Rhyme Report

Published on September 18th, 2019 | by Guest Contributor

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Jason & The Rex Debuts with A Stance on Gun Violence

Newcomer, Jason & The Rex made his debut on the hip-hop scene with an alternative hip-hop work of art “Bullets Are Flying”. Unfurling a pensive, sometimes manic flow that expresses the convoluted public discourse surrounding the gun violence epidemic in the US, Jason says he was inspired to write the track after the emotion of the Parkland shooting in 2018. Rapping with an emotional honesty over vibrant horns, a melancholy piano lead, strange-sounding synths, and a reverb-washed chorus, Jason has created a dense soundscape that lends itself to the hysteria present in the track.

“Whenever I hear about a mass shooting, I feel like I enter a purgatory space full of contradictions,” says Jason. “Whereas I’m painfully empathetic towards the victims, I also worry about my own hypocrisy when I demand change and wonder how much I contribute to the problem.”

Hoping to inspire activism within his art using more than just words, Jason layered hidden meanings and messages with each aspect of both the video and the track. The dancers movements, what’s on the TV screens, and sounds and atmospheric layers created from voice samples of common gun-violence soundbites are just a few examples of the extreme intuitiveness that went into the creation of this video to convey the emotive message of gun violence. “Bullets Are Flying” is riddled – quite literally – with sentiments about our nation’s gun culture and the hypocrisy that usually follows after a tragedy such as Parkland. “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is a strong example of the message that Jason is trying to convey.

“Every time a mass shooting happens, it feels like we’re in some kind of deranged puppet show. The thoughts and prayers light up on the right. We on the left troll them and demand real change. The NRA and their supporters brandish their guns, as if a 13-year old with a semi-automatic rifle buying ice-cream on Main Street is supposed to make me feel better. Each of us get our likes and retweets, and advertisers get their money from media coverage. I know. This is just a statement like any of the others. I’m trying my best to stay involved, to listen, to promote sensible ideas. But, frankly, I have no clue what is actually going on behind the screens.”

“Bullets Are Flying” will appear on Jason’s forthcoming EP Synthesizer or Variations of: An Endemic Cycle, which will explore and expand the theme of living in the mass shooting generation. 100% of proceeds from “Bullets Are Flying” and the upcoming EP will be donated to March For Our Lives.

“All I know is: bullets are flying. We can argue about it. We can cry at the TV. Post a thoughtful meme. Host a discussion. Give a lecture. Write a book. Or a song. Make a video. Maybe trying my best in this capacity is the very best I can do as an artist — to help keep this conversation alive, to push and spread the discussion just a little bit further, to diminish the cynic in all of us and encourage us to keep imagining healthier and sane and life-preserving alternatives.”


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