By Mel Cooke , Freelance Writer WESTERN BUREAU:
THERE IS this often told story of a child who finds a chrysalis, opens it hoping to set the butterfly inside free. The child breaks the cocoon, only to see the butterfly flutter and die. An adult then uses the incident to emphasise to the child that struggle is a necessary part of life, that hastening the process of creation or transformation often leads to disastrous results. Poet Ginsu's four-track mini-album The Struggle is not new in the sense of being hot off the press, but it remains fresh. In addition, although it contains only four tracks, two of which are done without music, with the poet laying a semi-rap style over hip hop style beats of the other two, the disc shows strong evidence of a struggle for knowledge which has informed and shaped the writer. The attention to detail is impressive.
His material reflects an informed world view, moving easily among topics as apparently diverse as the U.S. invasion of Maurice Bishop's Grenada and the World Trade Centre bombings, calling for self-reliance and revolution in the same breath. His style of holding to a particular rhyme scheme, pursuing it with reason, is apparent from the get go, with the a capella Revolution. Ginsu urges: Let's overthrow all corrupt governments/Get the guillotine, behead the presidents/That are impediments/ To developments in the community/And in the residence/Some love to talk about their accomplishments/And with my own eyes I see no evidence/I use my intuition I use my common sense/I am a battle-hardened soldier with experience. The scheme is not held throughout, but when it changes it is with purpose. In the end, Ginsu questions the official line on September 11, 2001, making the link with external happenings as he says Was in Al-Quaeda who really destroyed the centre?/Of World Trade in European diaspora/Stock market falling, causing euphoria/Is this recession linked to their repression/Or foreign policies that cause Third World recession? The track is done without music, but the addition of a second voice gives punch to the delivery. The title track, The Struggle covers lots of ground in "reaching out to all the people in the struggle". It gives advice (Pay up yu dues an' stay outa trouble/Yu haffi humble/Eena de jungle/Trus' no fool, always tek check/Mutiny by yu cronies yu cyan accept...) and proposes self-reliance (Sell an' buy amongst yu fren' fi get de grocery/De food from de earth gwine save yu money/Yam an banana gwine to feed yu family/No more McDonalds in your belly), as Ginsu adjusts his delivery style to be intense, but still sounding as if he is talking individually to the listener.
GOOD ADDITION
Tyehimba is a good addition to the poem, delivering strong hip hop rhymes. The Quest, done without music, is just that a search, from the African roots, trodding through Benin, Togo, Zimbabwe and many other countries on the continent, as he defines himself as a man with a purpose (Troubles of the world I carry as my load/Deep lonely caves my only abode). His search for knowledge takes him far back (I get my teachings/From ancient sages/From great ones/Back in the Middle Ages) a journey which sets the stage for the final poem, Glorious Past.
On that final track, Ginsu goes up a notch on the scale in his vocals and delivers an extremely impressive trip into 'the halls of Timbuktu' and beyond. There is a derisive comparison with Caucasians, as Ginsu says: Before they found out the world was not flat/We were building pyramids and practising ma-hat/Using compasses and sketching out maps.../When white guys were in caves taking naps/We were throwing dice we were playing craps/Reciting poetry and spitting out raps/With a graceful bow as the audience claps Glorious Past is a bit over four minutes of teaching and thought, prefaced and ended with Marcus Garvey's views on confidence. It is a good end to a short but intense, compact offering from Ginsu. The Struggle is available at the University of the West Indies' Bookshop.
