3 x Common Market - "My Pathology", "Escaping Arkham" & "Nothing At All" (Track Reviews)

Vi elsker Blue Scholars, jovist gør vi da det, men jeg kom lige til at frygte, at al den snak om Blue Scholars og deres seneste bedrifter ville få folk til at glemme Common Market, og det ville være intet mindre end frygteligt. Jeg ville ønske, at jeg kunne glæde jeg med en nyhed om nyt fra Common Market, men det er desværre ikke tilfældet. Heldigvis er deres bagkatalog så måbende fantastisk, at vi uden problemer kan hive to diamanter frem fra dette, og stadig nyde dem som var de friske som dug. Og mon ikke der sidder en læser eller to, som ikke har fået stiftet bekendtskab med Common Market endnu? Er dette tilfældet er I heldige, - jeg gad godt nok godt høre Common Market for første gang igen, da det var lidt af en oplevelse!

Common Market består af den umådelig- og usammenligneligt intelligente rapper RA Scion, og produceren Sabzi, der som bekendt normalt slår sine folder i Blue Scholars. Til at begynde med kaldte jeg Common Market for Sabzi's "sideprojekt", men med den kvalitet, der har præget deres to albums og to EP'er vil "sideprojekt" være en noget arrogant beskrivelse. De er helt på højde med Blue Scholars og repræsenterer nogenlunde samme slags "conscious hiphop". RA Scion kan dog noget med ord og tekster, der får Geo fra Blue Scholars til at fremstå forholdsvist "ligetil" i sammenligning. RA har et ordforråd der ikke har sit sidestykke i amerikansk rap, og han lyder som én, der har læst samtlige bøger, der nogensinde er blevet skrevet.
- Dette kan dog have sine ulemper, for som jeg også var inde på i anmeldelsen af gruppens debut, så skal man VIRKELIG være klog - nærmest så klog, at det ikke er sundt for en - for at forstå alt der bliver sagt. At sige, at jeg indtog lyrikken uden problemer ville være en lodret løgn. Han siger det selv meget godt med linjen: "It requires a higher degree of thought to transmit".

Men man behøver ikke altid forstå ting fuldt ud for at falde for dem. Det er måske netop fordi, at der er så meget at gå i gang med i RA's tekster, at de fanger mig i så høj grad. Det kan også være af den mere simple grund, at RA rapper som en drøm over Sabzi's produktioner, der ni ud af ti gange falder under kategorien 'mesterværk'. Eller også er det bare fordi, at det faktisk er rart at blive udsat for svært forståelig lyrik, i en tid hvor rap-tekster helst skal sige så lidt som muligt, med så lidt hjerte som muligt.

Uanset årsagen får I her tre numre, der bare skal nydes. "My Pathology" (fra Common Market, 2005) er tæt på umuligt at forstå (!), "Escaping Arkham" (fra The Winter's End EP, 2009) er svær og "Nothing At All" (fra Tobacco Road, 2008) er nogenlunde, på den kloge måde!



"Ayo below the terra firma's the murmur of many men /
Resonatin' the predication of RA's eponym /
It requires a higher degree of thought to transmit /
Elevate above the base and retrace the semtantics /
Incommensurately we've been held incommunicado /
From commoner to commodore, they breed bravado /
I exercise authority over the lesser ranks /
We rally and tally up at the shores of the West Bank /
The shottie lick the body politic, feel the kickback son /
Pardon the warden to remit that one /
Sinkin' solemny into the vein of my pathology /
I maintain the etymology of "I" defy chronology /
Copy me, cosmically I seek to be laconic and terse /
The meek shall admonish the earth /
While the merits of inheritance are gainfully peeled /
They sombolism of nepotism is painfully real /
The provisioners of policy are plottin' my demise /
In addition, the aristocracy's blockin' the uprise /
The commandant's callin' for change by any means /
I've seen heaven and hell, it feels strange in between /
Never settle, the medal pacifies rebel troops /
But truth is the honor in the eyes of the resolute /
Press on, employ the pen to postulate upon it /
Verily I perform the pass summarily, you wonder why?"

