Kensho Kuma 
East Bay Hip Hop Emcee/ tarot card reader/ comic book artist/ renaissance man Señor Gigio recently dropped a brand new video “Strange Days.” Yours truly makes a cameo, along with my engineer D-Wiz; I play the part of an arrogant, vaping, condescending Hip Hop fan.. and yes, I hate to admit it, but it felt very natural to me.. ha..
I teamed up with my cohorts, the Heroes of time (Señor Gigio x Mister Cleen), to bring you this brand new banger. I have known these two for years, and they have tirelessly released hustled in the Bay Area Hip Hop scene. We spit from the perspective of independent musicians (duh, that’s what we are) and the song serves as a breath of fresh air in this era of financial fantasy fiction. Production by: Mister Cleen Cover by: Señor Gigio Mixed by: D-Wiz
Kensho Kuma Verse: “I think like the man behind the register/ been broke for so damn long, gotta get my cheddar up/ live life benevolent, just like an emperor/ numbers mean everything, it’s not about better luck/ It’s all mathematics, know the economics/ while rappers showing off, huh smoking on that chronic/ I fly around the world, get rings like Sonic/ never buying Gucci, investing my profits/ on real-ass producers that make my shit raw/ and then spend the rest on vacations in Prague/ when the facts are involved, see your fraudulent facade/ while tryna flirt with, teenie boppers at the mall/ I’m on a Skype call with potential investor/ from overseas, which means, Ken’s getting cheddar/ but the sense of adventure means more than a guarantee/ passion for traveling, burning like kerosene/ even with scrilla, I don’t floss my assets/ never am I bragging ’bout the props and mad checks/ when I’m broke, it’ll never cost me respect/ let’s make a million, and get lost in Tibet/”
Return of the Cypher is teaming up with the Legionnaire Saloon in Oakland to bring you the East Bay’s rawest Hip Hop weekly. Every Wednesday, starting 02/06/2019, we will be facilitating the top-tier, organic MC cyphers our brand has become synonymous with. Myself and R.O.T.C. Director Unlearn the World will serve as host MC’s and DJ Kevvy Kev will be on the decks. We plan to regularly schedule guest artists to make appearances in the near future.. if you’re interested, please write hiphoprotc@gmail.com and send your pertinent EPK, links, and videos.
R.O.T.C. TV Season 2 Episode 1 is here!! Orchestrated by Return of the Cypher Director Unlearn the World and Boogie the Man, the debut episode for the new season accurately captures what our R.O.T.C. world has become. We will have ongoing episodes getting produced, so please stay tuned!! Photo credit: Sarah Arnold Photography
If you don’t know by now.. R.O.T.C. facilitates top-tier, organic cyphers powered by our in-house Get Down Band and songstress Jenna Medina. It goes down every Sunday evening at the Boom Boom Room in the historic Fillmore District of San Francisco. These cyphers are open to the public, and all MC’s, lyricists, rappers, vocalists, etc., are welcome to participate.. as long as they read our rules, acknowledge them, and receive a wristband. Our event also features a traditional dance party segment overseen by R.O.T.C. Commander DJ Kevvy Kev and a special weekly guest performer!!
2 Mello is a multi-faceted producer who samples retro Nintendo games. I was immediately interested upon discovering his Final Fantasy- the 3-6 Chambers project.. (he flipped Wu Tang acapellas over Final Fantasy samples!) He also has Nas x Castlevania, Jay-Z x Chrono Trigger, and the full instrumental version for each project!! WHAT!? A beat from the FF batch served as the perfect, beautifully melancholic soundscape for some painful-ass bars I was chiseling when I lost my older brother this past July. This instrumental truly saved my damn sanity.
I present to you Permanent Scars. Props to 2 Mello. Mixed by DWiz. Pic by Sarah Arnold.
Here we go once again.. my partner in crime Cloud NI9E and I released a brand new banger.. this one’s called Temple Work and it’s from a vinyl that we’re currently working one. This is the free version, so it’s been ran through a maximizer, but it hasn’t been mastered..
For those of you who don’t know, Cloud NI9E is a producer/DJ from Tokyo, Japan. I did a collaborative album with him back in 2013, and he has served as our tour DJ on numerous overseas solo and group tours.
I have started the Official R.O.T.C. Newsletter!! If you don’t know by now, Return of the Cypher is where Hip Hop culture resides in the SF Bay Area!! Every Sunday evening at the historic Boom Boom Room in the Fillmore District of San Francisco, we facilitate an organic, top-tier cypher, backed by our in-house live band. The event celebrated its 5 years anniversary this past summer, and the movement is showing no signs of slowing down.. please come through!! Please sign-up here!!
I recently came across DJ E da Boss‘ 2004 Slept-On Records Mix CD which features Tenzin (Rest In Power.) 10z will always be my older brother and I am still learning what he taught me on our 20+ years of globetrotting adventures. He was the most naturally gifted fresstyler I have ever met.. I attest that these verses were completely improvised.
