The Rebel Cell, by Mud Sun

The Rebel Cell

by Mud Sun

supported by

	/

Digital Album
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$3 USD or more

You own this
Subscription

Subscribe now to receive all the new music Baba Brinkman creates, including 13 back-catalog releases, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. Learn more.

Subscribe Now $30 USD/year or more
Full Digital Discography Full Digital Discography

22

releases

Get all 22 Baba Brinkman releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Rapsode, Bright Future, See From Space, The Rap Guide to Consciousness, The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos, The Rap Guide to Religion, The Rap Guide to Medicine, The Rap Guide to Wilderness, and 14 more. , and , .
Excludes subscriber-only releases.

Purchasable with gift card

$69 USD or more (40% OFF)

You own this

1.	Get Naked 02:44	lyrics	buy track
Get Naked Get naked Imperfect? Perfect We're of all ages Civil servants, nurses We pull faces A little nervous at first We pull braces off And off come knickers All brazen But it's worth it Worth it, Paul Brave it Your clothes are surfeit It's cool Take this Bicycle and mount it No trousers Naked in the gaze of houses As outlined in subsection 7(a) The terror agents will In accordance with legislation Have the not insubstantial power To in effect say Whether prisoner detained Will be detained for several days or... Yeah get naked Raise your saddle Wiggle And be courageous In the face of traffic and shoppers Who are laced in Buckled and shuttered up They look a bit troubled But it mustn't trouble us It's amazin', The wind on ya - whoop The eyes on your entourage We whoosh past and laugh Much to the kiddies' amusement We're filling the avenues Now this is a movement Therefore, prior to pitting paradiggums against police The precaution of preparation is proposed Which may mean, uhh More than normal force to be proposed Bringing the hidden face of corporate laws into play We mustn't be afraid to break eggs Breaking eggs to be exact To properly cook the omelette of security As it were Thank-You
2.	2013 02:26	lyrics	buy track
2013 First things first, let me set the scene Let's see, the year is 2013 On TV, there's still nothing worth seeing But Americans are back in vogue with Europeans President Obama's in his second term, see? So now the States has some social currency They're less precarious Some say it's the dawning of the Age of Aquarius Although humanity still has some desperate areas Disease and poverty are still severe But the Palestinian state is in its second year It's full of NGO's and civil engineers And now it seems like there's optimism everywhere Except here This festive era overseas Just doesn't mesh with the English experience Of the last six years Domestic fears of terrorism have led To increasingly oppressive interference And now people get arrested as suspected terrorists And just disappear How can they accept that? But wait, let's step back Who is this political hack with the mid-western accent Giving the British flack for their decent into madness? I'm a Canadian ex-pat I trained as a war reporter But by the time I graduated Half the major wars were over So I investigated all sorts of foreign cultures Searching for the main sources of civil disorder I expected to do a story on Burmese border closures Or something on socialist Ecuadorian soldiers But when my search for civil disorder was over I accepted this post, 'cause there was more in Dover And since I don't work for a British newspaper I've escaped the censorship that hides the true nature Of the new relationship Between the people and the rule-makers My column is syndicated to thirty-two papers And they're not state-owned Although my editors make known Their debt to stakeholders And their affinity for take-home pay They've got a payroll to make So they only print stories worth their weight in gold The first piece I wrote was on Habeas corpus And on the governments use of NATO forces To fight insurgents in the Secretary of State's orchards And on the plain distortion of facts In official statements and discourses And then I heard about Dizraeli's organization Of rebel cells, and his dedicated corps Who carry the disestablishmentarians' torches Now there's a story that could make a fortune
3.	BNPBC One 00:36	lyrics	buy track
BNPBC One This just in from BNPBC News Dizraeli's troops were caught distributing free food In the form of pea soup and fresh nectarine juice To farmers on strike in Leeds Now to review The leader of this left wing movement Is still at large And police have orders to shoot on sight And kill the bastard He's suspected of masterminding Some sort of bombing crime Details at this time are none too fine More news at nine...
4.	Mud Island 06:45	lyrics	buy track
Mud Island The year is 2013 Time we got this right We've tried all other avenues And now This is the one solution left So listen Comrades here And those at home Welcome to Mud Island Where clouds don't clear And no one comes for asylum Where you can't grow food without a horticulture license And licenses are only granted to corporate giants Not the Jolly Green They're monsters of oil and iron Who shape government policy And own soil and sky And they also own the rights To the writer's pens So no news can find a vent Without prior consent And that consent doesn't come When the news is anti-government Or pro-Islam Or anti-capitalism Or about the fear that always hangs in the distance Or the fact that every other cousin's languishing in prison Or the lack of a living wage That wages war on actually living The buses are silent We all face forward Like the drones in 1984 Afraid to talk in case we're breaking laws We didn't even know existed The terror agents on the corners Who can leave you broken wristed With interrogation methods Never less than vicious And detention without charge Is the quintessence of Englishness The quintessence of Englishness If we succumb to the river It will carry us off So raise one middle finger To the cameras watching Another to them acting In the manner of Gods They can kill us But they can't switch humanity off It's been this way Since