[Thoughts on Album] Be Great w/ @TheBlackOpera’s “#Libretto :Of King Legend”
“ain’t no power like the power of the youth, ‘cause the power of youth don’t change!” – Books Not Bars Libretto: Of King Legend
I can’t fully appreciate music like The.Black.OP.Era (TBO) without digging into my old Anthro- notes from school (a little bit of Darwinism can play with thoughts). To digest this album, “Libretto: Of King Legend“, is to learn how humanism came to be. In the lyrics of TBO, “Crazy is as crazy does and crazy lives as crazy was…/”. Natural selection is our illusion of survival; we adapt to what/whom it is we think we can survive with, then commit. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. Our dream of achievement, our dream of peace, our dream of love – is and always will be, a revolution in the mind. Illusion controls more than we, as human beings, ever physically could in universe. In other words, Perception Is King.
“But who’s the real villains?…” A time cool for me in understanding matter’s illusionary nature through music was when I discovered MF Doom‘s rhymes and his functional mask. As I relate to his rhymes, I’m comparing my own illusions/experiences to this beast’s rather than another flawed human being’s personal lifestyle. In turn, with MF DOOM, ideas are provoked with no distractions but my own and I feel more superior relating to a super Villain. It’s all fantasy and it’s all reality. Perception Is King.
The Black Opera highlight their King in each song they produce, while they also remain a bit mysterious and stick to the movement that art is greater than identity. They continue to push the bridge between what is and what should be in an exceptional way. Whatever “should” be, this group will provoke how you can keep “the dream” alive. Each song on their album, “Libretto: Of King Legend” is structured not only to tickle earlobes but mostly to open eyes and shake perception of extended memories.
Here are some lyrics of my favorite songs off “Libretto: Of King Legends” that shook my attention:
“Black Lair“: is history repeating or we just repeating history/or imitating life or life doing the mimicking ha ha/constant mirrors re-reflectin’ current imagery
“WE are ONE“: if you went to the moon and you looked from the moon at the earth, you would see 1 earth
“Shadows“: in the end is what you choose to feed/the hungriest eat/and truth is what you choose to see
“Red Bills“: give ’em the green light and they OG backwards/ shootin’ like Kobe’s practice/ …/ going crazy for that bloody money/ red bills red bills red bills red bills
“Rich Blood“: pops is a OG with a rolling stone theme/ got 4 baby mamas 4 seeds/ still love him though ’cause he showed me if at first you don’t succeed you gotta proceed
Once you believe in yourself to understand boundaries as meaningless, then you can sigh of relief and feel closer to TBO’s motto of “uniting opposing worlds” and “making perfect harmony.” [Intermission] Enter Mission.
The Black Opera would be a refreshing music choice to listen to. Great stuff on this album. Stream below:
-Celeste (@cellyonthetelly)
