(when) 7 nines collide: a rap about reggae music and other topics in the tropics

(when) 7 nines collide

by rich stewart

an exclusive reggae.com excerpt:

introduction

Neville Itchwell is a record producer par excellence and rastafarian, who as a youth endured the plantocracy of the sugarcane fields. He is the focus and act I begins on a hot night, the first night after the death of a legendary reggae artist. After much reflection on the day's news, Neville drifts off and has a most interesting dream. It begins on the day of Jamaica's Independence and concludes near the end of the second millenium.

act 1

(just past midnight)

may 12, 1981

ninety-nine degrees Fahrenheit

burn the oil in the dead of the night

concrete jungle in the bloody heat

one drop rumble in the bloody street

those who languish in torn garments wail

revolutionaries croon in jail

shadows in the valley recognize

tuff gong rebel pose no compromise

(reggae beat creates a sense of shock

an inner music solid rock)



curious outsiders look on as

locksman dig on up that ghetto jazz

inspiration from the torch is passed

trumpet first might just as well be last

natty dread vibration: positive

life is one big road wake up and live

catch a fire watch the tables turn



hear the music see the fires burn

cultivation a la joseph hill

elbows rest upon one window sill

timeless flow from the sacred cup

vines of consciousness climb up and up

reggae beat creates a sense of shock

mystic vibes of cognizance unlock

natural mystic locksman turns the key

if you listen closely you will see

vestal octave bares twelve tones of flesh



rhythms tangle in a twelve tone mesh

babylon the bandit double faults

those who feel it dance a reggae waltz

one fine day you're here the next you're gone

scholars reason on and on and on

topics in the tropics getting deep

i and i drift off to get some sleep

surrealistic dreams have taken hold

a journey into dub starts to unfold

fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold


act II

(the dream)

as we are from this time here on in

a music revelation will begin

(when) the stage of seven nines collide

a universal rhythm will preside



and so the DUB of (when) 7 nines collide begins...