10z was a highly respected MC in the late ’90’s Telegraph street cypher scene; his spontaneous beat-boxing, which often incorporated banging on trashcans for additional percussion, served as the epicenter for an immeasurable amount of freestyle sessions. This is where I got my start as an MC. I followed him everywhere. Our first global Rap journey was in ’98, when we were flown out to Japan to record for a compilation and open for Planet Asia. By the mid-2000’s, Tenz had become the most successful booking agent and performer in Western China. I moved out there and our Hunters and Gatherers crew performed throughout the country. If we weren’t booked as a group, he would fly me to places like Urumuqi, Xiamen, and Kunming, as a solo artist. Our home was a Kung Fu trap house in Chengdu, and many world travelers would stay with us for months on end. Our biggest show during that time period was rocking at the Yue Festival in Shanghai, with several thousand attendees, with Talib Kweli and Ozomatli on the line-up. By the late-2000’s, both of us had relocated back to the U.S.; his entrepreneurial/ hustler spirit truly blossomed and manifested, and he created a watch company along with his wife.. (and other businesses too..)
Tenzin never placed much emphasis on rehearsing or writing.. I would routinely beg him to do both.. he was always much more interested in being outside and living. And as cliche as it may sound, “Hip Hop is something you live.” And my older brother epitomized this saying.. I will continue to look for unfinished 10z files and songs to share with the world. Thank you for everything and we’ll try our best down here.
Brand New Banger by Sticky Ricardo featuring Kensho Kuma!! “Never Be Famous” is scheduled to appear on Sticky Ricardo’s upcoming “Sticks and Stones” debut album; his project will also have appearance from the legendary Killarmy clique. This track is about being content with accepting that you’ll never “blow-up” by so-called “industry” standards and is written from the perspective of an independent artist dealing with everyday trials and tribulations. The graphic was created by Jane the Message and is modeled after the Japanese Doraemon font.
Never Be Famous Verse 1: “Yeah, rappers talm ’bout, getting more Prada/ your boy’s independent, shipping out product/ never sold hella units, gotta day job/ I’m performing at the local shows, on my days off/ yeah, use my vacation, for oversea tours/ I’m flirting with a mermaid, on foreign seashores/ hi! getting more supporters, more than before/ but we can’t buy a house or afford the decor/ and we blame one percenters and white older heads/ but I’m more evil when I’m outta bipolar meds/ ughh, Lithium, Depakote in pill cabinet/ but I hate feeling numb, rather feel passionate/ ’bout everything in life, success to the failure/ you talk a good one homie, let’s see you wager/ running with the immigrants, Mexican neighbors/ know the Japones is raw and get’s only greater/ invest my Bitcoin, in Vivranium/ and hire more teachers and librarians/ I don’t give a shit if I don’t rock in a stadium/ but tired of the students getting shot in the cranium/”
Chorus (repeat x 2): “I ain’t even tripping that I’ll never be famous/ ’cause I murder everything, when I hit the stages/ nothing but my real life, written on the pages/ we’ll be here forever, ’cause the way we flows ageless/”
Never Be Famous Verse 2: “My beautiful masseuse got me feeling great/ I’m on a cruise boat with friends and we grilling steak/ if you, talk shit my killers will seal your fate/ ughh, jets and helicopters on my real estate/ I got every pair of Nikes, that were ever made/ at the venues in your city, my records getting played/ Kendrick called last night, and asked for a feature/ my photo shoots packed with some Japanese divas/ (wake yo ass up!) damn, back to my real life/ what I do for a living doesn’t even feel right/ trapped in a meeting writing verses in my head/ I should be out touring in Europe, but instead/ my bitch of a boss, writing me a reprimand/ if I get one more, I’m fired so I’m stressing fam/ lemme get you tea, ah! mix it with some Diprivan/ kill all the cameras, return with some weapons (blam!)/ I ain’t even serious, my dreams and my nightmares/ always influence the rhyme schemes that I write here/ we respected for the way we rep on the mic/ but we speak for real people with some regular lives/”
Chorus (repeat x 2):
Rikinish is a Japanese MC, producer, nomadic teacher, and R.O.T.C. regular; this past week, his debut album Everyday, was released through Orikami Records in France. Please be sure to support the official release!! Yours truly is featured alongside R.O.T.C.’s Jane the Message on a song titled “the Game.”
I am currently working on the “Lyricist ov the Lineage” project, which features new, old, and collaborative tracks.. I am going to compile 60-70 minutes worth of music, and have my uncle DJ Kevvy Kev mix it.. this one is the latest addition to the line-up thus far. Please be sure to check out the whole playlist.
Kensho Kuma “the Game” verse: “Not a freestyler/ want my name mentioned in the same sentence as a legendary writer/ Ernest Hemingway/ cats get resentful that they could never ever step in Kensho’s way/ I’m like Marley Marl, dropping science and math/ a lotta obstacles, popping up in my path/ but we separate, propaganda and facts/ and decisions get made properly with the stats/ yeah, you know the vulture type/ decent at rapping, but always acting stupid and can’t rep the culture right/ scene’s fulla punks frontin’ like millionaires/ but the foul stench of poverty is still in the air/ Kuma! developers be the villains in here/ leaving families without homes and children in tears/ regardless of era, I’m doing my thang/ I’m remembering Oakland, before them bike lanes/ yeah, snitching, literally meant you died/ now everything is vegan and gentrified/ feeling like kamikaze, sent to die/ and fuck pain, ’cause your boy been desensitized/”
“the Game” Chorus: “The game that we playing, life that we living/ we’ll be spitting raw, ’til the very last inning/ the mics we are gripping, the crowds we control/ the rules and traditions, we vowed to uphold/ the game that we playing, life that we living/ we’ll be spitting raw, ’til the very last inning/ anytime you see us on the stage, we wreck it/ it’s Kensho Kuma, Rikinish, and Jane the Message/”