the 2012 olympics When six thousand people died In six terrorist hits It was the perfect excuse To pull the noose on civil liberty Suddenly The streets thronged with the military New police with new powers A new face for the state And this threat that waits above us Like a guillotine A brand new prison camp The pride of the Ministry Where suspects are sent At the Prime Minister's decree Guantanamo mark two Here at home in Glastonbury Approved by referendum Built very democratically And the key to the core Of the Government's terror strategy Orange boiler suits Water board torture and shackled feet With capacity for more than a thousand dissidents Housed in mesh cages and force fed food 'Til proven innocent While the rest of us eat, sleep, shit and do business As the advertisers sell us shampoos and conditioners But there are many who still refuse to give into this Struggle to uncover truth in news and statistics Who grow our own food And make our own kid's syllabus' Who make our own decisions And won't live as prisoners There are those of us who live and love And chat with our neighbors Who strip back the fear And products and shallow status And ads and wastage And suits and braces 'Til we're human beings Being human standing naked Say it Human beings Being human Standing Naked Being human Standing Naked If we succumb to the river It will carry us off Raise one middle finger To the cameras watching Another to them acting In the manner of Gods They can kill us But they can't switch humanity off But it's not enough to act free, stubborn, courageous We need to deal with the causes Of the struggles that face us We've looked deeper than the surface wounds And we've seen the whole system is a river of blood And it's running in the veins of a rotted corpse And we can't stop its course quick enough 'Cause it runs to the cups of the corporation and the state Two drunk men, holding each other up Feeding each others function Why? 'Cause what's good for order is great for the capitalist And brands are the perfect opiate for the masses It works perfectly A marriage of mutual bond While the earth and the people are murdered And brutally wronged While now We vow to bring it down sector by sector Every symbol of oppression Every pillar of its architecture Banks that keep the wealth held by too few men Superstores that suck communities dry Cameras whirring and watching our every movement Prisons that create crime and dehumanize Arms manufacturers, security firms, media Car manufacturers, government departments Every symbol of our democratic servants turned "leaders" From the modified crops they're growing in our back gardens To the firms that profit producing polluntants The list is here Read it and go to it We'll be their public nuisance Their writing on the wall Our revolution Until the people dance to a new music And it means sacrifice And it might mean pain But there's a duty calling on us To be people again No state is going to save us No progress without us We must realize and grow And manifest our own powers So I say it again The time is now Go to it 'Til the people on the street Are dancing to their own music The time is now Go to it Until the people on the street Dance to their own music If we succumb to the river It will carry us off Raise one middle finger To the cameras watching Another to them acting In the manner of Gods They can kill us But they can't switch humanity off
5.	Dispatches 03:41	lyrics	buy track
Dispatches These dispatches are just a form of Democratic journalistic action In the midst of war and civil clashes We swarm into the fracas And sort out the different factions And report it back to the Court of public opinion with dispassion This is chapter six of Baba's dispatches From the British axis And I'm sad to report that the government's Been acting every bit as fascist As it has ever since the tragic Olympic massacre last year Which left its victims in a pile of crisp ashes And yet special mention must be made Of the unstructured nature of the resistance To the British big brother state Something strange is happening On England's gray streets But there's no mystery Its name is "Dizraeli" Instead of the leadership they need To get political prisoners of the state freed And reinstate civil liberties And eliminate the wage freeze And get the laws changed So they can live, work and play in peace Dizraeli attacks anything even remotely mainstream Unable, it seems, to discriminate between What's real and what's make believe I mean Let's face it While his nation is decimated by the politics of hatred Dizraeli's response consists of "Let's get naked!" As if there were no difference Between clothes and prisons 'Cause uh, "They're both restrictive and they're both 'systems' And all systems are sinister So we need a world with no systems No governments and no citizens!" That's the goal of his whole coalition So now the British are trapped in the midst of this Clash between militant fascists and idiot anarchists And instead of a real leader like Mandela The rebels here are wasting their efforts On guerrilla theatre It's a revolutionary special feature With concession pricing And I know it's tantalizing When you feel your anger rising To believe you can fight the system by vandalizing Symbols of advertising But you can't Is that surprising? 'Cause the biggest rebels get paid the highest salaries And Banksy paintings hang at the finest galleries Defiance is just another survival strategy Just like working nine to five to feed your family This wasted insurrection is based on a basic misconception Dizraeli sees capitalism as an agent of oppression But what he calls 'The System' is mainly competition It's businesses and political parties in opposition And musician's competing for fans who want to listen And writers have compositions And publishers want to print them And so, what's the problem with it? Injustice is caused by limited budgets And flaws in the structures of laws And laws are changed by democratic action And not by waving your arms around in erratic fashion But Dizraeli does have the charismatic attraction That a political leader needs to succeed If only he understood what civil disobedience means He could beat this regime And get a mandate for change Instead of just entertaining his fan base And obsessing over advertising and brand names He could transform the whole political landscape If his message wasn't always drowning beneath His symbolic dissidence and clowning speech And middle fingers Pointed in the direction of Downing street At least he's running his insurrection non-violently So for all those watching hopefully from overseas There's still a chance this man Will quit smoking dope and lead The people of England out of this broken dream But until then I'm afraid I can see no relief In sight End of dispatch Go in peace
