This is Ama Lytikal, and finally here is my interview with The Akashik Ancestors! These guys are the realist and rawest thing happening right now.. Please pick up their album "The Lantern Of Osiris" ! Here We Go!
AMA LYTIKAL: What does it mean to be an Akashik Ancestor?
SON OF SATURN: Love for the Hip Hop culture plus knowledge and overstanding. Hip Hop is our craft, our artform... and personally I was getting sick of all this dumb out music, and wanted to make something with some substance. This crew is not only a forum for that, but also just a collective of good people who enjoy what they do, and do it well. Being an Akashik Ancestor means making raw Hip Hop.
LIFE SCIENTIST: No gimmicks...just a crew of solid emcees that came together for the same cause...Real Hip Hop takin' it back to it's origin of raw gritty rhymes with intelligent content.
MORBSKI: I remember when Ben approached me about doing a group project we were trying to come up with a slick name and Ben was like "it's got to have akashic in the title" so we rolled with akashic ancestorz at first..then we were like "nah..fuck that lets keep it grimey with K`s and Z`s" so we decided Akashik Ancestorz would be the collective's pseudonym. Our initial goal was to shake the sleepy-heads from there slumber, call out most of these "conspiracy rappers" and to document our travels through this circuit by recording raw inovative lyrics delivered passionately over the illest beats we could set our ears on..I`ll admit it was very challenging for me. I`ve been rhyming and recording since middle school but honestly I never had much of a direction, don`t get me wrong I feel I was a more conceptual artist overall... more avant garde if you will, just gently touching on the esoteric shit. When I met Ben it was crazy because I was working on Limbo`s Mezzanine and alot of the stuff I was doing at that time was very different from what alot of my "friends" in this were doing, and I was rather unsure if I would even release any of the material I was working on for it. I sent Ben a few tracks I wanted him to rock with me on and booom, dude got em back to me the next day. We started building massively and AA was born, I never looked back. I feel truly blessed for being introduced to such inspiring artists and I feel equally blessed that I have been given the opportunity to build with them. I see us pursuing many more projects in the future (as long as they are down to work with a knuckleheaded manchild rapping about his dong, testing gag reflexes, mushroom-printing cheeks and shit... I`m working on it guys..I`m working on it..haha). If these plights are pursued properly I believe in my heart that we will become icons in this, and possibly inspire others in a positive way. Ben and I stuck with it through some wild shit and it seems to be coming together quite nice in my opinion.
I guess you didnt ask for a history lesson though, shit. Being an Akashik Ancestor means you`re 1 of the 4 illest mother fluckers to ever breathe a word into a mic.
LIFE SCIENTIST: Good shit bro...fluck it speak ya mind!!
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: It means breaking the trend in innovative forms, but respecting the original values of the culture. Underground hiphop is becoming just as "clicky" and based on trends as the mainstream. In building with my brothers on this project there seemed to be a centralized desire to walk away from the acceptable revolt as defined by fans of the underground. I personally say that though Lantern of Osiris remains true to its original awareness and substance, this project also is saturated with a funk that ministers of hiphop have forgotten due to the killuminati trend. Akashik Ancestorz is unity, peace, love, and fun with the occasional warning shot to devils that exploit the culture for vain glory.
SON OF SATURN: A whole crew of characters indeed!! The dope thing about it is, every single one of us holds our own, and is completely unique as an individual. So when we get together, the energy is insane. I get so sick of hearing all these crews where you cant even distinguish between the various emcees.. that's not a problem here. The dynamics of all our individual elements coming together is what made this project so amazing. I have worked with a lot of people on countless albums, but hands down, this is the best project and best camp I have ever had the honor to be involved with.
AMA LYTIKAL: Morbski, Saturn, you guys insisted on the name "Akashik Ancestorz." Why?
SON OF SATURN: On the Akashik thing... When we first started AA a couple years back, I was just getting back into the study and practice of astral projection. I had read about the akashic records before, but the idea was really resonating with me. A library of the records of the universe, past, present, and future.. only accessed in astral form. The music had been merging with the studies of mystics, esoterica, holy science etc. so I thought it would be fitting to have 'akashik' in the name of a crew that was dropping esoteric knowledge. Like the universal records of Hip Hop, presented by your ancestors reincarnated.
AMA LYTIKAL: The new album lantern of Osiris is dropping the 21st.... What's everyones favorite track and why?
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: That question is almost impossible for me to answer. I would say Night of the Lending Dead because it was an induction track for me, then again Our Way has a crazy ass vibe that solidified our chemistry. Outside of the benchmark songs, it would be difficult as hell for me to pinpoint just one. However I do have to note that Morb got me with Lies Inc. We all have our individiual approach to some of the conflict around the group, but I'm going to boldly state that he spoke on everyone's behalf with that song...
