Hiphop Practice 1

Ok, utilizing our tools [From "My Hiphop Guidelines"], we need to define (in this order):
The thesis, The vision, The beat, and The rhyme structure.

Thesis- The definition of my handle here (Coinflip): the "Coinflip Paradigm" I came up with in late 2004. This statement is basically:

"There are two sides of our identity, two sides of the "coin" so to speak: On the one hand is our life experience, represented by our Body, our Mind, our Spirit's recording of this lifetime, and our Emotions. On the other side of the coin is our "true existence", meaning the static, fixed ideal that we SHOULD be... but have to find for ourselves, because God has made us that way for whatever reason. It is our true calling, our higher path, whatever you want to call it. It's the "one" that the Trinity coalesces into when we achieve "heaven" or "nirvana", however that can be done. I am unsure how exactly Emotions fall into this analogy... they sort of skirt all three (mind body and spirit) and mix the three together at times like a painter's palette."

Hmm... I probably need to explore how Emotions fit into this, because I haven't given nearly enough rise to emotions over the years and that's exactly what this expression is designed to do.. give me new access to them. I sense in my heart of hearts that they are the MOST important piece of the puzzle somehow... the real separation between Man and Animal. Of course, animals have emotions too... but just the physical ones. The thing that makes us (humans) so special is that we have mental emotions, and spiritual emotions. I think the word 'emotion' really can be defined as the "expression of any of the three aspects of ourself, mind, body, or spirit." And an example of each:

- Body emotion- The overriding feeling of hunger... or pain... any sensation really
- Mind emotion- what is commonly called "emotions"
- Spirit emotion- This is hard to define, but you just feel it in your heart... like when a puppy dies, you just feel your heart wrenched out of you... it's a feeling of great loss, beyond a mere mental assessment of the situation... maybe?

Ok this is a very vague and difficult topic. That's the whole point of making it into a hiphop song. This isn't going to be pretty, but I don't care who reads this or not. This is for my own edification.

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The vision (to focus on):
The thesis, obviously. But what particular vision do I need to keep in mind... I mean the thing that powers hiphop is that it uses EXAMPLES... what are MANIFESTATIONS of my thesis? This is easy as pie. There are manifestations of my thesis in, by definition, EVERYTHING that happens in this world. I guess that's why it's kind of tricky... cuz it applies to everything, so... but I guess it doesn't have to be tricky. I can pick ANY random example and then from that extrapolate my thesis from it... SHOW the event through the LENS of the thesis. So what random event shall I pick... can be anything... for me to make my point well though it needs to be something from my OWN personal experience. I havent had a very interesting life... I haven't experienced much. What is anything interesting I've been through? Maybe it should be some struggle... maybe my bout with depression? Hmm... I think the EASIEST example is going to be one where someone is struggling to DECIDE something... a decision... how is he going to make the RIGHT decision? how is he going to match up his emotions with his "true" existence... match up his experience of this life with what SHOULD be for him, according to God... and how can he know what this IS? His emotions are ways for him to get a handle on what it is. They are data that he can use to see a pattern, a clear sign... ESPECIALLY his spiritual emotions. I.e. his heart... what does he feel in his heart is right for him to do at this time? I've been through moments like this... I should use one such moment as my chosen example that will drive the story forward in this song. Let's think back, hard... when did I have to use my heart to decide something important... okay... quitting school... I should use that emotion-charged example to pick apart , and reveal the underpinnings (that all things contain): how it's constructed between my life experience and the true existence I found "lying beneath" that experience... when I soul-searched, what did I see? I saw that the decision to leave needed to be made until I got to a more stable point spiritually. That the school was destroying me and plunging me into the deepest depression yet, because it underlined just how random and nonfocused and non-COMMITTED I was to my current career goal. And how I really didn't know what I wanted at that time out of life... and so... I guess the depression was really a reaction, a bitter, hateful path to take... but somehow I guess I knew I needed to go through that... to face that dark side of myself, so that later on I could know the light side... so I could know where I stood and where I REALLY wanted to go. Maybe. Let's just start with the assumption that all that BS I just said is true. After all, hiphop is concerned with truth but truth is often seen through the dark veil of our beliefs... which are by definition at least a LITTLE wrong.

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The beat and rhyme structure:
Again, I'm going to just have to wait and see how it "comes out of me"... this will take a lot of experience before I can just decide on it before I even start the lyrics!
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Chorus:
The top mirrors the bottom,
what rises above mirrors what lies beneath.
Whenever we change, we see through a window, to the soul's static street.
Sometimes... we feel things we can't define
and we think we're out of our mind.
But it's real, as we will one day find
On the other side of death, when dark and light entwine.

Verse 1:
I used to drive to school in the brightest mood.
I was so sure of myself, like any other dude
Who grows up absorbed in himself, thinking fun is food.
I'd open books, and somehow I felt like
I was opening a passage to wealth, but I
Never thought the dollar could fall and
I never thought cracks'd appear in the wall
I never thought about much at all, looking back
I used to think America was well, and well,
It ain't all it's cracked up to be so I
Now know the problem's with me, cuz I
Simply chose to believe what I was told
Choosing not to decide's a choice, to quote an old
Song I heard, freedom belongs to the birds
Not to us-- we're imprisoned by our greed, our lust,
Our own trust, our own dust, in the wind of our sin
Our own rust, our own mold, molded in our image, the decay from within, the slowly creeping burden of sin, the slowly paralyzing force of indecis-ion.

(Chorus)

Verse 2:
To Be Continued