6.	BNPBC Two 01:57	lyrics	buy track
BNPBC Two This just in from BNPBC Action News Dizraeli was arrested this afternoon And charged initially for his reactive views Towards the manufacturers of fast food Police were responding to a new tip From one of the viewers of Dizraeli's recent YouTube clip In which he called on his terrorist group to "go to it" The clip's had six million views And has proven popular with school kids Although its author has been, until now, elusive As the head of the Rebel Cell faction Dizraeli's wanted on countless separate acts of terror Including seven attacks on several banks And other corporate owned property Reporter Morgan Morgan joins us now from the scene Eh, Morgan? Are you there Morgan? Yes Thanks Morgan I'm standing outside the house where he was found It's cordoned off to reporters But you can see through the door there And there are scribbles of What are apparently medical animals And Rebel Cell's slogans scrawled on the flat's walls One reads "community, truth, freedom" Another "the being human of the human being" The viewers will be used to seeing this sort of propaganda Of the Rebel Cell, painted on walls and daubed on banners And now there's no doubt The government will be delighted That they've finally caught up to the leader Of these freedom fighters Who's been the blight of their recent anti-terror efforts And left an estimated four billion pounds of wreckage The Prime Minister has called Dizraeli An "enemy of investment" The worst kind of a leftist terrorist A known proponent of socialism and anarchy If found guilty He'll certainly serve a life sentence at Glastonbury Thank you Yes, thank you Morgan We can also reveal that Madonna OBE lately Became the oldest model ever to pose for page three Also Coronation Street actors played crazy golf for charity And Robbie Williams was seen snogging Jimmy Saville's neice
7.	Phone Call 02:35	lyrics	buy track
Phone Call All right, there's the telephone You got two minutes No funny business all right? Hi Mum? It's me No, Rowan How are you? Me too Mom, listen I'm not ringing to argue Are you on your own? I'm sorry it's been so long since I've phoned Is Dad there? Yeah, I did it Listen Mum, I've only got two minutes' limit I'm just ringing to say, I don't know Just, I miss you I suppose And I love you loads Can you tell Tobes too? Is he still doing his drumming? Tell him I love him There's nothing I can do Mum It's just part of the revolution You win some you lose some right? Mum, I had to You'll understand soon Please I don't know Life at least I can't talk about that now Who's that in the background? Is it Sally? Tell her "hi" from me Is she happy? There's no point worrying What will happen will happen That's the thing with direct action right? How's your teaching? You're not teaching, why? That's ridiculous You've been working there half your life What I do has got nothing to do with you I'm sorry that happened Mum Is there nothing you can do? Listen, I'm running out of time My hearing's on the ninth No, you can't come, It's closed Don't be scared Mum I feel, I'm prepared Listen Mum I just wanted to... Ah shit
8.	Judgment 01:57	lyrics	buy track
Judgment This man stands accused of obstructing the course of justice Four counts of publishing literature on unlawful subjects Vandalism of state property, causing unrest Public disorder, cycling in a state of undress Several instances of public nudity Twenty two proven counts of rudeness to police Three counts of causing damage to law enforcement cameras Activities abroad including consorting with anarchists Nine counts of harboring known Islamists Identified by their wearing of white pajamas Forty two of distributing subversive pamphlets But most seriously The defendant stands accused Of encouraging socialist thoughts and its derivatives Attending meetings and speaking on topics prohibited By the terror act of 2012 section 66 Conspiring to commit arson Being in possession of restricted materials With the intention of using them To manufacture weapons Also actual arson Actual harm to ministerial entities Using official garments to deceive and gain entry Misuse and damage of military facilities Punishable under the laws of the defense ministry Four billion pounds of actual damage to property By law equivalent to murder in the first degree Retention of materials to be used in acts of terrorism Encouragement and dissemination for acts of terrorism Planning and preparation for acts of terrorism Attendance at a place used for planning acts of terrorism And lastly, actual commissioned of thirty acts of terrorism The above amounts to high treason And thus inevitably conspiracy against the state Classed as the people's enemy The case is made How does the defendant plead?
9.	BNPBC Three 01:21	lyrics	buy track
BNPBC Three We interrupt this program At the very moment Gordon Ramsey has Ricky Gervais In a choke slam To bring you this important message for the whole fam-ily Those with weak stomachs are encouraged to hold hands Recent reports have indicated That accused terrorist agent Dizraeli Still hopes he may be vindicated The public need not be alarmed however He isn't dangerous His prison cell is quite well insulated Now When asked how he would like to plead Guilty or not guilty Dizraeli demanded the right to read The entire three-hundred page indictment It seems he's determined to delay the court proceedings spitefully As a compromise the court has granted the rights Of an exclusive interview to a news reporter tonight And to satisfy international rights observers Against conflicts of interest The right researchers have selected a fine journalist With an impartial reputation To conduct this harrowing and harsh investigation In some circles of London, England Baba Brinkman is known as a cunning linguist Of some distinction We'll update you the moment he's received the thug's confession And we now return to Gordon holding Ricky in the "crunch position"