SON OF SATURN: Wow, that's a hard question. Seems like each track we do is my favorite, then we do another new one and that one becomes my new favorite. I'm happy as hell the album is finished, because I like to look at albums as one long track with a bunch of different parts that make up the whole. Shit just flows, banger after banger, no filler, all raw as fluck!
LIFE SCIENTIST: It's damn hard to pick a favorite track. Lending Dead is ill, Rain & Snow we dropped jewels, Half Caff was just crazy, loved the energy... The Revolt, Universal Soldier (my solo joint hahaha) is crazy. Fuck I just love the whole album...it's just massive amounts of energy, knowledge,and wisdom...
MORBSKI: My favorites are Universal Soldier, The Juggernaughts, The Revolt, and Vatican Vaults.
AMA LYTIKAL: YedidYah, you said earlier that Morbski spoke on everyone's behalf on Lies Inc. What's this drama all about?
SON OF SATURN: I would rather leave the drama out of this interview. It will be handled soon enough, no point in dwelling on the negative. That's my personal opinion, I don't speak for everyone... so if you guys want to discuss it, go ahead.
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: To be honest, I have no clue...beginning with a vague statement, there are so many dumb ass emcees (and fans for that matter) that are just out of harmony with the wisdom they supposedly represent. In specifics, the ongoing issue with Rasul Allah is fucking ridiculous. It's tasteless as hell. I built with Saturn about the situation and Saturn refuses to bash Rasul. In Lies Inc. I think Morb boldly, yet tastefully called shit the way it really is. Though I've maintained my silence in respect of a conflict that pre-existed Sion's Revolt Motion involvement, its just fucking corny what I've been seeing. The net takes away accountability. I keep hearing and seeing "I'm a street nigga" this and "I'm a real muh fucka" that, but NONE of the killers I know have FB pages. I hope we can meet in the physical and slap hands as brothers of the same struggle, however the NET is a weak ass forum to air out your grievances. Before I'm a rapper I'm a man and I'd like to say the same thing about my co-laborers in hiphop. If the conflict is purely artistic, then battle it out. However ministers of hiphop should totally respect the power of words and not resort to petty threats of physical violence. I don't know Rasul outside of the social networking arena, however the sickening rants and attacks I've witnessed from him don't reflect the peaceful spirit that inspired me in Distant Traveler. He's been a firm reminder to me that its all entertainment. Not many brothers are living and embodying what they say. I have no issue with anything I say being posted, if what I'm saying is a lie then I'm wrong, if its not appreciated, then they should hit me in the mouth...
AMA LYTIKAL: People talk shit thousands of miles away from people, it seems to have become an epidemic and it's not just in hip hop. I know it often makes me wonder what happened to humanity. Where did the entitlement and lack of morality come from? Why does a little screen give people so much power?
LIFE SCIENTIST: That's the whole point... they can pretty much be whoever they wanna be behind a screen and not have to deal with the repercussions, that is until they are caught outside that element...then what???
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: It came from the preferred treatment artists get. It begins when one is a voice in the crowd, he's elected by his fellow brothers to be the spokesman for their particular cause, he's given a bull horn and sings of freedom with his brothers and sisters, then he becomes the epitome of the same shit they were protesting against. He trades in his place in the crowd for a place on stage, and his bull horn for a mic and becomes a disillusioned fucktard!
AMA LYTIKAL: Let's talk about producers. What's your favorite style of beat? Who haven't you worked with, that you would like to... and why?
MORBSKI: Trent Reznor... I`m poor.
SON OF SATURN: I want to work a lot more with Ama Lytikal. Raw, foundation boom bap!! Chopped up and punched in. Jazzy, methodic arrangements, that's one of the reasons Lies Inc. is one of my favorite joints on The Lantern. Ama Lytikal. How ish should be.
LIFE SCIENTIST: Word, I def wanna bless some of her tracks
MORBSKI: Thats what I'm sayin... Lady Gaga would be cool to work with too..
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: Yo... I loved Lady Gaga's first shit! She scares the shit out of me, but she makes a hell of a song. Producers... I don't know. Haha. I actually need some jazz, r & b, and pop tracks.
AMA LYTIKAL: What inspires you most to keep making music?
