I wrote “Letter to Izriah” during the summer of 2005.  I was going through a lot, personally, trying to make sense of the circumstances I was given. 

I was writing to reclaim my life.  My sun was at the heart of the equation.  I was contemplating death on a very serious level.  Was it death, physically?  What is death, spiritually?  If I wasn’t around someday, how would that affect my sun?

Being a father changes the way you think about your life, the way you think about your actions.  Your legacy becomes what you pass on to your seeds. 

What would my sun need to know in the case of my absence?  What was I leaving to guide him?  Memories… but he was only two years old at the time. 

My music… that’s what I was leaving to my sun.  Something that he would be able to track down and listen to someday in the case I was no longer living. 

I began writing Letter to Izriah.  What were the lessons I needed to pass down?  Raw lessons.  No sugar-coating life in this world.  I needed to speak honestly to my sun, for both of us.

I wrote the first version of this song out of thin air, without a beat..  I revised a few lyrics early in 2007, recorded the vox and sent them to Mannequin Rituals. 

Mannequin Rituals wrote the beat to the lyrics.  We recorded late in 2007 and “Letter to Izriah” was released on Up Before the Sunrise in 2008. 

Ever since, I’ve been thinking about writing and recording a song that celebrates the other side of fatherhood…

The fun side…

Molina

A vote on the Dream Act will come before congress this fall during the lame duck session.  The Dream Act would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth through completion of college or military service.

The Democratic leadership finally found the courage to move this piece of legislation forward.  Republicans will pick up dozens of seats in the House and several seats in the senate in January 2011.  The Democrats had a chance to really move forward a pro-people agenda when Obama was elected in 2008.  The Obama Administration chose to take a centrist, conservative, corporatist approach.  Many opportunities to pass meaningful legislation for the people have now slipped away. 

Opportunities continue to slip away for millions of undocumented youth, Beyond racism and propaganda, many of these young people have been living in the U.S. their entire lives.  This is their home.  Yet they can’t drive, can’t vote, can’t work legally, and in most states cannot get in-state tuition for college.

The reality of the global economic system and the set-up of the American economy has pushed and pulled their families into the U.S.  There are 10 million + illegal immigrants in this country, 2 million of them are children.  Something realistic and fair needs to be done to incorporate some of these people into American society.  A deportation-only agenda is unrealistic, ignorant, and hypocritical. 

The DREAM ACT is a fairly conservative piece legislation meant primarily to grow the American military recruitment pool.  I am actually not a fan of the logistics of the Dream Act, but something needs to be done.  I support the act.  Learn about the Act at www.DreamActivist.org.  If you support it, call your government representatives. 

….

LATE DECEMBER 2010 UPDATE – THE DREAM ACT WAS BLOCKED, AGAIN.

“One Night” by Molina of SOULAJU w/ DJ Icewater (2010)

I recently heard an Rnb/Soul artist say that “Country is the only genre that still allows you to tell stories.”  I’m assuming he was speaking about pop music.

Hip-Hop emcees are among the most skilled storytellers on the planet. 

This story was inspired by various stories.  Some mine, some not.  Some imagined.

I was listening to this instrumental on loop in Portland, Oregon in October 2008.  The first version came en route to San Francisco.  I revised my rhymes a few months later in Southern Colorado when I was preparing to record in December.

Sex and sexuality are such huge elements of our lives as human beings.  But from a young age we’re taught to fear sexuality, be ashamed of it, repress it.  Hide from it.  No wonder it manifests itself in ugly ways. 

When it comes to sexuality, there are two basic trains of thought in American mainstream culture: It’s either 1) Love, commitment forever and marriage, or 2) Hit it and quit it.  Sexual language is violent and disrespectful.  Sex is a battlefield.  Women face the dichotomy of choosing to be either a virgin or a whore. 

The grey area in-between is where you find the beauty of human sexuality.

I sought to write a fun song celebrating sexuality in the moment.  Just a little something to make people smile and reminisce on those moments that meant everything with a partner, regardless of where it was or wasn’t headed in the long run. 

Molina

“Wings of the Butterfly” by Mannequin Rituals featuring SOULAJU.  This track appears in the movie “Papers” – a film about undocumented youth. 

Papers is a documentary film that tells the story of undocumented youth pursuing higher education in American society.  The film has screened in all 50 states.  It was recently released for personal home DVD purchase and can be licensed for educational use by universities, libraries, non-profit and for-profit organizations. 

“Wings of the Butterfly” is one of a half-dozen songs featured in Papers.  Dustin Neal of Mannequin Rituals wrote the music and inspired the concept.  Will Ross of CHiTT Productions produced the track.  Aju and myself wrote and performed the vocals. 