They say that he was born that way
They can't imagine havin' to go on that way
Maybe if you pray for him he'll be drawn from the fray
Or maybe what, maybe he's okay...
x2

"Sharin' hymns with the seraphims, praise in polyphonic fashion /
The action reanimates the catatonic /
Aid the abject and abjure the apathetic /
Positive polarity and the draw is magnetic /
They lurch and reel, trynna reverse the field but can't manage /
The pull of my sign aligns planets /
Secrets comin' out in the wash of the ebb tide /
Those who sought found, those who fled died /
To the sight deprived sound might provide solace /
The scholars of applied sciences supply the knowledge /
Upon the foundation we erect the edifice, make it known /
We dedicate the corner stone to Aeschylus /
Fortified with more than 45's, master the art of war /
You blast trouble, but the struggle endures /
Emaciated, the contemplative will kill for a drink /
If not methodically restrained by the chain link /
From my solid form I liquefy to be absorbed by the river /
Stand re-delivered to mi amour /
Chant "freedom" in their face and abase my captors /
With grace I placate and await the rapture /
In this colony I've seen atrocities personified /
Still unable to affect the sovereignty of the allied /
It's the balance, they're challengin' your will to archieve /
Imprison my coalition but the vision's still free (free)"

He had to have been born that way
A great many show envy towards the Lord's protégé
Maybe if you pay for it he'll perform a display
Or maybe what, maybe he's okay...
x2
Stop sleepin'



"Any place for a man of faith's appropriate /
When, knowing no comfort wanna want for the opiate /
Hundred percent, not cents /
Hundreds spent, poor things /
Storied hunter falling to predatory lending /
Creditors unforgiving of trespassers /
Will they still be if ever forced to walk the path of Cassius /
River City made me /
Incidentally, maybe I'll be champion type two, pray for me /
'Cause where I'm currently at's against the rope /
And our odds amidst the vermin and rats then smoke on the water /
If I bury this axe, friend or foe where you fall /
Workin' to cash it back in, then went and stole it all /
And I'll recoup but I ain't ready yet /
Besides all they've taken is a lie /
This is petty theft /
Left with the better me /
That flesh and treasury was too heavy to carry anyhow /
Heaven so many miles (miles, miles)"

Far away is the place I'm from, place I'm from
Waiting on a day that may not come, may not come
Crazed and drunk they made you afraid of something
You may be stunned to find the bravest one
Don't run away chasing the sun

"Dig it /
I'm already missing you /
Whisper miserable, my memory visceral /
Yell as I'm held, suspended animation /
Float over time and space /
And the scent of sanitation /
Over the smoke and smoldering waste /
My holding pattern scattered for miles above annihilation /
Spin off as I fend off the provocation /
Wishin' I had a minute more to pin the observation /
What I could leave to be the legacy /
Never presented itself 'till I was sick of myself /
Handful of my face, plagued with a case of leprosy /
Moment of consolation came in this levitation /
But I ain't one to speak of regrets /
I make commitments I unyieldingly kept /
F-U see the rest K, Imma sleep in a second /
'Cause when I make the introduction /
You ain't never late for meetings with death (death, uh)

Far away is the place I'm from, place I'm from
Waiting on a day that may not come, it may not come
Crazed and drunk they made you afraid of something
You may be stunned to find the bravest one
Don't run away chasing the sun
x2



It sound good to me

You want me to be that type of dude
And I want to be who you like me to
But we both know
I can't do nothing at all
You say there's no use in walking out
And I say "that's just what I'm talkin' 'bout"
'Cause we both know
I can't do nothing at all

*we, we-we, we do our thing son*
Someone spend a lifetime tryna find a reason, but uh-uh
*we, we do our thing son*
War takes prisoners and I ain't trynna be one
*d-do our thing, we, we, we do I thing son*
No apologies no complaints and no refunds
There's mad work to be done
*we do our thing son*

They may say I'm just a dreamer
Well at least I'm thinking while I'm sleeping
'Cause the last thing I can do is nothing at all
(follow me now, follow me now)
They may say we'll never win against 'em
I say fuuuck you and your cynicism
As for me I can't do nothing at all

"My past plagued by a plethora of regrets /
In my agonist age I'm a questioner of precepts /
If we left the staff in place to blaze the path then, uh /
The shackles stay and bind the sequitur to each step /
The chain, boss, be an irritant to contact /
I'm trained not to be a militant in combat /
Upon that, frame the shot - pop and aim /
Sayin' the game's soft be the will of him who want that /
"YO" said to be the idiom of paltry /
Yeah, the broke fed upon the brilliance of bawdry /
Lauded be, see folks spread ahead go now /
The quote read by the billions, so pardon me /
The tag sham is but a negligent critique /
While som had a chance others fester in the disease /
The kids needs to pack the jam, man I get at y'all /
Goddamn he's pressin' it, best believe"

You can't call me anything you like
And I will call you when it's time to strike
'Cause we both know I can't do nothing at all
We may not be in agreement now
But we have got to try an' work it out
'Cause we both know we can't do nothing at all

*we, we-we, we do out thing son*
Long as you do yours, land here become fecund
*we, we do out thing son*
Through the act we attract two, hope to reach one
*We, we-we, we do out thing, we do our thing son*
Some'll paint a piece, some'll spray with a machine gun
It's mad work to be done
*we, we do our thing son*

Jep, vi elsker også Common Market.

- Jeppe Barslund