“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

“Dreamer” by Molina Soleil & Aju (SOULAJU) w/ DJ Icewater

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Writing and recording this track transported me back to the Up Before the Sunrise days.  Experimental rhyme structures and spoken reflections lending context to the poetics.

The odyssey of the DREAMER is riddled with layers of parallel dreams and realities.  Imagine two worlds, equivalent in their truths, folded in to mirror one another.  The true math lies in the eyes of the dreamer.

There is light and there is dark.  There is good and there is evil.  There is life and there is death.  These are simple matters.  It is in the gray area that dream interpretation begins.

Recognizing the power of the Dream, one’s mark is everlasting.  All things are connected.  All thoughts, words, and ideas manifest, touch, alter, and affect the eternal balance. 

Your reality is your perception.  Reflection is perpetually open to interpretation.

Play with the day, float away with the blue…

A.M. SOLEIL, RETROSPECTIVELY is a 52-week blog series in 2010, reflecting on 5 years of independent music by yours truly by Molina.

Twitter: @MOLINAspeaks