busting cupcaking in colonial contests
fluffing the unsolicited thrusting across
timelines and talk show specials
trimming regions as vestal
(shit!)
I will stop at nothing
till I’m a vessel made vegetable
made self-aware Michael Richards heckler
made the limit as
sense approaches the accessible
as what’s far is
just what’s next to you
as featherweights are to bullion cubes
heavy metal to satin shoes, bespoke
with patch cable twine looms
reclaimed copper and tungsten tubes
I am magnetized and I move!
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released September 14, 2022
words and rhymes by Rhys Langston
featuring Big Flowers, Fatboi Sharif, Frankie Jax No Mad, Jouquin Fox, The Koreatown Oddity, Old Grape God, Pink Navel
beats by nahhphet, Opal-Kenobi, Orlando Kennedy, .rael_one, randal bravery, Rhys Langston, spinitch, whose
recorded April 2021 - January 2022
mixed by Rhys Langston
mastered by Daddy Kev
cover painting and design by Rhys Langston
(more at
www.langstonia.org/visual-art )
