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3Rhythms

by Forefeather

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1.
Dennis 05:42
(Field recorder turning on) Okay... (Singing bowl being played) (Singing bowl salesman chanting in sanskrit) (Ravi) ...dirty, as well, but the ghats are very nice. When you sit there, You know you, like... It's the river, when you watch the river, it's like you are looking mirror, you know? You are understanding yourself much. (Singing bowl salesman still chanting) (Forefeather) Don't trip. Don't trip, I'm already broken. I hope this (I hope this) put my soul into motion, I'm goin' in. (So I'm goin' in) I'm goin' in. I'm goin' in, 'Cause if anything can light my way then they say the river can. (The river can.) The river can. (The river can.) The river can, and I think I'm gonna need everything cleansed, So I think I- (I'm goin' in) I'm goin' in. (I'm goin' in.) I'm goin' in. And they say that in just a moment I could wash every sin away, (every sin away) And I'm a definite sinner, but with the way life's been for me, (with the way life's been for me) I wonder could it even have happened any differently? And would I do it again? (And would I do it again?) Absolutely would, and might even begin again after finishing this purification. I'm a man. I'm a human. I'm a problem. I'll be doing what we do best, probably embedded in conflict 'til the end, But if I'm ever going to ascend from this cycle I'm stuck in, the waters of the river Ganges hopefully might help me begin. (Mama might help me begin, so I'mma swim.) So I'mma swim, And don't ask me when I might be coming back up, 'Cause I've been buried by all this domestication, And I ain't really trynna let all that stuff come. (So I'mma swim) So I'mma swim, and if I can't seem to erase this when I scrub, Then I'm funna just float and see where this thing runs. Near the mouth of the Ganges River there's a town called Rishikesh where my sister and I met this man selling singing bowls and his name was Dennis. It was a pretty brief interaction but in the moments that I met this man, I think I maybe learned more about being human than I ever have, (I'm a human. I'm a shell.) Because you know it's not so bad, But we got soul and it's so hard to let it sit there and soften like something's broken. I'm living, and I'm gonna bring it all with. So don't trip. It's all good. Come swim. So don't trip. So don't trip, I'm already broken. (I hope this-) I hope that this can put my soul into motion, (I'm goin' in.) I'm goin' in (I'm goin' in.) I'm goin' in. (I'm goin' in) Because if anything can light my way then they say the river can. The river can. (The river can.) The river can. (The river can.) -And I'm gonna need everything cleansed. I'm goin' in. (I'm goin' in.) I'm goin' in. (I'm goin' in.) I'm goin' in. Now I already know that there's something inside me. (There's something inside me.) But don't trip, I'll get down to the bottom of this finally. (Finally... Finally... Finally...) I just wanna know where the liberty's hiding. I'm a million miles from everything I know, and I don't want to be alone. So let's go. Mama Ganges, carry me home. I can find my flow in the spiritual. (So don't trip,) And I don't really know if you noticed, but there's a lot more broken than what you're hoping to fix, but if you can recognize that all these shackles are just the components that make a beautiful life what it is then maybe you can see relinquishing the suffering's really possible in literally any given moment. So know this, And go ahead and jump in, But don't forget to listen to your soul, my friend. (Ravi) Since my childhood I am here. So I've met- (coughs) many people, you know? Several people they are depressed from them life, they are not happy, and, they come to find out themselves. (Zac) Here? Huh... (Ravi) No, not here, like, you know, India... There are three kind of people come. One, they are tourist. You know? They just, come, take pictures, you know, with these record devices(?). Go to hotel(?). Go back. You know? Second, the are travelor. You know? They be with locals. They understand the culture. They try to know, you know, where they are. And third, is one, like, who is, uh, spiritual. People, like, who want to be spiritual. Who want to know about themselves. So, which one you are? (Forefeather) So don't trip, cause I've been broken. I hope this just put my soul into motion again. I'm goin' in. I'm goin' in. I'm goin' in, 'cause if anything can light my way then they say the river can. (The river can.) The river can. (The river can.) The river can, and I think I'm gonna need everything cleansed, So I think I- (I'm goin' in) I'm goin' in. (I'm goin' in.) I'm goin' in. (I'm goin' in,) I'm trynna swim. I'm trynna swim. I'm goin- I'm goin in.
2.
