Music

“Life Work”

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Cloud NI9E- “Life Work feat. Kensho Kuma” from “Alternative.”

If you’re in Japan, purchase the Cloud NI9E’s “Alternative” Album @ We Nod Records.. or you can hit up the chain stores like HMV or Tower nationwide..

For those of us outside Japan, purchase Cloud NI9E’s “Alternative” album on iTunes.

Verse One:

Once you hit a certain age, hella people quit/ doing music they love, maybe it’s an ego trip/ or maybe it’s the accolades that we don’t get/ or maybe they a sensitive and weak emo bitch/ (huh) rappers give up on they damn penmanship/ and producers wanna sell they equipment and split/ (I’m out) some got a job with real benefits/ others ended up in prison with life sentences/ if you meant for this here, gotta bite the bullet/ gotta be a true soldier and fire the full clip/ rap’s getting raped and they hide behind the culprits/ as the industry’s putting these liars on pulpits/ comparing yourself to Kanye or Rick Ross/ will make you feel underrated, deranged, and pissed off/ so do it for the love, just pray and spit raw/ ’cause too many artists feeling betrayed by Hip Hop/

Chorus:

This my Life Word, every track, every sixteen/ everyday put in work, for a very big dream/ this our Life Work, yeah mastery of our craft/ you should walk away now, cowards ain’t gonna last/ this my Life Work, shine so bright for all of you/ while them dudes play around I write in solitude/ this our Life Work, everything we have sacrificed/ representing raw shit, ’til the damn afterlife/

Verse Two:

Face it, damn, you gon’ have to get a day job/ if you think that music’s paying rent, then you way off/ 99 percent (shit) won’t make the paper/ dreams and reality, eventually will face off/ we as adults, must handle our finances/ many abandon art, deny what’s inside of us/ no money (more problems) gotta find answers/ we never get enough from the conscious rhymes we bust/ (so fuck Rap) let’s get a legitimate career/ cancel everything, that we invested in for years/ but no matter what, find myself flowing right here/ sound engineer turning up the head phones in my ear/ (D-Wiz) regardless of stress from the nine to five abuse/ we acknowledge that rapping is a lifetime pursuit/ a real skill that’s practiced by the men who spit truth/ you should walk away you was never meant for this booth/

Chorus:

Verse Three:

一割残るか分からんゲーム/ くたばりぞこないやバカは歓迎/　生存者のアルバムなら完成/ でも生活のレベルは変わらんぜー/ 今でも中毒者が注目/ だが年とっても上がらん給料/ 前より重く感じる重力/ 経験と悩みが生み出す十六/ (ughh) あいつら就職し、ラップから去った/ まだまだ行けたなチャンスはあった/ 努力をしてもな、販促ばっか/ している二セ物はギャングスタがマーダー/ 責任つーのがmusic の強敵/ 結婚、子育て、もしくは懲役/ あらゆる理由で無くなる衝撃/ Cloud NI9E　と　Ken Kuma 永遠にso ready/

Chorus:

Decap Premiers “Feeling” on Okayplayer

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2FS producer Decap premiered his new single “Feeling” on Okayplayer last night; this site was started by Questlove of the legendary Roots, and has blossomed into a rich musical community supported by everyone from Talib Kweli to Dead Prez. Let’s just say that it’s a highly prestigious accolade.. one that I wish to eventually achieve myself. I initially heard “Feeling” at a Decap live set and immediately fell in love with.. I begged him to get on the instrumental, was ready to throw money at him, but he said that it was unavailable.. then I completely forgot how it sounded and heard it at his Ableton demo six month later.. fell in love with it again..

Us Against Them feat. Khafre Jay

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I teamed up with Khafre Jay of BPos, who is the front man of the non-profit organization Hip Hop for Change. In no way, shape, or form do I consider myself to be a political rapper, but with so much shit going on, this track only seemed natural. Production was handled by Ink One of Zulu Nation, and mixing/ mastering was done by Just Jay at Hall of Fame Studios in Oakland.

Cloud NI9E Debut Solo Album Dropping 11/19

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Cloud NI9E will be finally dropping his debut solo album “Alternative” on 11/19. The Tokyo based producer released “the Program EP” with me last May and completed a successful Japan/ South East tour in the summer of ’13. He was also hand selected by Nujabes’ Hydeout label to become a member of the “Ficus” collective, which was specifically designed to carry on the late Japanese mastermind’s sonic legacy. This collective also enlisted 9th Wonder of Jay-Z/ Little Brother fame. The “Alternative” debut features two tracks by yours truly and one from my crew member Orukusaki.

http://www.cloudni9e.com/info/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/jacket.jpg

