Click here to hear the track "Say 'Bout the Saint" a track inspired by life in St. Louis in light of the recent tragedies performed by Eric "Prospect" White, local StL Musician, Produced by Black Phase
Full moons and harvest moons before the extrajudicial death sentencing of Michael Brown, John Crawford, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner and the like, of the contemporary daily tragedy of the seemingly ritual, open extermination of black males in the country, I had a dream. This dream began during the day, baking itself into my skin, seeping deeper and deeper into my consciousness, like rays of the sun, carrying over into night, into my slumber. I had a dream of new freedom songs of the creation of common language of resistance in the face of oppression, I dreamt of songs that could help heal our consciousness, songs of awakening, songs of the beginning of a new paradigm in music that reinforces positivity and gives hope, reality, and solace in the trembling tower of grief.
Little did I know that this dream, this spark of desire in my sub-consciousness, is already realizing itself, materializing through those tuned to like frequencies. The language of awakening is being delivered in New Media, through music, art, and critical creation. Harnessing our grief, our anger and our hope we channel it intellectually into tools of liberation. Little did I know that my brothers and sisters are dreaming the same dreams and where I felt compelled to respond with collage and poetry, my brothers and sisters, artists in St. Louis, felt moved to song and performance.
Call it what you want but I call it collective consciousness. Seen in blinks, it's rare like twinkling stars in a night sky fogged of light pollution, to find positive music that targets the Black occupants of neighborhoods in the United States. There is magic in music and art, there is power in the two creative forces coming together and currently these methods are being used by the mainstream media in a manner that borders on psychological warfare in it's negative effects on the mind and spirit in concert with the influence it has on the consciousness of children.
"Black Bird", NewCollage Series, 2014 Basil Kincaid
Here we present two songs and a collage that we hope will help activate that search for liberation from the confines of nearly forced consumption of degrading and dehumanizing music and images that encourages our youth to ignore the issues that face the new born slaves in this land of the free. The times call for an upsurgence of contemporary music that tells the truth about our people and explores the depths of our majestic history, all in hopes that one day we will claim the full rights and liberties of American citizenship.
While music and art are entertaining, this is not entertainment. This is the residue of what I feel to be a spiritual and physical quest for a freedom that we can all share. We hope that music and art can help allow us as Americans to see each other with new eyes unclouded by the coached hatred and misunderstanding that we have been fed continually through the mainstream media. It is our hope that this music and this art can give a clear view of our experience here in St. Louis towards the goal of expanding racial and cultural empathy amongst all people. We hope that in coming together to understand each other through the vehicles of art, music, writing and social interaction, both online and in real life, we can heal this nation through creative empathy and understanding.
Click here to hear the track "We Need Help" by Eric "Prospect" White, Featuring Lemar Harris, Produced by Damon Davis and Farfetched