Dustin sent the track when i was in Mexico City late in July, 2009.  I lay in my hotel room the final morning and bumped the instrumental on repeat, watching monarch butterflies flying in droves high above cities throughout the United States.  

I saw THE DREAMERS as butterflies, delicate and susceptible to danger and capture,  but strong and agile as they pushed forward in the wind, demanding a space for themselves in the world. 

I am not a religious man, but a spiritual man.  Nevertheless, the religious imagery came as I watched the men in my family live out their struggle as immigrants.  I saw a daughter i did not have, beautiful eyes, hungry and dependent upon me.  And I began to write…

– Molina

“Sacred Paths” – the title track for one of the most creative releases of 2009, period.  It’s been over a year since the release of this project, so I make this claim with clarity and confidence. 

Love it or hate it, Sacred Paths is a Testament to the divine nature of Creation.  A friend in Nuevo Mexico recently reminded me that artists create “something out of nothing”.  We are creators.  All artists all genres STAND UP!  Rep that proudly and celebrate the diversity in that. 

This composition is comprised of five separate pieces:

“Towala” by Aju

“The Becoming” by Molina

“People” by Aju

Portions of “Dee-Jay” and “Representin’ 4 Life” by Molina

These individual pieces came together to tell a broader story that has been transmitted, left for you to translate and interpret. 

Closing a five year cycle in this life, I am reminded that this life is a set of interlocking pieces, scattered and riddled and left for each individual to sort out.  I am confident they connect.

Molina

“City Night Speak” appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)

If I remember right, this is the last track we recorded for Sacred Paths, summer 2009.  Sacred Paths is a HEAVY music project, coded in spiritual life/love lessons.  I felt like it needed a fun track. 

This is as FUN as Sacred Paths gets.  HA!

In many ways, the city is emblematic of DESTRUCTION and CHAOS.  Little is natural or organic in city life… except of course human interaction.  Cities bread possibility, creativity, opportunities for interpretation.  The city is sexy and limitless.  I guess the same can be said about the forest or the countryside. 

But you can’t deny the charm of the city.  The smell.  The grit.  City lights and movement.  Countless lives converging and rewriting the standards.  Potential.  This is what I reached for as I wrote my verse from my Northside Denver apartment.

Molina

“Without Papers” is a follow-up to “Sin Papeles” , which was released on Shine Flow EP with DJ Icewater, June 2009.  “Without Papers” is a lighter and more hopeful version of the same concept, made specifically for “Papers” the movie.

Papers is now available for the first time on DVD for personal use. 

As the music supervisor for the film, I needed a theme song.  I was given the green light to create some original music to pitch.  DJ Icewater worked on the instrumentation with his man G Koop. 

The film Papers explores the challenges that undocumented youth face in pursuing higher education.  But the film takes on  broader issues with respect to American society, American history, and what it means to live in “America”.   As artists, we had three  and a half minutes to sum up musically not just the themes, but also the energy transmitted on screen.

My verse is a plea for recognition and a demand for visibility.     I put myself in the shoes of a young person sin papeles.  I’m an American citizen.  I was born here, so this is not my story.  But it is my father’s story y la historia de mi familia.  This is the story of many friends and many young people I work with. 

On “Without Papers” I’m focused on the young person struggling for survival, staying strong, demand a space for themselves in this society.  As on “Sin Papeles” it’s Aju’s verse that expands the dialogue.  Aju tells the immigrant’s story, spanning all races, cultures, and continents. 

The national discussion on immigration right is toxic, unapologetically racist and hypocritical.  The Americas have always been native land, always will be.  Latinos are of Mestizaje blood, mixed descent… but brown folks are indigenous to the American southwest.  There is no way around this fact. 

Many descendants of immigrants (European and otherwise) have  conveniently forgotten their own families’ histories, their journeys, their struggles. 

“Without Papers” is a heartfelt reminder that we are all part of the human family. 

Aju’s closing hook was taken from “Sin Papeles” to provide direct continuity  between the two tracks.  The closing city shout out includes only American cities and towns, whereas the “Sin Papeles” outro carried more of a world vibe with international city drops.  “Without Papers” is a timeless American story.

Closing shouts out to El Grupo Juvenil, the homeys Juan Carlos, Joes Luis, and Cesar, and the whole Papers crew.  You all have taken me on a winding and meaningful ride these past two years.  It’s clearly far from over.  Adelante. 