LIFE SCIENTIST: My deepest inspiration comes from when I hear people say how ill Lil Wayne or Gucci Mane is. I'm like what the fuck? Are you serious? Shit makes no sense, that's why these children and teenagers are out here wildin, listening to those devils! So it is my duty I feel to make Allah's word manifest through music to open minds up. Let em know you ain't gotta be a thug, killer, drug dealer, or homo (yeah most these niggas are homos) to make good quality music and live comfortably. Everyone screaming hip hop but really has no concept of what it really is, and it's sad. That shit on the radio ain't hip hop, matter of fact the other day I was watching a "hip hop" show on the Internet at work and they were talkin about DJs that rhyme. The god Kay Slay ripped a few bars about god cipher divine and murking devils. They said his shit was wack he need to just stick to spinning. But on the flip side they was riding wack ass DJ Khalid's dick when he spit some wackness about bottle poppin' and rollin' in bentleys... that ain't fuckin hip hop!!! Hip hop is pain, streets, struggle. Shit, where I'm from and where I be at, I don't see muh fuckas rollin in phantoms and shit, poppin cris! Fuck outta here!! Yeah that's why I do what I do!! REAL HIP HOP IS INTELLIGENCE...Hip=to be aware
Hop=movement. Therefore hip hop is a movement of awareness. Anyone can rhyme but who's really doing this for the movement/cause???
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: Its just an amplified form of self expression to me. Alchemically blending sound word power and various frequencies to touch the listener. I believe hiphop specifically (entertainment in general) is in disarray because there's no accountability. I don't bash the mainstream idiocy popularized on the radio, however the impact of Waka, Gucci, or Wayne has to be respected. Sadly, the impact is destructive. A fool with a mic is like a child with a loaded gun, he can affect anyone within earshot of whatever message he wants to kick. I endorse the vantage point that I, as well as any other artist known for being "aware" or "conscious" have the responsiblity to counter balance the crap our children are listening to. I do music out of love for creation, the culture, and the babies.
MORBSKI: Above all, I love this culture and my adherence to it is absolutely neccessary for my well being as a man/son/brother/husband/father. It keeps me stable. I look around constantly in search of inspiration and find nothing. So I look inside myself and decide on suitable subjects that will influence my progression. I admit I am selfish as hell when it comes to my subject matter, I've been slept on for too long and honestly never really gave a fuck what anyone ever thought about my style or what I bring to this. I`m not gonna lie, I don`t really feel that I represent much of a cause I`m more like the vagabond gettin spat upon in this rap shit. I just like the way my voice sounds on certain beats and if I say some shit that I was feeling on a certain day when I loaded up an instro and spit a verse at the crib in my boxerbriefs chuggin a 40oz then thats what's up. Dudes take themselves way too seriously in this hip hop scene, word up. I`m just tryin to bring some fun
back and hold myself above water. I used to want money in this. Then I turned 19. I`m 34 years old now..(possibly the odb of the AA camp) Anyways, now I`m just after something more. Not money, not fame, I just want to leave something behind for my daughter and my wife to bump when I`m gone (lordwilling they outlive me), immortalize my voice and reverberate the ripples I made musically throughout eternity. And when I come back I will recognize myself sooner than it took for me to do it this time around. Maybe I can wake some heads up in the meantime.
SON OF SATURN: On the inspiration tip, I make music because I love music, I make music because it may be the only thing aside from the grace of God that keeps me sane. I would be lying through bloody teeth if I tried to come off as altruistic anymore, this is a selfish endeavor no doubt about it. Don't get me wrong, if the music I make helps people and serves a higher purpose, then that is a much appreciated bonus... but for real I do this because it's who I am. The music makes me as well, it inspires me to no end. I guess this is one of those positive cycles we never hear about. I used to front like it was all about raising conscioussness, helping others expand their knowledge and awareness, but deep down I knew that was just ego. Who the fluck am I to think I am better than anyone else?
What it boils down to, is that everything is connected. My studies inspire my my music, my music inspires my studies, my music and my studies inspire my spiritual practice and self discipline, but the music and all the baggage it carries also has the ability to inspire countless negative actions as well.. each day, balance is the lesson.
AMA LYTIKAL: If you could change one thing in this world, no matter how small, what would it be and why?
LIFE SCIENTIST: Word... I would say child hunger. In America there is so much waste, at the same time there are hungry children not knowing when or where their next meal is coming from.
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: My first answer would be the injustice, suffering, and inhumane treatment we project onto one another, my other answer would be nothing because I firmly believe this BRIEF journey through the material realm has its purpose...I don't know the purpose, but I'm grateful for the life experience thats been breaking my heart and making me smile.