TRACK LIST :
1. Recollection
2. Everlasting feat. Orukusaki
3. Bird’s Eye View
4. Peaceful Warrior feat. Kensho Kuma & Justin Murta
5. Stages feat. Cise Starr (from CYNE)
6. Kazamidori
7. Suicidal Psychology feat. Chiba Chemist
8. Stand Alone (Musou remix) feat. Audace
9. Botanique feat. Pumpkin
10. Talking all days feat. David Whitaker
11. One Day
12. Life Work feat. Kensho Kuma
13. Tokyo kid ~Split style~ feat. Kemui
14. My heart is a melody
15. Home
16. Eclipse (Kamiaritsuki pt.2)



R.A. the Rugged Man’s “Definition of a Rap Flow” Contest

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I submitted a song to the “Definition of a Rap Flow” contest being hosted by R.A. the Rugged Man. I thought it was really cool how contestants can choose from Mr. Green instrumentals… instead of barring out at Super Saiyan 1000%, I remade a song to “the Dangerous Three” beat.

I usually don’t care about contests, but R.A. has really had a significant influence on me… one of the first instrumentals I remember attempting to record a song to back in the 90’s was “Till my Heart Stops.” Dude has paid dues forever and the “Legends Never Die” album is probably my favorite album to come out in recent years. This contest is also being judged by Talib Kweli and Vinnie Paz, who are without a doubt in my top artists list.

Peaceful Warrior

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“Peaceful Warrior” is a brand new banger off of my producer Cloud NI9E’s upcoming solo album; it features Justin Murta repping Vietnam and yours truly. Cloud NI9E brought a soulfully mature instrumental complete with a trumpet and I just had to bring a righteous verse to it. My 16 is a lot more militant RBG than usual and am extremely happy with the finished product.


“Peaceful Warrior” – Kensho Kuma

Reporting live from trenches of the golden state/

our experiences here, testing a soldier’s faith/

blaming the crime rate on weapons in Oakland? wait/

‘cause the residents overwhelmed by the local hate/

and social injustice and stopping my progress/

we hopping over barricades at Occupy protests/

middle class belittled as governments profit/

the devil with us no matter how omniscient God is/

represent peace, but I’m far from an pacifist/

never hesitant, ‘cause the scars of an activist/

mean something to us, we learned from the Black Panthers bitch/

to the liberals in Berkeley we be standing with/

local celebrity, verses for working class/

even if he a regular dude, he will merk your ass/

for us to change things will take more than earning cash/

so we are prepared to be right there when insurgents clash/

 

We don’t need no news programs broadcasting lies/

what we seeing everyday’s the truth we analyze/

we don’t need no governors lying to folks/

my people apathetic they ain’t trying to vote/

we don’t need no crooked cops beating down teens/

and you wonder why nobody will speak to police/

we don’t need no businessmen owning prisons/

I’m more than qualified to make my own decisions/

Kansai Soul Fiyah

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I recorded this track last summer with veteran Osaka MC’s Gebo and Mistah O.K.I. Produced, recorded, and mixed by Noah Beatz.

032031

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kansai Soul Fiyah-

I convey the message like a translator should/

‘cause we the same regardless of the language or hood/

whatever continent, yup this man’s understood/

acknowledged by the ballers ‘til I vanish for good/

?????real skill???/

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what we take for granted isn’t normal to them/

we hella rich compared to Bangkok’s orphan my friend/

keep the checks I get or share my fortune instead/

Oriental soldiers chop off a foreigner’s head/

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One Werd Releases “the Faculty”

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MC One Werd and I share several things in common besides rapping: we’re both teachers and we both are practitioners of a specific faith. He released his “the Faculty” album this week and I’m featured on the “Addiction” track along with my friend Pure Powers. This one is for my people “in the rooms.” This album also features Orukusaki, Task1ne, Telli Prego, Pete Feliciano, JB Nimble, and Joe Mousepad.

One Werd Cover

 

 

DJ Dolbee Releases “Still Underground”

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DJ Dolbee is a veteran DJ/ producer located in Tokyo, Japan. He recently released “Still Underground” on CD and on vinyl. Buy it at We Nod Records, the illest independent record store in this solar system.

dolbee

I met him in the late nineties when he resided in San Francisco, and was working at the now defunct Zebra Records on Haight Street. He was the first person to ever believe in my rapping abilities and is credited as being the first to ever record me and release any material with your boy Kuma on it. The “Nice Kut” mixtape was released in 1998 and features my first released freestyle ever.

Then he returned to Japan, had a label fly my big homie Tenzin and me out there, formed a crew “I.P.S” and featured us on a vinyl release. The 1999 “Catacombs” compilation was my official debut and remains my only vinyl appearance to date.

Nice Kut 2catacombs