BLUE SCHOLARS
TEXT: Lydia Sprague ||| LABEL: Self-Released ||| PHOTO: Aaron Yoshino
Let me preface this AudioFile with this statement: I am a student of the Blue School. Born and raised in the 206, Blue Scholars is my kind of hip-hop, but anybody who knows Blue Scholars music knows this group is about much more than hip-hop, or music for that matter. Music is the vessel, but Blue Scholars is a movement. (It just happens that these two are really, really good at the whole music thing). Since the first, self-titled LP dropped, this duo – consisting of emcee Geologic (George Quibuyen) and DJ Sabzi (Saba Mohajerjasbi) – has been known throughout the Pacific Northwest music scene as the ultimate conscious hip hop.
The men that make up Blue Scholars have often stated their main purpose is to educate people — people of all ages, walks and way of life – about social and political issues happening in our society that people tend to overlook. This mission is played out through music, but also through work they do in the community as a whole. My first exposure to Blue Scholars was my first exposure to social and political commentary of such high caliber. The duo came to my community college every year for multicultural week to put on a multicultural workshop, to engage students in debates and conduct question-and-answer sessions about social and political topics that are prevalent in Blue Scholars music.
“Be critical, recognize the privilege, don’t judge people for their ignorance,” Geo explained one year. “The last thing you want to do is make somebody feel bad for doing something that they don’t know is wrong.”
The duo used its first two LPs as vessels in which to educate the masses. Geo specializes in bringing national and international issues home by relating them to problems faced by citizens of the Pacific Northwest. The lyrics approach historical social issues in Seattle, like stealing land from Chief Sealth and then naming the city after him, and the 1999 World Trade Organization riots that rocked the city.
It also includes a really beautiful song about a woman whose name translates into suffering:
She replied that just because I knew a woman well it doesn’t mean I know them all. She begins to bade farewell. Eyes up to the sky, she sighs, I need nobody.
True indeed, sister, but you still need everybody, because we hardly know ourselves if we know nobody else. And only in our loneliness can home become a hell.” (From “Sagaba”)
On Blue Scholars’ 12th track, The Ave, Geo talks about how he and Sabzi like to spend time on The Ave (the colloquial name for University Avenue in Seattle’s University District) digging for records. Sabzi’s beat making is evidence of this, as he samples music from old records, melding them into something fresh. Blue Scholars’ is a very urban sound, Sabzi’s beats are simplistic, but provide the perfect backdrop to Geo’s seemingly effortless flow.
After making their mark in Seattle’s hip-hop scene with its first two releases, 2007’s Bayani rocketed the duo into Seattle stardom, and solidified their place as the frontrunners of Seattle’s hip-hop scene. “Bayani” is a word found both in Tagalog and Persian, which is significant for the group members’ heritage. The album comments on the prevalence of racism in America, and the struggles of immigrants (check out “Xenophobia” and “The Distance”) while pointing to the wars are being waged on the backs of America’s minorities, “Back Home.” Taking a different tone, the band’s love for Seattle shines through on tracks like “Joe Metro” and “North by Northwest.”
Controversial and political themes continue on Blue Scholars’ third full-length record, Cinemetropolis released in June 2011. Lyrically, they remain much the same Blue Scholars: two proletarians always working to educate while speaking for marginalized sectors in our society.
On “Fou Lee,” named after a Beacon Hill grocery, Geo declares “Truth is, no single man, woman, president can alter the present by their God-dammed selves. We move in a swell, one foul motion the monuments fell.” And this is the single most central message of Blue Scholars.
One of the best tracks comes ten songs in: A rallying cry in response to Seattle’s recent up-rise in police brutality, “Oskar Barnack ∞ Oscar Grant,” In classic Blue Scholars style, the song cleverly calls for citizens to photograph cops when they see police acting inappropriately:
“But guess what, the people got a weapon of their own: the lens and the shutter built into a mobile phone. Evidence admissible in court. Even more documented cases of what been going on… Shoot the cops. Shoot the cops. Shoot the cops. Take your cameras out your pockets people… I hear ‘em saying that this shit don’t ever happen in Seattle, and if it does it’s really just a couple bad apples. But if you keepin’ count than you will see, this shit is not the apple it’s the tree. It’s rotten underneath.”
This message undoubtedly will incite rage throughout the community. Something to which Blue Scholars is no stranger to. On the album’s final track, “Fin,” Geo gives a shout out to the teacher who was suspended for handing out lyrics to the Blue Scholars song “Commencement Day” to his class. (On a side note, on the same song he also throws around the word “bitch” a lot for somebody who once said he was against the use of hurtful, oppressive slang words as such).
Musically, most of the tracks on Cinemetropolis fall flat, in my opinion — a sentiment similarly shared by critics writing in other media outlets, as well. They opt for a different, more electronic sound on the third LP, which is cool, except the music just doesn’t seem to work with the vocals. On songs like “Hussein” and “George Jackson” the beats are distracting at best, not at all complimentary. It sounds like DJ Sabzi has given up digging through crates on the Ave for borrowing samples from Linkin Park DJ Mr. Hahn and Nintendo, circa 1994. On most of the tracks, Geo would probably be better off rapping a cappella. The vocals are already separated from the beats; I can’t help but imagine Geo flying through the clouds, jumping through levels Super Mario Brothers style.
One thing that can be said about the simplistic beats: Geo’s flow and rhymes are brought to the forefront in a new way. Whether you agree with his politics or have no idea what he’s talking about, there is no denying that Geo is an extremely talented emcee.
Nevertheless, it’s a solid record from a duo that is, arguably, at the forefront of Seattle’s bursting hip-hop scene. Personally, I hoping that some of these tracks a given the remix treatment they deserve.
PRESS
“But there is a problem with this record. Sabzi’s beats do not seem to share Geo’s enthusiasm, which at times hits an epic pitch. Sabzi did not put everything into this record… Geo embraces the concept and brilliantly theorizes about motion pictures, the star system, and the French New Wave. Sabzi’s embrace of the concept, however, is not as inspired and committed. The good news about the new Blue Scholars is Geo; the not-so-good news is Sabzi.” — The Stranger
“But while the Scholars have stayed on point ideologically—as the track list indicates, they’re still the same politically conscious and socially minded outfit—it’s another story behind the boards. Trading in a sample-heavy sound for synths, and ambitiously abandoning the snare drum altogether on some tracks, Sabzi’s sound is not only more mature, it’s also defiant.” — Seattle Weekly
LINKS
+ Blue Scholars official website
+ Blue Scholars on Facebook
+ Blue Scholars on Twitter
