For those unfamiliar with this rapping priest, be sure to look up his hip hop album Ordained, or his various Spoken Word Videos. From his Kickstarter site:

“The Symphony and The Static” marks the next phase in artistic expression musically and visually for Fr. Pontifex. Your participation in the unfolding of this amazing story is vital to making it happen. There are many elements that are involved: Music Production costs, Artwork, Music Video Production, & Promotion.

As a fan and supporter, who also took a vote of poverty, I hope my fiend may be able to join me in supporting him on my behalf. Guys like this help me look less crazy, if at least to legitimize the concept that priest rappers are not a contradiction.

azteclion:

GoldenUndergroundTV recently released an interview I did with them late last year. I got a bit animated at the end. Only so many interviews in a row I could handle being asked about Chief Keef.

I have gone on similar tirades, about the marketing of criminality in hip hop music, and how it is a deliberate attempt to profit the imprisonment of black youth, just never had the painstaking details to describe it. Very provocative essay from homeboy sandman, a lyricist of whom I have recently become a fan.

From the article:

Watching this documentary, it becomes clear that while there is much that is recognizable in Mongolian hip-hop, there are big differences. Trinidad James may boast about “gold all in my chain, gold all in my ring,” but Mongolian players are more interested in rapping about the destruction of Mongolia’s land by big mining companies, the country’s problem with alcoholism and corrupt politicians.

And there’s no american hip hop that focuses on consciousness? It is because hip hop is by nature socially conscious and positive that it has always had potential for a global movement. Most pop glam rap is useless outside of the entertainment industry, iTunes, billboard & MTV.

What’s more, this new music genre also dovetailed with the country’s ancient oral traditions. From the long-standing culture of song fighting, praise singing and various spoken word games, it wasn’t a huge leap to MC-ing. The Mongolian language itself, rich as it is in heavy, guttural sounds, seems almost custom-designed to be rapped over base-dropping beats. And, at a stretch, Mongolia’s tradition of khöömii, overtone singing in which the throat is used as an instrument to create two pitches at the same time, one a low drone, the other a high melodic note, could be seen as a precursor to beat-boxing.

When interviewed by Binks, Bayarmagnai, one of Mongolia’s last singers of traditional epics, even claims hip-hop began in Mongolia. He argues, “[Look at] the long songs of praise; even when we were kids getting into arguments… these [sing-song] intellectual debates to avoid physical fighting…”

I love seeing this, only Mongolian hip hop could do this.

Finally, let the Mongolian Emcees tell us like it is:

Despite all this surface bling, their lyrics are more down to earth. “There’s a lot of hype and bravado, bitches and hoes in Western hip-hop. Mongolian hip-hop is more grounded, more honest and raw,” says Binks. “They’re singing about the realities of their lives and trying to create change.”

Overall, an awesome article top expand your horizons beyond the suffocating entertainment industry paradigm.