So please don't go waking me up with no good reason. I completely fill't up my cup when I dipped it in. We spend so much oxygen looking for something to lean on, When everything's so damn vibrant... I'm just gonna give up on all them. I'm just gonna give up on all them. I'm just gonna give up on all them. I'm just gonna give up on all them. Alright, alright. I might as well be the purified dirty itself, 'Cause I've been in this body for a minute and still ain't found any help- For how to save a soul that must be struggling somewhere inside this little shell of a rapper who's bananas for anything with a sensual smell. *Sniff* Ahhhh... Little lady... so waft that by me, 'cause I'm a product of everything my craft said I'd be, But to be honest that the reason this artistry ever beckoned to me, 'Cause I've seen demons. So would you like some honey? Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. And we're all so fed up with trying, and so damn burnt out on enlightenment, So hold you're own I'm too fill't up already. I'm as empty as I can get. Spiritually hungover from all this transcendence. I'm about as spent as clean money on organized religions. Or dirty money on designer clothes, liquor and women. I've know the whole "top billing" routine from the beginning. And when reality sets in we see they're really the same thing. Spiritually hanged with a rosary or a gold chain. Or maybe how expensive the offering you could bring is the method of strangulation, but are we really so different then? Every person I've seen in every place I've been seems to be on the search, whether via prayer or drinking. So play the game. Do your thing. No matter whatever you might believe in. Just have patience, 'cause we're all feeling the spins. (Can somebody turn this spinning off please?) (This is a little much for me.) Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. Yeah, I'm on a roll, and can't be bothered to close my eyes just to hold this space for you. (Alright. Here we go. Back at it.) (Momma Ganges, take me home!) *Sploosh*
3.
(Sunil) It was like, they are very close… and, and as soon as they reach here it’s like, again- (?) (Zac) Yeah, it’s like they’re right there! (Sunil) They are musicians, yeah. (Zac) Seems so close, but… …That’s the thing about mountains. They’re not as close as you think they are. (Sunil) You want to go there? (Sunil Singing) (Forefeather) I’m goin in. I’m trynna swim. Just jump in the river. I’m goin in. 3Rhythms. Similar, but very different, Each with a timbre of its own. Played individually we couldn’t resist listening in, But when integrated together’s when the song begins. 3Rhythms. Similar, but very different, Each with a timbre of its own. Played individually we couldn’t resist listening in, But when integrated together the dance begins. I didn’t get it… The whole ‘mother’ aesthetic, The reverential cleansing thing everyone said that was entirely without any limits. I wasn’t with it ‘til I got that we never run out of beginnings. ‘Cause every rhythm has a middle and an end. And every breath I begin to breathe in is a purification, And everything’s gotta start with something, So why shouldn’t it be going for a swim? I’m goin in. So teach me these rhythms. Cause I’ve no fluency in my dance with being. So can you teach me how to purify? I’m trynna swim. Just jump in the river… I’m goin up. What? You’re going up? I’ll meet you on the mountain… 3Rhythms. Similar, but very different. Each with a timbre of its own. Played individually we couldn’t resist listening in, But when integrated together and the melody comes in it rings, it really rings. 3Rhythms. Similar, but very different, Each with a timbre of its own. Played individually, we couldn’t resist listening in, But when integrated together and the melody comes in it rings. So we left Rishikesh, And rode up the river, bound toward the Himalayan Mountains. I remember feeling so distant from the experience of being in my body that the rhythm of the shakes, and the perpetual honking actually made me forget to remember to breathe even though it somehow seemed that I wouldn’t need any oxygen anyway where we were going. ‘Cause every beginning has a middle, and an end… And when I first gazed on the mountains we were ascending, I didn’t question why so many consider them heaven, And I understood the whole mother thing. I said thanks momma Ganges, Because you need a little purification in order to begin anything, And looking up at heaven I recognized the other end, and learned how to dance with my exhalations. So teach me these rhythms. Cause I’ve no fluency in my dance with being. So can you teach me how to fly? So can you teach me how to purify? So can you teach me how to fly? So can you teach me how to reach the sky? Because someday I’ll be leaving. Because someday I’ll be leaving. Because someday I’ll be leaving. Someday I’ll be leaving. Someday I’ll be leaving. …I’ll be leaving.
4.
Secular Monk 04:51
