Kensho Kuma

Japanese American MC representing 510 Berkeley, CA.

Bandcamp Updated

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The Kensho Kuma Bandcamp has been updated!! Listeners are able to download select tracks from the upcoming “Lineage ov the Lyricist” for FREE and name prices for past albums.. all purchases will be used to mix my upcoming album with Cloud NI9E. (No, I ain’t one of these MC’s that claim to know how to engineer because they can run their DAW.) My engineer has always been paid off.. So yeah, get the tracks for FREE or donate a little if you can. Peace.

Lineage ov the Lyricist

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The Lineage ov the Lyricist FREE album has been completed and is coming soon.. but hey, I’m not rushing the release; it’s 60-minutes of unreleased music mixed by DJ Kevvy Kev.. The project is a lot less formal than my other official releases.. it’s just me barring out to whatever instrumental I please. Here are the finalized version of some of the songs.

Boom Boom Room Needs Your Support

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The historic Boom Boom Room in SF’s Fillmore district has been the home of Return of the Cypher for almost seven years now. Our weekly open-mic has rightfully earned the title, “where Hip Hop Culture resides in the Bay Area”, and I consider my involvement with the event to be one of my most meaningful experiences in Hip Hop. R.O.T.C. has definitely taught me the values of camaraderie, selflessness, diplomacy, and giving back; I credit the event for making me not only a better MC, but a better human being. Yes I acknowledge that sounds cheezeball, but I have really learned a lot on the human level through this event.

Unfortunately, the Boom Boom Room is facing permanent closure, due to the current Corona Virus pandemic; BBR has set up a Covid Rescue Fund to alleviate some of their compounding debt. Although the total sum necessary for the emergency fund is stated as 150K, this fundraiser is trying to reach the 60K goal to get dialogue going amongst community members about the seriousness of the situation. Please help out if you can.

Marcus Murray Website

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Marcus Murray has always been my graphic designer. I’ve known dude since the late-90’s/ early-2000’s Telegraph Berkeley scene, and he has done every single album cover and official logo of mine. These album covers chronicle my life experience in Hip Hop culture, and I plan to hire him for all future official projects. He has a site now, and limited prints are available!! Artists, if you’re in need of professional graphics, Marcus is your dude.. I can tell you from experience that he’ll diligently work with you through the process, is extremely responsive to feedback, and is very familiar with the independent music scene.

In 2017, he did the album cover to 2nd Floor Samurais’ “Shogun Stories.” I initially approached him with a vision of an energy source amidst warring empires, and he took it from there..
In 2013, he did the cover to “the Program EP”; check out how California and Japan are facing each other under the dragon..
2010’s “Projekt Life Force” was probably the most challenging piece for Marcus.. this one took forever to finalize.. but as you can see, it’s something that will stand the test of time.
2006’s “Rewritten Code ov Honor”.. this was the one that convinced me that he was the only graphic designer that I would need..

I cannot recommend Marcus Murray enough. Hit my man up when you need some quality work done.

La Rime Métisse “Vivement” Corona Awareness Video

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My peoples in Paris France, La Rime Metisse (King Siroko x Architeknic) just released “VIVEMENT”, a Corona awareness video. Yours truly has a brief cameo appearance.

The duo is in the midst of preparing their upcoming album “Jusqu’au bout”, so stay tuned..

Killings Must Stop

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Look, I’ve never in my life considered myself an activist.. nor a “political” MC.. just a regular dude with integrity and morals. But with all the madness going on with our police departments, this song naturally came out. Took the instrumental from Japanese producers Typewriter&YMG, mixed by D-Wiz, and mastered by Sota Furugen.

 

Killings Must Stop

Kensho Kuma Verse 1: “Ignorant people think Asians eat cats/ I love eating pussy, please believe that/ we could joke around but these stereotypes/ are killing Black people in the dead of the night/ prejudiced Caucasians, perpetuate fright/ cops see the melanin, and pull weapons on sight/ (from the Bay Area) where we hella liberal/ yet Barbecue Becky think you’s criminal/ depending on your damn traits, phenotypical/ after Oscar Grant, most of us remained cynical/ ughh, still can’t believe they acquitted Zimmerman/ the mass media, don’t want us to remember him/ I’m down to go riot ’cause I like vengeance/ but I’d rather see a cop get a life sentence/ for taking the lives of these minorities/ some do believe in white superiority/ they known to be liars who commit forgery/ when they doing they dirt, we gotta record the scene/ ah! hold them accountable, in a court of law/ if that don’t work, we bringing war to yall/”

Chorus: “Too many people have been killed by the cops/ nobody can afford to chill and just watch/ protest, riot, or go and bust shots/ we gotta do whatever, the killings must stop/ too many people have been killed by the cops/ nobody can afford to chill and just watch/ don’t know what to do, but I’ve seen too much/ in the Bay Area, shit’s been too corrupt/”

Kuma Verse 2: “I’m hella racist like the world I was raised in/ get buck-fiftied if you disrespect Asians/ immigrants, Tibetans, or folks from Wakanda/ want more than cash, I need freedom and the honor/ forefathers proud, I’m a Japanese soldier/ some paying to be white, fuck a Sammy Sosa/ the European standards of beauty is wack/ in Hip Hop, what’s considered beauty is black/ ah, worst gang members are the agents of ICE/ what familias in Oakland be facing ain’t right/ it’s about the colored kids, not the hatred for whites/ but I’m not a pacifist, I can’t break up no fights/ at a damn Trump rally, stand with the refugees/ Latin youth in cages, cry out rescue me/ officers ain’t letting kids in the ghetto live/ people from the Middle East, get called a terrorist/ politic with doctors, and some gang members/ and learn from both groups, to further the agenda/ streets to the campus, we are making anthems/ if you down with POC’s, please put them hands up!/”

Chorus:

Methadone (Hip Hop Against Drug Abuse)

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If you know me from real life, you know that I am a product of sobriety/recovery.. Although I was able to celebrate 8 years of continuous sobriety this past August, I remain extremely concerned about the normalization, satirization, and promotion of AUD/alcoholism, substance abuse, mental disorders, and dual diagnoses, prevalent in our culture. I have known certain artists for over a decade whom I have never seen sober. There are numerous men huddled by a bathroom stall sniffing lines at any given venue. Young people are conditioned to sing lyrics about pills and codeine without even knowing it. I am that one MC who’s gonna tell you that this is NOT cool.

This one is dedicated to anyone who has suffered from alcoholism, addiction, and/or dual diagnosis.. you are welcome to holler at me anytime..