Cali Quake
label: uprok

producers: raphi henley, dert and dax reynosa

guests: macho of new breed, dax of l.p.g., wordsworth, zane.
year of release: 2002
website: tunnelrats.net
 
What to look for in something labeled 'Christian rap'? Jesus' quotations or cross-bearings or eventual kneeling down, all connected with stinging worldly wisdom? Or drop that whole classification thing for good reason that stereotypes can be as false as their confirmation you will eventually find? Definition: "What is it? It's kind of hard to explain. It's hip hop. It feels like boom bap. But it's more. It's underground. I can't define it. But it's not...It's just different, man. It's just music, man. It's all music." (so recited on "Interlude")
Good things often simmer underground before they reach the surface. The epicenter of the Cali Quake lies right in the middle of the pacific plate, close to the ocean, where the sun always shines and heavy bass is said to make cars riding low. There will be no prediction, but preparations have been made by the Tunnelrats-crew a long time ago. This time it's one of its members, Raphi Henley, who has set himself the target to "shake things up or at least cause some stirring..."

tracklisting
1. Intro
2. Connect
3. Welcome feat. Macho, Dax
4. Then And Now
5. interlude
6. It Goes Down feat. Wordsworth
7. Rollin' With The Punches
8. Foolin'

9. Stop-Look-Listen
10. Heatwave feat. Macho
11. The Right Way
12. Life Surprises
13. Anytime.Anywhere
14. Street Chronicles
15. Beat Battle
16. Let Go feat. Zane
17. Wiggle
18. interlude
19. Better feat. Dax
As long as things lie stable, we "Connect" and say hello. But already on "Welcome" ("to the future of flow...") there's a lot of electricity in the air - and is this already angels singing from afar? At least we forget our concern for a minute or more over thoughts about early times and how life isn't what it used to be. Plus we get the Spanish guitar ("Then And Now"). But there's no time to shed a tear, 'cause we can feel it already: the ground is shaking. "It Goes Down". Yeah really. And just in case your stereo system is of an earlier generation. Don't worry; this is not your speakers cracking. So turn that shit up, all you got to do before, is to prepare your neighbors. In the aftershock, Raphi is "Rollin' With The Punches" before on "Foolin'", finally, the music feels like this is the well deserved calm after the storm, even if the rhymes promise no trouble-free home coming, rather: "unwanted change / funny how time will fly then rearrange" and it goes on: "some say, that all work and no play will turn blue, skies gray / so I pray, that my soul don't turn charcoal in the midst of a fuel, loosing control / choosing to go down the low road / now I'm bruised and I know how some can stop believing in things unseen in the maze / while days get shorter and nights get longer [...] but they say it's part of the game, the lost in the gain getting tossed in the rain, every year it's the same, going against the grain, so I guess I'm the one to blame / but I'm sane".
And in this environment of quiet self reflection, it's time to "Stop-Look-Listen", to get back on "The Right Way". With "Life Surprises", "Anytime.Anywhere" and "Street Chronicles", Raphi performs a sad tale in three parts: no. 1: the story, no. 2: epilogue, no. 3: summary. At first, the story's told from a personal perspective, then he switches to a bystander position and finally, the focus opens, and the individual will be not more than another link in this system of betrayal and everyday-hustling: "you need to realize, the ones you tell the most lies are looking you in the eyes, like it's a good habit / wolves in disguise, and some are good at it / I tell my people keep the faith because you got to have it / this ain't no movie, sometimes, there ain't no happy endings / there's homicide nationwide genocide, sending us back on the streets / we feeling the heat, 'cause we pretending to be some ballers but we barely making ends meet." At least we got Raphi's calm voice, the guitar, the xylophone, and first and foremost this soulful chorus.
"Beat Battle", as some kind of distraction, starts as an ordinary battle track, then develops in stunning punchlines over an unexpected drum'n'bass beat. Later on, we get more of this 'new day, new struggle'. On "Let Go", it's mainly the insight that decisions are often inescapable, while the best way will not always be the easiest. So, Raphi and Zane agree about giving their relationship another try, knowing that: "after the rain, laughter and shame, the highs and the lows and disaster and pain / the wrong and the right, the thrill and the fight, you see what you have at the end of the night / you learn from the test, the rest might shake / you might be alone, the best might break, take what you can" (from "Better").
No ordinary street-preaching, no do-gooders, no simple recipes for a better life: all we get is dope rhymes, holy flow, and a cyclic world view. Yeah there is boom bap, and in between, besides, below, there's crackling, fizzling, white noise and all different kinds of sounds which will either loose their disturbance after some listening or be discovered only by then. And every time you think that this is just some ordinary radio playing, there's more. More behind, more below the surface - and sometimes the quake, the stirring, is happening and you won't even realize.
As there may be suspicion about this extra help of plastic keyboards on "Wiggle", and besides, music is still a matter of taste, no doubt that this Quake is uncovering fertile ground. And like Raphi's saying that "change in the season happens for a reason", he meant once: "there's a time to sow and a time to reap". - We will see.
review: denise
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