(Tea stirring) (People Approaching) (Madhur) ...Rock over there. (Summer) Mhm, oh, the big one, I saw it. Yeah. (Madhur) The big one, behind your cottage. So that was... When work was starting here, I used to sit there, for hours, and read. And everybody would be working around me and... (laughs) I would be shamelessly reading. (Laughs) And um, yeah. That's what I needed. I just needed to be here, that's all. So, and I was just, brooding on that rock I was sitting on, and I was imagining what I would, you know, I want to do with the place, what I want to do. I - I... was very very attracted to that one piece of rock, and I wanted to do something. So I was just wondering whether one could sculpt it. And... by my realizing that there's no need to sculpt it. It is as sculpted as it should be. So, this is my ode to that rock. To Angelo, as in, Michelangelo. (Voices begin to banter in Hindi in background.) (Madhur's poem) Proud and tall, stand I. Like the chapel towering, inert. Or the David, breaching the sky. Cause Him, Our master, our lord. The craftsman Of the highest high. Him, who crafted thee. Crafting, for eternity. From what little of Him, need I. (Forefeather) So, imagine if I was inanimate, And didn’t have hands, or a body with organs, Or a phalice, or if I’s a woman than maybe some breasts. …Or maybe somebody with a piece of bread. Cause everybody’s intestines wanna digest something. So I brung it. Eyyo, what’s this? Everybody wanna be somebody else these days. What up wit the rebate? Well the mail was late, but I was looking for the mailwoman yesterday. M’lady, what up with a way to communicate that I want coffee this time over tea? I mean, I like tea sometimes…. You know, it’s great… but… Something about my window to the museum is a little bit clouded up, but I can’t yet not see into it, so I’m gonna keep fillin it up. Did you know the ceiling dumps gold dust on the audience if y’all jump up and touch it? (So put your hands up.) So get up, turn to the left, and let somebody know what it is- To be living inside of your present experience. In mine, I believe I found that the best way to really do this is to move around a lot. (Just like, all around, and everywhere.) So move, ‘cause somebody just told you. When you don’t do what somebody wants you to, you might get a little bumped into- Because this world is a dancefloor. Right? That’s what you’re wearing pants for...? (Madhur) What I was trying to say is that… I didn’t create this. (Summer) Yeah, yeah yeah yeah! I got it! (Laughs) (Madhur) Somebody else did. (Zac) It is as perfect as it should be. It’s like, I’m only the sum of everything around me with a reason to become a memory like everything, including you, you’re one. Good luck becoming anything. Good luck. (Lol. ...What?) I am a secular monk. My place of worship is amongst a million particles of sound, and their relationship with love. But I never thought about what would ever happen if I burnt my body up in, like, a crematorium. Or, like, on a ghat. It could be awesome. When I went to India and saw all this worship of Shiva’s lingum, It really reminded me of contemporary hip-hop’s conditions. Yo. But, see, here’s my thing about that one. No matter whatever you have son, we’re still at war even if your girl knows I have a bigger gun. *Du-du-du* I gotta find some holster that I can stick this into. ‘Cause when you misuse these pistols too much, you need two tissues for clean up at least. ‘Cause as a rap artist, it was my responsibility to bring these peanuts, right? Peanuts! So don’t tell me… the way that I’m ‘posed to be doing this rap thing is differently, but this one’s a bit distant for anybody with even a single cell of regular within their body. I hear you, but that’s oddly just kind of inviting to me. ‘Cause I’m only the sum of everything around me with a reason to become a memory like everything, including you, you’re one. Good luck becoming anything. Ha. Good luck. Somewhere in my paradigm, I’m a little tied up to this concept of “someone”, And I’m a little dried up since we’ve been spending so much time flying. (Good luck becoming anything.) One feather forward. Follow me. Somewhere in my paradigm, I’m a little tied up to this concept of “someone”, And I’m a little dried up since we’ve been spending so much time flying. One feather forward. Follow me this way!
5.
Aquarius 04:25