10.	First Cell 03:29	lyrics	buy track
First Cell Well if it isn't the notorious D-I-Z The only citizen here who doesn't need ID 'Cause he's on more TVs than the BNPBC Look, I'm not part of this media fallacy They've never been very partial to impartiality Me, I'm just interested in your army's strategy of resistance So your paper can sell the story Look the government's position is totally celebratory Like, “Terrorist Captured!” While ignoring the other Rebel Cells that I know are still asleep As your supporters keep shrouding you in a veil of glory But, I think you're more than just a martyr So, come on, tell me your side I'll try not to tell it poorly Why? So you can quell your need for speaking of something worthwhile? Your empty gestures of freedom in a medium you're servile to? I've read your small print It's all tinted with false sentiment Who edits your bullshit after you sent it in? Look, no government censors spin my words Just editors whose job is to insure Their writers don't end up as prisoners You fight the system with bombs I fight it with words I see no reason to hit a brick wall fist first You fight the system Like a rat fights it's treadmill Churning sawdust to keep the people's heads filled A pen wielded by a puppet isn't a weapon It's quite clear We're at war right here And these days a sword is mightier Hey You call it a treadmill, I call it an escalator Plus it's the generator that powers your grandmother's respirator My grandma died of cancer from two nuclear reactors That were built in spite of her protests, with her taxes Cancer Well, that's another kind of "rebel cell" You know how those rebellions end It's never well Equating dissidence with cancer is next level fascist The kind of thinking that creates states that need rebel activists I support change for the better Whatever Just never radically What's wrong with running your revolution democratically? Get some strategy, start working to registered voters You can laugh at your opponents when the election is over Have you looked around recently? Democracy's died here Along with human rights and other nice ideas And now we've climate crisis too The time has passed to move slow We need a new set of codes And new modes Well who knows? Maybe you'll have a chance to succeed But only after you dish enough dirt to plant the seed I need a scoop And I have hungry readers to feed it to So speak the truth It wasn't easy getting this meeting room That's always the difference between me and you Baba You're as shallow as a hack As you were as a rapper You were in it for the money then too That's what screwed it We could have brought the revolution closer with our music Back in Brighton When I first saw you spit I thought you had a passion What was it fueled it?
11.	The Birth of Mud Sun 05:32	lyrics	buy track
The Birth of Mud Sun Mate I just wanted to say I thought what you did was wicked I'm Dizraeli I did the politician bit It's Baba isn't it? Chaucer as rap lyrics, that's good man, I like it Did you like my shit? I'm glad you do, I like writing it Now listen, I know this cypher we can both go to If you fancy it A little slice of British life to show you We can go together, and show them what poets do You'll go down a treat with the rappers I know it, dude Cool man, I'm down to do it now I'm new in town And I definitely liked your poems that you did You threw it down And if that club is the place to go then cool Sign me up 'Cause, I got this new song that I just wrote And it's hyped up! All right cool, safe Oy, this is the night club All right bruv Do you mind if I bring my mate to the stage tonight? I've seen him play, yeah he's tight No, he's not from Brighton Uh, Vancouver I think Nice one, appreciate it Oy, you looking for a drink? I'm not much of a wine sipper Or a connesouer of fine liquor But a good pint of bitter makes a man a better rhyme spitter And, if you see a slight quiver in my hand, that's adrenaline When I'm holding the paper it gets my fingers shakin' a little bit Don't worry bro, I swear, I'll get 'em into it Now listen, all right... Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen All the way from Vancouver, Canada A new rapper for you Give a shout for Baba Hey, thanks, thanks, good to be here Um, here, this is my new poem, check it out It goes like this, all right My bedroom looks like a library or something I consume books like a dietary supplement I get my excitement from dead white men And turn my eyes to the east when I seek enlightenment 'Cause the Tao de Ching is a powerful truth And Lao Tzu allows me to put down roots So I don't freak out when I get mistreated It's the stoicism of Epictetus And the Bhagavad Gita taught me non-attachment And not to hesitate when it's time for action My mind is climaxing, but unsatisfied In battles I use Sun Tzu to strategize And pacify rappers with the Art of War And create utopia's like I'm Thomas Moore Or, if I'm facing an act of rebellion I'll take a chapter from The Prince and be Machiavellian I imagine rap as the Iliad and Odyssey It's philosophical narrative artistry The allegory of the cave is the story of the matrix The core stays the same while the form changes With correlations from Plato, to Francis Bacon Knowledge is the key to emancipation So I'm like Prospero in a hip-hop show I conjure with a flow that's impossible to match And I got some old philosophical raps I stole from an ivory tower about to collapse And then I thought perhaps it was just a mirage So I rebuilt it with hip-hop, which is Bricolage Damn, tough crowd All those chests thrust out I thought Brighton was "love town" So uh, what now? Bruv, put the mic down Listen, it's not... There's nothing wrong with what you did I reckon it's fat It's just the rap kids can't connect to that You