Cold Duck Complex

Today, my friend Marissa got back from NYC and had CDs of her friend's band, Cold Duck Complex, to give out. I grabbed one and took some time later to give it a good listen.

The verdict? Excellent.

I appreciate good rap lyrics, and these are wonderful; CDC does some great things with enjambment and in-line gaps that the poet in me loves, paired with some interesting beats and synth music.

Here is an excerpt of lyrics from the song "Wake Up," one of my favorites on their album Figureheads:

WAKE UP:
i remember the confusion, the chaos, the casualties
remember feeling helpless as i stared upon the tragedy
had to be mad at the perpetrators of the violence
felt i had to say something, but instead i stayed silent

all eyes on the television, fixed in fear
rallying round the flag like that'd make the madness disappear
now there's nothing wrong with unity, but from beneath the surface
of the hyperpatriotism came a war without a purpose

remember the cold war?

we gave the Taliban arms
now we drop rations with bombs to keep the pacifists calm
could've sworn we were invincible, land of the egotistical
cry absolute evil, but it ain't that mystical

we wonder why people got beef
when our country's wealth depends on exploiting the middle east
we want peace, but only when peace'll turn a profit
gotta keep that oil flowing, and ain't nothing gonna stop it

now i ain't trying to rain on no one's patriot parade
but the love we take is equal to the hate that we've made
it's the land of the brave, built upon slaves
we filled in the graves to filter the rage

but the guilt'll remain, with the anger and pain
until we realize it's not a simple matter of blame
because for somebody to gain, somebody else has gotta lose
for anything to change, then everybody's gotta choose

to take responsibility for history
and recognize that privilege stems directly from complicity
with a racist, classist, sexist system
where money makes the man and millions make the politician

transmitting lies through your television screen
prisons teem with modern-day slaves, is this the Bush or Byzantine
era? and that's a whole new form of terror
but the evil's always darker on the other side of the mirror

there are those who believe that our direction's divine
and that oppressions of the mind'll be corrected in time
i'm not so sure that's exactly where we're headed, though
and i won't believe it just because some figurehead has said it's so

They're giving out free music on their site, so check them out!