(Old Indian music plays) (Transit sounds) (Sunil singing in Hindi) (Sunil) Means... you put all secrets in a letter, and you kept it open. (Forefeather) So this one is to the beautiful aquarius I briefly was acquainted with when I was out east, learning to breathe. And I know the universe's tendency is towards magnificence, but I'm not quite sure if you live in the same one as me. I did the best that I could manage in the moment that I wrote you those letters to be candid, and authentically myself, But I'm a little bitty kitten in the vestige of a lion compared to someone like you if you couldn't already tell. Yeah, I know I probably said way too much, and I know that words are fleeting. I probably made you up to be like some product of my dreams. (And I know that's really not fair to you but-) And it's ridiculous I know but even so you must have felt that though. Even the very few words that we exchanged were visceral. I believe souls can communicate on another level, and so maybe this is mine trying to talk to you from in between- All that could be, And what I can see, In mind's eye, But you're so far away. You're so far away. You're so far away. You're so far away. (Alright alright...) See, you're too far away to be my baby, But I won't give up on you, no. I'll reread this letter that you wrote- Until I receive another one. If I spend the rest of my life waiting, I won't have wasted it at all. 'Cause I don't know why, but I know, That I've found one worth waiting for. Like I said, I don't even understand why I'm one-hundred percent certain that it's worth it for me to wait up like this. I know it's crazy, or even ridiculous for me to be waiting this long on something that's as intangible as love is. But I'm a pretty patient man, So I'mma just keep chillin' and waiting, and listening. 'Cause even if there doesn't seem a legitimate reason to you for all this patience, I promise that we'll make one. It takes one moment for somebody to float in to your life and soften your heart open. And maybe I'm a fool, setting himself up again to get broken, but I'mma hope that mine never closes again. 'Cause I'm a rider. Surfin' on the waves of every emotion they tried to tell me's gonna hurt me. And you can take it or leave it, but I'll be here to stay, fully confident and comfortable in my vulnerability. Between all that could be, And everything a mind's eye can see. Between the two of us, I know it's alright. It's okay. I'll either be here waiting, Or maybe you'll have gotten back to me. Between all that could be, And everything a mind's eye can see. Between the two of us, I know it's alright. It's okay. I'll either be here waiting, Or maybe you'll have gotten back to me. 'Cause you're too fay away to be my baby, But I won't give up on you, no. ...Reread this letter that you wrote- Until I receive another one. If I spend the rest of my life waiting, I won't have wasted it at all. 'Cause I don't know why, but I know, That I've found one worth waiting for. If I've found one worth waiting for... If I've found one worth waiting for... If I found one worth waiting for... Have I found one worth waiting for? If I've found one worth waiting for... If I've found somebody worth waiting for... If I've found somebody worth waiting for... (Sunil) My first crush was in class nine. I saw a girl and I got mad. (Laughter) (Zac) You went CRAZY! (Summer) Did she talk to you first? Or...? (Zac) What happened? Did it go well? (Sunil) That was totally different thing. That was the first time. I was so afraid to talk to her. Uhh... for one year, I just saw her from a distance. I would just go there... "oh my god!!" (Laughter) So after one year I proposed a, like, I want to be friends, or something. (Summer) And? (Sunil) And that was something... I don't know, I didn't know anything about love, so... And I was so scared of her. I mean, we became friends, but it was just like, I could not speak to her. I was like "Oh what should I say? What should I..." I mean discuss, or whatsoever. So... tenth, was there after eleventh, and then after than, it was nothing then. (Summer) Nothing happened? (Sunil) Yeah... (Zac) Aww. The one that got away...
6.
Rendezvous 04:31
Aah? (Laughs) Uh oh. (Ruh roh) Here it goes again… See, that’s the thing about love, though. I’ve heard it said that it’s just the reaction of some chemicals in the brain, but I think it’s kind of funny the way that I feel saying that (like it kind of takes the magic of it away…). See, that’s the thing about science. When you break down, to me exactly what a rush of serotonin is, or why certain people or things mean such bliss to me, it can certainly be less delightful to engage with them, See, that’s the thing about movement, for me. Like anything, really, I could ponder over the mystery, like, wondering if it could even be anywhere near as satisfying as I feel like it could be in theory… You know what I mean? I could be hangin’ back there by the wall, Thinking about how dope it could be to be one of y’all, but if I haven’t ever learned what it’s like surrendering to the rhythm completely than I’ll never really understand it all. So, I’ve heard it said that there are three types of people, the mind people, the body people, and then the spiritual. This song is dedicated to the physical, Bbcause this right here is my temple y’all. Somebody told me there are three ways through, there’s a beginning, an ending, and then a middle. So if you’re