know, lecture rap Why don't you loosen up a bit? Save the intellect for the libraries Try a freestyle, yeah? All right, check it Hinesy? Next on the mic please Nice one Freestyle hey? Yeah I can freestyle Um, Yo check it out That's right, that's right I might be slammin' the flow Even though I got mad skill Like Edgar Allen Poe Or any other kind of philosopher That you can talk about Rappers step up to the mic And shit, I knock 'em out Like I was, like I was, uh, Cassius Play Um, Cassius Clay I mean Like um, back in the day Back in the day Fuck Cassius Clay You get blatantly slapped in the face I'm up here in a happenin' way Oy, it's Lukrativ Here to burn the new kid Give a shout out if you think his style's useless That's what I'm talking about though This is some real hiphop innit You get me? Oy, check it out Check it What? I'm ready to battle you dude? Oy, check it, check it It goes what I'm hot in the feature My street philosophy's deeper This prick looks like a frickin' geography teacher Um, yeah Okay, maybe that's what I look like But, look at your face man You don't look right Like you tried to cross the street And forgot to look right Oy, don't even bother Listen Listen bruv All your lines are bad Check it Even your friggin' pinstripes are wack Boy, check it You're fake as Spinal Tap It's the young Harold from Neighbors trying to rap Testing the kid with his head full of raw stuff I'ma step to the forefront Start addressing the audience He reckons he's the resurrection of Geoffrey Chaucer Listen You just witnessed the death of the author You blatantly got served man! I don't even like battling man Give it up for Lucrative He won everybody, yeah Aw Mate Don't worry, listen I think you killed it Blatantly Come on, we're gonna do some wicked collaborations You wait and see It'll be good man We're a team It's cool
12.	Louder 2.0 02:28	lyrics	buy track
Louder 2.0 All the way from UK Without an ID Number To flip syntax with the impact Of a funk drummer Spin back the revolution I hunt the hunter From the slums of London Where winter becomes summer An old liberator is new nazi I am not too happy To watch Mugabe Draining the coins in the people's pockets Breaking the pavement for a poxy profit The stink is so heavy Where the hearts of the bosses rotten It spreads over the globe and the world watches Democratic murder Bullets pepper ballot boxes Single party politics And phallic office blocks It's reminiscent of a television horror The demolition of a country for a quick dollar Politician men are sipping from the city's coffers No amount of rhetoric can hide their dishonor Well this globe trotter's Not afraid to blow the xenophobe of his Office with a phrase So call me the prose bomber The grenade pin-puller Show stopper Got to chase the cock away Raise your flame Stake your claim Say your name out Louder Louder If you're in the crowd Stick your fists out Get loud Louder Louder I got these southern neighbors Who've been causing problems lately They got people locked in cages On their property It's crazy Guantanamo Bay is basically a concentration camp Where the inmates are trapped in cages By the Patriot Act They're trying to get some information fast But it's unreliable And where the hell did a man's right to trial go? There's no defenses when your file is closed Behind those green fences And there's no reason to even mention The Geneva Convention 'Cause your special classification doesn't seem to be listed As in need of protection So they can keep you in prison With chains on your feet That squeeze you into a fetal position Until they're finished with their whole 'Middle Eastern Freedom Mission' If this doesn't breech the constitution Then it needs revision But it's practically tradition Witch hunts, McCarthyism And abuse of power Their lies are whispers But they might start to listen if the truth is louder Raise your flame Stake your claim Say your name out Louder Louder If you're in the crowd Stick your fists out Get loud Louder Louder
13.	Second Cell 02:49	lyrics	buy track
The Second Cell The year is 2013 So then what happened? Baba turned whisperer Contributed his chorus then prostituted his literature Hey, we fell out because I thought the revolution was a metaphor And you were looking for an excuse to start a civil war That's what you thought That's why every time we did a tour You slipped off shagging women While I went and talked with the poor Every port we stopped at I sought out what you never saw Too boozed to understand my views So convinced of yours Well one of us had to have fun You were too puritan Up on your high horse Working with the poor and loyal to your girlfriend Too bad your glass was half-filled With your middle class guilt And your socialist social analysis Drove you to total paralysis And gave you awkward nerves You were awesome with words And you made hot products But you hated entrepreneurs My actions were as strong as my verse And you, so fond of dissing hypocrites Talked injustice but didn't do shit to limit it Money was motive for you For me it was coincidence I couldn't see what we did as column inches Wait So the only difference between us is your pathos? Money is coincidence for you and Bill Gates both You know justice doesn't flow from your empathetic pains No shit Sherlock Anymore from your liberal journo masquerade But money doesn't mind where it's made right? Your struggle's a play fight And yours is a performance with double the stage fright You know, every rebel commander's fate Is to go from Che Guevera to Alexander the Great Revolutions are where dictators incubate And you're still fiending for center stage And you're still keeping me entertained Baba it's laughable I never needed to take a commanders role Okay, Castro That's so typically narrow All I had to do was remind people to answer back But you wouldn't understand that 'Cause strong people don't need strong leaders And it seems they didn't need much reminder either Look, our time is nearly up man Let's get back to the questioning Forget about the past and just try to act professionally I have to know Did you get trapped intentionally? What's this meant to be? Is it a publicity stunt To promote your cause with broken laws Is this what you want? Mate I saved your life twice In France, remember I pulled you free from knife fights Right, right You had my back before we fell out But you never had respect 'Cause you thought I was a sell out I thought we could have done more That's all To tell them our vision Our vision What the hell am I thinking? Your vision? Your need to defeat the system Which is just a validation Of your distorted version of realism Everywhere I look I see people making free decisions Everywhere you look, man All you see is victims