MORBSKI: If I could change anything in this world, I would love to see a revival of common sense. It`s not much to ask but it seems to be a Mt. Everest to topple, to achieve. For instance, my daughter is 10 years old and her school curriculum is rediculous, the dumbdown of society and the corporate agenda has been issued as a tool to teachers so they can "relate" to the children. Justin Bieber has more of an influence on the ideals of our kids nowadays than any great mind ever had. Can`t blame the artist or the marketing tactics, shit I have respect. The answer is knowing thy enemy so to say, cats always hate on these radio rappers, but offer no solution. I think these delusions of grandiuer that our children are distracted by should be countered by constant agitation. Kids have been given way to many options and it`s overwhelming to them, so they need to be distracted with activity.
As parents, we need to keep our children conscious. I see parents on there iphones watching jersey shore etc... all the while their kids are running amok with no regard for their own wellbeing and certainly none for yours. I heard a middle school girl telling another kid to fuck off and suck her dick (apparently middle school girls mistake their vaginas for dicks nowadays) when she was getting off the bus today. I told her to watch her mouth and gave her a look like "I will spank the shit out of you because obviously youre not getting it at home" and she looked down in shame. The humility is there, it just needed to be activated. Kids aspire for attention thats felt. I know she was good soul, but the responsibilty has shifted toward school counselors, principals, law enforcement etc... it shouldnt be that way. If an iota of common sense would have been exercised on some peoples part, some responsibility would've taken place, and the effect would've been more positive to compliment the cause. I just want to see more people thinking, expressing premeditated ideals and creating for God`s sake. We need more Gary Coopers and less Gilbert Godfrieds..."life is like a game of chess you should think first before you move"
SON OF SATURN: I would like to remove fear from this world. Not fear in it's neccesary form, where it keeps us safe from sticking our hands in the fire and whatnot.. but the useless fear that hinders our progress as human beings, the fear of the unknown that transmutes into the anger and hatred we unleash on our fellow sentients. My mom used to tell me that fear and love can not occupy the same space at the same time. I think that in itself could open up a short novella of philosophic debate, but in essence it seems to resonate well with me. So to simplify, we need much more love, and much less hate. Satnam.
AMA LYTIKAL: Whats next for Akashik Ancestors?
LIFE SCIENTIST: I'm seeing AA doing shows across the states this summer, and hopefully being able to enlighten Europe someday. The next project should be jumping off soon... gotta keep it live like wire nahmean.
SON OF SATURN:
Word. I see this album being the launchpad to many things. We have a couple of shows coming up in Colorado in January, and will also be shooting our first video with all four members while we are there. Like Life said, we are planning to do a small north American tour this summer. We need everyone who loves and supports our music to cop the album, buy some shirts and ish here soon when they become available, and smash bricks across the faces of all the heads who bootleg our Lp. We do everything ourselves, this is the definition of independent hiphop. If you want to see us in your city, support us for real, and you will see us!! We gonna go in hard with this album, but believe there will be another... Hopefully many more to come.
MORBSKI: Tours, merchandise & vinyl. And yes, alot more music.
YEDIDYAH BEN SION: What's next for AA? Skies the limit! I truly believe this is the beginning of something powerful for the underground! I believe our influence will transcend hiphop. Message for our supporters: Thank you. Thanks to supporters of hiphop for keeping this culture alive despite the bull shit attacks by corporate empires. Thanks for supporting Verbal Godz and keeping us alive! Cop that new AA joint! The best hiphop album to hit the underground in years! Straight up!
AMA LYTIKAL: How about a message to your supporters, from the rest of you?
LIFE SCIENTIST: I just wanna thank all for supporting Life Scientist and all of his crews/family. It means the world to me and my promise is to continue on making good music...show some love and cop The Lantern Of Osiris, December 21st!!! Knowledge Knowledge.
MORBSKI: If I had a fan I would say "Right on! Thanks for listening."..sorry I keep my rhyme tactics to myself for the most part and I don`t get alot of props. But if I did I would say the same as above and buy you a brew..I seem to connect with people better in person than anywhere else so if we come to your city bring your ass to the show and party with me..I`m a flucking blast fresh to flucking def in the flesh baby! Let`s party if youre here youre my a alike and I love you!
SON OF SATURN: Humble and gracious thanks to all our supporters. If you want to see us in a city near you, cop the album! We are self-funded, self-sufficient, and 100% independent. All proceeds from the new Lp will go to fund our upcoming tour dates. Keep it moving... Each one teach one... God bless...
Order The Album Lantern Of Osiris.
Digital: http://www.akashikancestorz.bandcamp.com/album/the-lantern-of-osiris
Physical: http://www.revoltmotion.com/store.html
