COMPOSING & RECORDING
“Let’s talk about time traveling,
rhyme javelin, something mind unraveling.
Get down.”
—André 3000 (OutKast), “Return of the “G”,” Aquemini, 2008
My process of composing the projects that comprise Owning My Masters began with songs that are reflective of my particular experience in the moments they were composed. Those experiences translated into rhymes, poems, or instrumental musics. The matching of lyrics to the proper instrumental or instrumentals to proper lyrics or the writing of both together are unique to each piece of the larger composition. I have been fortunate to sustain relationships with collaborators Marcus “Truth” Fitzgerald and Blake “Preme” Wallace, who produce instrumental music with and for me to create the mixtap/e/ssays I’ve composed since before 2013, when I arrived at Clemson.
The recording process for each song varies, but each session has common elements. I used Adobe Audition for recording and editing all vocals. I alternated between two different condenser microphones. If there was ever a difference, it was a matter of where I recorded more than what I recorded. Normally I try to get volume levels suitable for listening outside of the computer/headphones, and then I make a version of the pre-mixed song to listen to through my phone, in my car, and aloud through the system in my recording room. When I’m satisfied with a mix, I tag the song as “[Finished]” for my files and save it on both an internal and external drive and save the individual tracks in the computer in case I need to make adjustments later.
Writing Term One began with the acquittal of George Zimmerman on July 12, 2013. On Sunday, the 13th I wrote “Right Here in America” to the instrumental of Jay-Z’s “Somewhere in America” from the Magna Carta Holy Grail album. I wasn’t sure what the project would look or sound like, but writing that song helped me get to the rest of what’s written there. The same week I recorded “Right Here in America” Truth emailed me the instrumental to what would become “Dissertation [The Introduction: Part I].” I eventually recorded and edited a music video for it on Clemson’s campus for a project in Jan Holmevik’s RCID 8850: Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Technology course. That class set me on to the interrogation of the Fort Hill plantation house on campus. In addition to “Right Here in America” and “Dissertation [The Introduction: Part I],” Preme gave me permission to use the entire instrumental playlist from his Django: The D is Silent beat flip tape. The beats resonated with me for the project because of their connection to the film Django Unchained and how that film’s fantastical narrative stood in stark contrast to my journey at the time and the other films I saw that semester, namely Fruitvale Station and 12 Years A Slave.
On campus, adjusting was made more challenging by the seeming disconnect between the historical land – a former plantation – and the conscientiousness of the campus community. I felt interpersonal disorientation daily, and it was only intensified by what felt like being bombarded with promotions for seemingly problematic on-campus programming.
On October 10, 2013, I received an email announcing “THE SCARIEST EVENT OF THE YEAR is coming to CLEMSON.” There was a graphic that included this, and dates of the event, and more text that said, “Frightening details coming soon.” There was no accompanying text to clarify the details of the graphic—a plantation-style house in the distance, centered and ominously enveloped in hazy fog and a dense forest on one side. Foregrounded in the picture is a large tree with an outstretched branch from which there hangs a noose. Though there is no visible person hanging from the noose, the shadow visible from the lower corner of the graphic shows the legs of a hanging person. Beneath the shadow are fallen leaves beneath the tree and scattered about the yard up to the front door of the house. In the bottom corners of the graphic are superimposed logos of campus organizations “CLEMSONLiVE” and “U-NITES.” Since it came to my university email address, I presume the text was sent to all students.
Clemson Paranormal Event Email
A bit later that evening there was a follow-up email. It read:
“Dear students,
“On behalf of CLEMSONLiVE and U-NITES, we would like to take the opportunity to apologize for the email that was sent out this morning regarding our upcoming Halloween events on October 31st and November 1st. The events are centered around the movie, The Conjuring. The email image was taken from promotional materials for this film. We realize that the image is hurtful and inconsiderate. We proudly serve the student body and value being a part of this community. We had no intention of offending anyone and we regret any hurt this may have caused.
“Sincerely,
“CLEMSONLiVE and U-NITES”
Clemson Paranormal Event Follow-Up Email
As isolated incidents this email and follow-up would have been less significant, but they were part of my introduction to Clemson University and South Carolina, and therefore, part of the composition process of the mixtape I wrote and recorded that first semester. I wrote at a fairly regular pace during the semester, and I was able to complete at least one song each week, which made the first term the most productive of all with regard to my songwriting and music production output. I had 19 songs at the end of the term. I included 16 of them for the Term One project. I felt a theme connected the project, so the three songs that were not included were left out for that reason. The introduction was the last piece I created. I combined a recording of a performance of “Dixie” with vocals taken from Minister Louis Farrakhan’s “Saviour’s Day” speech, aptly titled “The Birth of a Nation.”
I repeated a similar process for the six mixtape projects that followed each semester after the first.