14.	The Gangsta Way 04:41	lyrics	buy track
The Gangsta Way I met a man today Said he didn't like rap that emancipates Told me I should rhyme in a gangsta way And this is what he had to say Now Dizraeli I haven't heard what you do But I've heard the criticism And every word of it's true I agree that it's important To keep alert of the truth But I'd like it more If you talked about murking my crew Tell me you're a murderous dude Servin' us Giving us third degree burns 'Til we learn not to be rude to rappers It makes me inexpressibly happy When a man I don't know threatens to stab me So call me fassy break my nose bone And smash my teeth Tell me you're making mad G's Off the cream that you're getting from the back Of selling crack to teens Say you'll slaughter all the members of my family Except my mother You'll give her the special treatment Rape and bugger her until your testicles are bleeding I wanna know how many times she came before you finished And after that Please explain how big your dick is Is it really big? Like the size of a large salmon Do ladies leap upstream the minute you start shaggin' 'em? The kind of fish marine biologists can't fathom Is it a Moby Dick? Does it break apart galleons? I want to know every detail of your arrogance Penetrate me with your big rap talon Flay my back and write your anger on my skin I don't want art I want punishing I met a man today He tried to blame me for his mental state Said when I rap it programs his brain Well this is what he had to say Baba I know you I've heard your flow and it's smooth But you can't understand what your fans are going through I can't get over you So tell me what I'm supposed to do When every word you speak is a command I can't say 'No' to According to my personal therapist Your verses and characters And surgical narratives Are converted in my nervous system Into urgent imperatives That I'm virtually unaware of So where have my original thoughts gone? It's all yours And it's really unfair to your devoted followers To impose your code of honor on us By quoting philosophers And exposing us all to your so-called knowledge Leaving hip-hop addicts With the thought patterns of Rhodes Scholars Don't you even know why we listen to rap music? It's supposed to be black and abusive! As fans we're attracted to scratches and bruises It's not a mass movement It's a masochist movement You can't use it for good, man You'd have to be stupid Your optimism is nothing but a massive illusion And you need a cash infusion fast Your fashion sense proves it But I ain't makin' excuses for the slang that I'm usin' I'm just actin' out a gangster plot and being ruthless 'Cause I've got planks to walk And all you're doing is mocking all the angst I've got Can't you leave a brainwashed man in peace with his angry thoughts? Damn Thanks a lot Listen man What I was trying to say was I know rhyme can't brainwash Just the music and the games that we play That's the substances that our minds are made of And you saying black is abusive That's exactly the stupid attitude that's created Inflated, packaged, produced, and perpetuated By gangster music Don't you think? No man That was my attempt to satire The kind of ignorant fan that you imagine rap inspires That's why you're mad at their descriptions of violence 'Cause poetic license is wasted on the literal minded Rap is just a form of action fantasy You want to censor Quentin Tarantino too? Stop being a drama queen That's the view from in the bubble, Baba Of course what we spit is harmless When you're in a box seat of a minstrel show For the middle classes Like “Pass the popcorn, watch the poor folk fight, We'll be safe walking home at the close of the show Right?” Wait So a white kid who tries to epitomize "blackness" Is worse than a white kid who sits back and tries to criticize rappers In a British guy's accent? Besides, the middle classes who fetishize rap Just give it better finances There it is again You think blackness is wearing hats backwards And bragging about stabbing kids In a matter of gangsters That shows the damage done By ambassadors like Warren G And Snoop Dogg has not lifted blacks from poverty Maybe not But he has encouraged fans to think positively About their chances Rappers are examples of what kids can achieve But what they say is just words on a page And their power is inflated by your moral outrage Nah The power the bullshit hyper-inflated gangster idiots Comes from middle class sadomasochism The fascination with creatures on the other side of the class division That want to kill us How deliciously crass and thrilling We have the same fascination in accidents And cancer victims We hear a scream of agony and we have to listen Of course we don't have to act to give actual assistance We prefer to give cash to the killers and stand at a distance The other power of the rapper is the power to make culture Which society buys 'til teenage soldiers stands on every corner And labels pass the profit to stakeholders And leave the consequences of the horrors to the coroners Art creates culture Culture makes behavior This behavior makes day to day danger So I'm not for censorship But giving kids critical ears to listen with And tools to question what they hear In simple English That's common sense isn't it? Yeah, okay I can see the vicious cycle's action It's psychopathic how much violence happens When kids imitate the lives of rappers That's how our minds are adapted We're intrigued by a scandal But skip the criticism Let's flip the script And lead by example Right?
15.	Third Cell 02:25	lyrics	buy track
