The Maysun Project
label: nocturne | ascetic

producers: insight, endangered specie, dysh, dagha.

guests: dagha, michael elmoore, mr. lif, krs-one, jayda, self image.
year of release: 2003
website: insight.fm
The other day an email made it to the urbansmarts.com mail box, asking to pick one of the following options: if tomorrow the president's election would be, would I either 1) definitively vote for Bush, 2) definitely not vote for Bush, 3) probably vote for Bush, 4) probably not, or 5) dunno. A week later, another email appeared with the results. And in this poll, Bush won. Definitely.
I dunno if Katherine Harris had any influence on that poll, but it was certainly less than she had with the outcome of the last presidential election. Therefore this result is scary and a call to action. Insight is doing just that. His "The Maysun Project" is continuing the needed education of what's wrong and what many don't dare to address. While 'Maysun' is an obvious twist on Mason, as in Stonemasons, as in Illuminati, as in, etc. etc. do your own research.

tracklisting
1. Intro
2. The Threat w/ Dagha
3. A Deep Look
4. Ax Of Thor
5. Rock That
6. Mental Mechanic
7. Riot
8. Confrontation
9. Movement (by Dagha)
10. Intermission
11. Conference (by Michael Elmoore)
12. Drop A Bomb
13. Heaven & Hell (by Dagha)
14. Outcome w/ Mr. Lif, Dagha
15. Message 2000 w/ KRS-One
16. Regret w/Jayda (Jen Castro)
17. Game Of Life (by Dagha)
18. Patience
19. Art Of Rap
20. Savage w/ Dagha
21. May Summary by Self Image (Shizz)
Officially this is billed as 'Insight presents'. But as he does the vast majority of beats (four exceptions) and is on almost every song (five exceptions), you might as well call it an Insight album of twenty one songs, a big bundle of interludes or very short appearances. What's however something of a typical Insight thing it seems. What might not be as typical are the gritty beats that come on throughout the record, like "Drop A Bomb" or "The Threat". Not to say that Insight has never done that before, but the combination of such hype beats, with almost a commercial bounce (check the nice "Mental Mechanic") and thoroughly intelligent and conscious verses are not really something we're getting too much off nowadays.
With the number of political artists certainly and rightfully growing. One of 'em is Mr Lif who appears on "Outcome", who appears with Dagha, Insight's main partner in crime (as he's featured on six songs). The beat is having Lif written all over it, while the man with glasses and dreads does his intellectual rhyming. One track down KRS-One is ripping through "Message 2000". The vibe gets very African, while The Teacher is doing what he's best at: dropping knowledge. There's more notable collaborations, be it with Jayda (Jen Castro) on the nicely produced "Regret" or be it with the previously mentioned Dagha on the already mentioned "The Threat".
However, Insight is more than able to hold his own, as he proves on "Art Of Rap". The title refers to the means Insight wants to use to spread what he has learned. With the message between the lines being a repeated: learn yourself, study, get smart. What's an interesting but well to respect stance: as much claims are made on this record, at the same time there's always a respectful lack of forcing it down your throat. Even on a militant poem as recited by Michael Elmoore on "Conference". And while everything leads into one direction, it's not beating the same Bush all the time. The themes are more varied, in time, relevance and background, keeping this interesting.
Once again, who's going to hear this? Those that agree, those that already know, those that actually wouldn't need to listen to this? Media studies say that the users usually consume media's, articles, etc. with which they agree. Same here, I guess. So all those people that will definitely vote for Bush, will they listen? We must get them to. There's still a lot of information that needs to be spread. It's still an uphill battle for the one's that will definitely not vote for Bush. Insight is one combatant. You need to respect and support him for it.
review: tadah
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