A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively is a 52-week blog series in 2010 breaking down 5 years of independent music by Molina, one song at a time. 

I am a rapper and a spoken word poet.  I also write plays and short stories.  I’m a storyteller.  It’s all the same.  Different mediums but we’re all taking it back to the storytelling days.  The spoken word proceeded the written word.  Every culture had its storytellers.  We transmit and create reality through our stories. 

I will be speaking at Latino College Day events in Durango, CO and Farmington, NM this week, in addition to performing at the 3rd annual Real History of the Americas celebration at Fort Lewis College (an alternative event to Columbus day). 

I have spoken and/or performed at various events around the country that encourage Latino youth to pursue higher education.  As a first-generation Chicano/Mexicano college graduate, I greatly value this work.  I beat the odds and earned B.A.’s and a Law Degree.  Many opportunities have come from the hard work I put in at the college level, in and outside the classroom. 

I use my knowledge daily to write new material, engage young people, navigate mainstream educational institutions, write my own contracts and business agreements, etc. 

When I prepare to speak to young ethnic minority students about higher education, I weigh the benefits of a college education with the reality of college education in America. 

College is increasingly inaccessible to la raza.  High school dropout rates among Latinos and Blacks continue to rise.  College tuition and expenses have skyrocketed.  Funding option are disappearing.  Affirmative action is dead. 

We need to push our young people to demand a higher education.  At the same time we have to deal with the reality that many of them will not get there.  We have to prepare them for that fact and make sure that they know that they are not failures if they do not attend college.  There are other ways to attain knowledge.

Beyond colleges and universities, we need to talk about trade schools, recording schools, dance schools, technical schools, schools that focus on urban gardening and herbal plant medicine… The list goes on.  The possibilities are endless. 

Beyond schools, we need to advocate that our young people draw upon their inner strength and the strength of their ancestors, to educate themselves on all levels, to build their own knowledge of the mind, body, and spirit, with or without institutions. 

To find pride in yourself and peace in your identity; this is a starting point. 

MOLINA

A.M. Soleil Retrospectively is a 52-week blog series in 2010 breaking down 5 years of independent music and performance art production.

“October Myst” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals, Up Before the Sunrise (2008)

This week marks the 9-year anniversary of the War in Afghanistan – the longest war in American history.  There is no end to this war nor the war in Iraq.  These are resource wars, wars of power and geopolitical/economic control. 

Many people have asked me what “October Myst” is about.  To this point, I have given very few people a straight answer.  The Mannequin Rituals, tracks 7-10 of “Up Before the Sunrise” particular, were partially about their mystery.  The poetics.  Theatrics.  The art of storytelling.  The art of unraveling truth.  Who dares to put forth the time or effort to know? 

Enough time has elapsed to shell out more clues and provide more insight.

This is the story of an American soldier who died in the Middle East.  These are the last 4 minutes and 58 seconds of his life, flashing before his eyes after he is shot in battle.  Listen to his story, rewind, start over.  And over.  And over.  And over…

These are his reflections.  His thoughts.  His love.  His lust.  His beauty.  His dreams.  His anger.  His battle scars.  His life.  His death.  His legacy? 

What did he die for???

The October Myst is the political haze Post-911.  The lies.  The agenda.  The deception. 

Bush’s war is now Obama’s war as President Eisenhower’s “Military Industrial Complex” plays out one president after the next. 

Beyond politics, this is a soldier’s story.  This is a dedication to all those worldwide who have lost their lives to deceit. 

This is for those who believe. 

Molina

“Sea of Glass” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals, Up Before the Sunrise (2008), CHiTT Productions

The human story is a puzzle, confusing, jagged and bloody, splattered about the concrete like a red sea of glass. 

Mannequin Rituals.  Stop the Police State, Save the Mannequins. 

The first piece of this journey is a dream.  An awakening from a long dream.  An agonizing journey.  A story of a scared man crawling out of the dark cave that is his history. 

The second piece is the realization of the chaos and destruction that has defined the human story.  An eye opens to the source of his madness.

The [spoken word] builds upon layers of deconstruction, making clear the patterns of misery that have plagued the human spirit and planet Earth. 

Murder, pillage, burn, rape
Jail, prison, punish, break
Lock, load, aim, squeeze
Freeze, strip down, knees
bent, kicked, cracked
Cut, gash, bust, blast
Judge, loath, hate, divide
Murder, mo murder, die

The last piece is the repudiation of this order.  The stand against it.  The revisualization of what is possible.  The pushback.  The path.  The passion. 

Meditation.  Reflection.  Action.

Manifestation.  The Age of Revision. 

Molina