The Third Cell Mud Sun was pretty dope for social criticism though You know; we both had skill with rhythm And overcame most of the divisions Between my liberalism And your socialism We disagreed over specifics but we had a clear vision So, now where is it? Lost to the slip of years and real living You're selling stories to the system I'm sitting here in prison Yeah, like Paris Hilton Yeah, shame isn't it? We went from innovative spitters To swilling beer and bickering Yeah, it's sickening But let's get back to the questioning I know the past is festering But tell me if it's true or not Or just, say you blew the bomb Then if you plead not guilty Then you really are completely rejecting the rule of law? Baba It's been five years Mud Sun's dead and you're successful Why are your here? Did you really want one last debate on politics Is it for the scoop Really? Well, what is it? It's a job Business? Yeah I seek the truth and then find an audience to speak it to But I also took this on because of me and you I respect what you created You do? Yeah Your right to resist is basic But if you're evasive and you plead not guilty Just to make a statement Then face it Your effort is wasted Never wasted Baba, you always thought too naively First of all I do object to the rule of this law completely And second my defiance However symbolic it might be Might be the pressure that snaps the back of this society And that possibility is enough to drive me Even blindly? Come on If you try compromising just slightly By defending your rights and protesting your innocence But also admitting to the crimes that you did commit Then you might get a little bit less than a life sentence Like, twenty-seven years Plus it sends the right message No, I can't plead guilty I've committed no crime And I'll maintain that if it kills me You have no idea what it's like here Outside your ivory tower Where the noose is pulled tighter each hour And kids are cut down if they try to speak louder It's not the Vancouver journo scene It's not university There's no space for debate or room for cowards Sorry to be the vinegar on your silver spoon But it's time someone tore the roof off your sheltered views The year is 2008
16.	Social Contract 2.0 04:14	lyrics	buy track
Social Contract 2.0 You think I haven't gone through any hardships 'Cause I was raised in communes instead of projects? That's why I've always had problems with the opposite sex 'Cause I was taught never to treat women as objects And never to treat anything simple as complex And vise versa But I can't remember what I was taught next See that's the problem with hippie kids They stop listening when you teach them Not to listen to hypocrites But most of us still can't appreciate the differences Between civil disobedience and criminal deviance It's the difference between fixing the system and pimpin' it 'Cause corruption ain't the same as honest work I try to separate the pigs from police officers And I can see nuances 'Cause I was raised by philosophers But nuance isn't popular And neither am I My whole life I've been trying to read between the lines And I've never been penalized for speaking my mind So freedom is mine I'm a scorpion and a libra combined With a fist and a peace sign on either side And I'm just trying to equalize You bomb me I bomb you We both bomb back We need a social contract It's a race to the bottom And we don't want that Trapped in constant mortal combat Every smoke stack's gotta have a carbon tax Now, that's a social contract I'm done with outlaws I want the laws intact It's time for a social contract 'Cause sometimes freedom is violent It gets derailed The system fails whenever freedom tips the scales When a sadistic freak is freed from a prison cell Or a big business victimizes people with its sales Some say we need chaos But when a government falls Another one pops up It's like juggling rubber balls We don't need more freedom We need tougher laws Dirty energy should be double the cost With subsidies involved for those with no money It's gonna be pretty hard to keep the show running If nobody believes there's any room for change We need fewer cars and more commuter trains And new laws to make sure polluters pay For what they do to our food chains These are the changes institutions can make If we just use our brains Instead of TVs and computer games You bomb me I bomb you We both bomb back We need a social contract It's a race to the bottom And we don't want that Trapped in constant mortal combat Every smoke stack's gotta have a carbon tax Now, that's a social contract I'm done with outlaws I want the laws intact It's time for a social contract See I'm all about change But I'm not about the counter culture Standing around with a frown and a stomach ulcer Making the occasional ethical purchase While dismissin' politics as nothing but a nest of serpents As soon as you're done talking Try running for office Try becoming part of something positive There's really nothing stopping us It's just a problem of optics In the absence of reason There's no illusion of freedom The illusion is a lack of freedom And we're losing to these illusions But we can't join 'em We have to beat 'em And just because I'm getting disillusioned with libertarians Doesn't make me a disciplinarian We need different solutions for different areas From overfishing the oceans to carbon emission tariffs From the Arab militiamen To the American Michigan Aryans We need some significant barriers This may sound ridiculous from a kid with hippie parents But sometimes it's just hilarious How addicted we are To the idea that we should never be restricted at all But if freedom means driving an SUV And never having to clean up the mess you leave I say we need to be less free I don't expect you to agree But you did listen at least And now you're free to take this lesson or leave it Peace You bomb me I bomb you We both bomb back We need a social contract It's a race to the bottom And we don't want that Trapped in constant mortal combat Every smoke stack's gotta have a carbon tax Now, that's a social contract I'm done with outlaws I want the laws intact It's time for a social contract
17.	Welcome to Capitalism 04:08	lyrics	buy track