feelin it, show me what your body can do, baby let’s move. So go and take my hand. And they can meet us in the promised land. ‘Cause between us I believe we can, See that we don’t need nothing we ain’t already been given. So Imma give you something my dear. And they can meet us in the promised land. ‘Cause between us I believe we can, See that we don’t need nothing we ain’t already been given. So Imma give you something my dear. (Sunil Laughing) (Zac) It is great. Yeah. (Summer) Pretty smooth! Smoky! (Zac & Sunil) Yeah. (Forefeather) That’s they way… move it, move it. See I am just one man, And I can only speak from the place I stand, But I can see you there, moving. You’re really just doing your thing I know, but damn, Seeing you being the way that you do makes me realize, when I’m seeing and I’m smelling and breathing and even feeling you, and dreaming of the taste of your skin, lady friend… I’m in the center of the sacred. Completely immersed in the greatness the presence of your physical body brings. See that’s the thing about sensations, It’s a sensory universe that we live in. And lady when you do your thing like that, you remind me that every thing I take in is an opportunity for awakening. (Blam!) You make my body wanna sing, baby. I guess that’s what they call dancing, maybe. They say the body is a temple, Well you can find me worshipping. So come and take my hand, and meet me in the middle. So come and take my hand, and meet me in the middle. So come and take my hand, and meet me in the middle. So come and take my hand, and we can get to worshipping. Take my hand, and meet me in the middle. Take my hand, and meet me in the middle. Come and take my hand, and meet me in the middle. Take my hand, and meet me in the middle I can take you to the promised land. So come and take my hand, dear. So come and take my hand, dear. So come and take my hand, dear. So come and take my hand, and we can get to worshipping. (Just dance, baby.) (Dance, baby.) Let’s go, baby girl I’m taking you to the promised land. So go and take my hand. And they can meet us in the promised land. ‘Cause between us I believe we can, See that we don’t need nothing we ain’t already been given. So Imma give you something my dear. And they can meet us in the promised land. ‘Cause between us I believe we can, See that we don’t need nothing we ain’t already been given. So Imma give you something my dear. And they can meet us in the promised land. ‘Cause between us I believe we can, See that we don’t need nothing we ain’t already been given. So Imma give you something my dear. And they can meet us in the promised land. ‘Cause between us I believe we can, See that we don’t need nothing we ain’t already been given. So Imma give you something my dear. (Madhur) ...What you wrote today, for example. Although I am aware of where I am, but to see it from somebody else's eye just sends that notion. That... that presence, that you have to be grateful for what you have. So, anything like that! (Summer) Yeah... (Madhur) Being stagnant is nothing but knowing that you are perfect as you are... and... by your own standards, and you don't need to compare yourself with somebody else. (Summer) Mhmm... (Madhur) I mean, that's... when that happens, then relationships work.
7.
8.
3Rhythms 09:20
9.
Amsterdam 02:32

about

3Rhythms is a concept album that is constructed around the sounds and experiences collected from an immersive and transformative pilgrimmage between a brother and sister to the Patal Bhuvaneshwar caves in Uttarakhand, India.

In April of 2014, "Forefeather" Zac HB and Summer HB launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a trip to India, for the express purpose of exploring the sacred space of a cave temple nested in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, and collecting inspiration to collaborate on an art exhibition together.

The 9-track album 3Rhythms is a direct result of this endeavor, and much of the production was created from samples captured with a field recorder throughout this expedition.

The album's digital release functions as a companion piece to a collaborative performance piece in that took place in Minneapolis on December 28th, 2014:
Three Rhythms: Sound, Material and Movement from the Center of the Cave
By Summer and Zac Hills-Bonczyk

credits

released January 2, 2015

All lyrics written by Forefeather (apart from dialogue samples) .
All beats produced by Forefeather.
Recorded by Forefeather at BVLC studio.
Mixed and mastered by Wesley Opus.

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Forefeather Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dedicated to infusing hip-hop with the art and practice of skillful living, Forefeather creates conscious rap music that is danceable, mindfulness-oriented, and celebratory of hip-hop’s lush history.

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