because i love you so much - the Nimbus project

I discovered with my last post that giving you free things to download makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Since I have a certain fondness for warm, fuzzy feelings, I have decided to do a little more.

Back in 2004, a guy I'd met at a church social function befriended me and took me under his wing. We were both kind of loners at the time, and had similar interests, namely music. At the time, I wasn't really into any electronic music at all. (I know, right? Can you believe that?) He had been huge into it for over a decade, and bit by bit he got me hooked. Aaron Jasinski (often referred to on this blog as just "Aaron" or "Jasinski") taught me pretty much everything I know about electronic music, synthesis, sound design and most of my favorite mixing tricks.

We became fast friends, and started doing little projects together. At one point, he told me that he'd always thought it would be fun to produce some hip-hop tracks. It just so happens, I told him, that I rap. We immediately set to work, he with samplers, synths and effects, me with a pen and a pad. The resulting 3 tracks that we came up with were some of my favorite stuff I've ever done.

The first one was a kind of super-produced, nonsensical hip-hop anthem, called "Fastball." The second was a litany of ladies-man braggadocio based on absolutely nothing true, called "Sharpdressed," (as we used a sample from ZZ-Top's "Sharp Dressed Man"). The final one was written in frustration over religious persecution I'd encountered at the community college I was attending at the time. It was called "The Acceptable Intolerance." All three tracks displayed impeccable production skill on Aaron's part. I played a couple synth lines on it, but 99% of the magic you hear is him.

[Note: Aaron's main gig is as a painter and designer, but he moonlights heavily as a musician and remix artist. I mean, he's this good and he's just moonlighting? That's nutty! His art can be seen here and here, his prolific remixes can be heard here, and you can follow him on Twitter here.]

I had been brainstorming a new hip-hop pseudonym for some time, as my old one was a bit outdated, and decided (albeit momentarily) on "Nimbus." I wanted to make a nod to being from Washington, and thought I'd shorten up the scientific name of our state's biggest resource: rain clouds. I've since changed it again. Keep your eyes open for future updates!

Now what you've all been waiting for: You can download a zip file with all three mp3's in it HERE, and below are the lyrics. Keep in mind that the first two are extremely silly. ENJOY!

Track 1 - "Fastball"

VERSE 1:

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-

BLAM! when I light up the microphone and explode

With the beats behind me tappin and beepin like morse code

My brain’s a portal to another dimension so pay close attention

When you’re rollin with the lowered suspension

I’m all up in your area like your zip code

98058’s the life and 425’s the mode

Makin’ wrong what once was right, enemies quick to take flight

When day becomes night, suddenly I’m out of sight

BLAM! BOOM! BLING-BLANG-BLOW!

My rhymes are all up in your face so what you gonna do now?

You’re retreating like a coward from my lyrical attack

My beats are all up on you like the shirt upon your back

I need a drink of water, fire’s getting hotter,

The TV’s showing re-runs of M*A*S*H* with Colonel Potter,

But I’m stuck in one place, yo, rooted like a rose

Pigs flyin’ overhead, ground cold cuz hell FROZE!

HOOK:

Fastball, change-up, throwin’ you a curve

Watch your back cuz in the end you’re gonna get what you deserve

Fastball, change-up, throwin’ you a curve

In the end, y- y- y- you get what you deserve!

VERSE 2:

As my Antarctic flows snowed down, the roads froze

And numbed the nose of every person in the first 5 rows

Ill circulation to the extremities

Scarves and hats and ski jackets hide your identity

You gots to know your enemies;

see the wolves dressed up as sheep

The Adversary has connections that run deep

Get off of my back, my liberty I keep

Awaken from your slumber cuz mentally you’re asleep

BEEP! BEEP! Who you beepin’ at, freak?

Run your ideas through your brain before you speak!

Pull back your mask and expose your scaly skin

Cuz we’re exposin' your nature and we’re in it to win, yo

Life burns with intense ferocity

Fate is not without a sense of reciprocity

But destiny can suddenly throw you a curve

In the end y- y- y- you get what you deserve!

[HOOK]

Track 2 - "Sharpdressed"

Verse 1:

[phone rings]

(Actual phone call): "What up? Oh, just kicking it here in the studio... so, did you wanna come here then?"

Slick with the wardrobe,

talented with the comb,

ladies flocking just as if I was

a walking pheromone.

Never alone for too long

before there's someone on the phone

like a homing beacon

something always makes my presence known

Every word, every gesture

every gaze is efficacious

please excuse me if I am

overly ostentatious

in my All-Stars and my

three-piece suit, you're caught

on the double-windsor

perfect triangle in the knot

IN MY TIE

looking like i'm a groom's best man

LOOKIN' FLY

i don't know why, i'm just a blessed man

I don't have to try hard

or be an obsessed man

it's just that every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man

HOOK:

I'M SMOOTH

like polished marble

I'M SHARP

like an exacto

I CRUISE

from the commencement to the

EX POST FACTO

Playin' for the love of the game

not the glory

girl, why don't you come over here

and tell me your story.

VERSE 2:

I'm just being

honest when I say the way I

play is to have a different

lady every day OF THE

WEEK, hanging on my

arm and on every WORD

I SPEAK, loving all the

charm, IT'S THE CLASS THAT THEY SEEK.

As if the game had cruise control

i hit "resume"

and quickly introduce myself

to every lady in the room

If attention's like sunlight,

I'm kicked back and baskin'

Gentleman or gigolo?

DEPENDS ON WHO YOU'RE ASKIN'!

Some people think I'm insane

most people sayin' I'm vain

Struttin' round with my

momentary main jane

Every time we spin a hook

I get another look

another name in my

little black book

I'm gonna shake your life, girl

you're bound to get SHOOK

I'm prone to stealin' hearts, girl

IT'S BOUND TO GET TOOK

I must confess

I want you to acquiesce, let down your guard

it ain't how much you win, girl

it's how you play your cards!

[HOOK]

"(laughs) ... 98058 ... ok, cool, so I'll see you in a little while, then. ok, i'll talk to you then."

TRACK 3 - The Acceptable Intolerance

Verse One:

Hate, nobody claims to

have, but they partici-

pate, in bigotry with

help, and sanction from the

state, which dictates

what we congratulate

controlling public enmity

determining my fate

The wizard's just a cover

for the man behind the curtain

his voice booms "EQUALITY!"

but what I know for certain

is that it doesn't exist,

The nickel's just been flipped over

vilification again,

history's pattern tripped over

A well-meaning public

has now become the subject

of plans to get them upset

'bout those that rise above it

Everything that's holy's burning!

Gather round the fire!

They conspire against all belief

in something higher

than human desire, then in

every public school require

that all students must admire

their filthy league of liars

the acceptable intolerance

has traveled through the wire

and become the status quo

let's all wallow in mire!

VERSE 2:

"Peace" improperly defined

as "absence of debate"

will only numb the mind

so that it can't equate,

they never tolerate

somebody's sense of self

unless you put your faith

and soul upon the shelf.

They want their thoughts applied

to everyone but them

"everyone's equal"

but dissenter's they condemn

The media is rife

with patronizing views

they want respect

but do their best to clear the pews.

Just look at the news

search for the clues

society's bruise

surrounding abuse

dividing the hues

I lose faith in intentions

'cuz moral dissension

denies intervention

it goes without mention there's unbroken tension

And then they choose what we fight

they cause you to hate

they know what we fear

they know how to bait

With the security of brothers

to the hateful lust for foes

the acceptable intolerance exists

'cuz no one knows.