Welcome to Capitalism It's so lovely So smooth So step inside champagne Flow-ow-ow Strawberry wine Your VIP champagne Well that was Baba's piece And this is mine Designed to show a little of what makes up his mind All right? So It sounds like this Welcome to capitalism Yeah, it's yours Step inside kids Everything here is designed for your comfort And you're all invited White, rich, wealthy, European-looking, Western Whether you excel at industry Or you're swell at investment Come on, there's space for all Absolutely yes, you too, and you and you No matter your attitude Ave Caesar! Yes, absolutely Great, super, mega, brilliant Gillian, shut the gate What? Don't mind them Did they say something? Probably local thugs Our doorman will stop them coming in Don't worry Move away from the door Are you quite comfortable? We'll see your every need is catered for You have thirty seconds to comply! Canape? Cognac? Twenty seconds! Move back! Now, Neil tells me you're thinking Nigeria next Good plan I know how tedious Bolivia gets The whole water saga It's impossible to relax isn't it? When the lumpy proletariat attacks business It's enough to make one reach for the bubbly Ten seconds! But honestly I wouldn't let it trouble me Eight seconds! Would you care for seconds? Seven seconds! Cognac? Canape? You have to see things in a balanced way Five seconds! Have a cocktail Four seconds! What can you do? Three! Have a shampoo Two! Have a hat Have a gun One! Get on the floor! No, not you Get on the floor! Get on the floor! Honestly Bloody militants Gillian, kill him Honestly, really These activists, all doom and gloom Very sorry about that, you okay? Let's move to the next room Ah! There's Baba Brinkman He's our rapper Big on money and markets A lovely crafted mouthpiece For the governing classes Really He's bloody marvelous The director was so impressed Between you and me He funded his masters He's rocked libraries from London to Harvard Most extrordinary Brinkman, here's a bloke you ought to meet His name is Mann, or Thatcher or something similar He does fantastic work with energy in Nigeria A great friend of the Prime Minister Brinkman's mother's an MP He's really the cleverest MC you'll ever meet He's a little left of center But nothing to be alarmed with He's read 'The Rebel Sell' So he's perfectly harmless You two will get alond fine Help yourself to snacks I've got to take a call Small matter of tax Back in a sec lads And there's why you think the system works so well, bro It's given you swell clothes and a great deal on your cell phone Free water, shiny white teeth and healthy bones Of course your defense of the fortress is well-honed Well if you're really down for doing something positive Why don't you juggle south over the border Where the world's majority live Wave your wealth at them And ask them what's wrong with it Might just make a little shift in consciousness Or maybe it might just show you what the problem is Wherever there's capitalism, there's injustice In all its monstrousness It follows like a plague Irrespective of your politics 'Cause it's the only way the people at the top Have ever profited
18.	The Fallout 03:50	lyrics	buy track
The Fallout Damn I never heard a man so self-righteous Like you're rapping to audition for Nobel prizes Plus, you're always riding on my coat-tails in cyphers But there's no real bite to it So it feels lifeless And what do you feel? The squeeze of rising hotel prices? The fact you'll finish life in a home for failed writers? My folktales are timeless Your essays make my skin crawl That review was right Hearing you spit's like chewing tinfoil Hey, at least I'm not afraid to be reviewed Man, your attitude is like "I'm gonna cry if I get a bad review" And that's the truth Man you're so sensitive I can't throw away a plastic spoon Without putting you in a nasty mood Rather that than you A hippie kid with Nazi views you hide Your sense of irony is like your sense of music Not too refined Well all I hear from you is like "It's revolution bruv! But I forgot what the best solution was So, uh, let's do some drugs!" No Let's do some music to amuse men in suits And rock shows for twats And crack in-jokes for stock brokers So I'm supposed to apologize 'Cause I want a life with real flair And you want to volunteer to sit in a wheelchair 'Cause it feels fair? C'mon You see, you say you're liberal But really you'd stand aside as the cripple suffers You'd rather strong market and Business competition than justice Jibbering nonsense You feel smug because of your guilty conscience When you're just another hypocrite rebel Living in Sussex And you're another privileged muppet bruv It's clear you're twice as smug as me You must be In five years you'll inherit your daddy's company Too bad It must be humbling to know you had to come to me To get a record made after eight years as a bum MC Brother please You're lucky to be in Mud Sun with me That is so typically arrogant I made that name You just make the stage shows embarrassing Otherwise you'd still be humming over fluffy dub beats Talking about the people's struggle While you're living comfortably Man that's bloody weak Better than weak blooded Speaking on politics So molly-coddled that You run to mom for cuddles if You get muddy feet Now that's really funny To someone who planted a million trees While you were running with the druggy clique However many thesises you read you'll never change Just thinking of something clever to say To entertain people like you What a geek Dissing my thesis 'cause you need To reject anything different From your illiterate speeches I'm sick of it Must have been an idiot to think That this crew could do something different With a prick in it like you And your attitude to women isn't loose It's disrespectful I've never heard of such a blatant perv claiming intellectual Hey Dizraeli, get some testicles You don't seem to see yourself at all No really, it's pathetic though Insensitive insensible You've got your girlfriend's feminism Incapable of ever listening to anything Up in your mouth like ventriloquism Anything but your own position And you're not defending those women And when you're drunk You're worse You're detestable You're just jealous 'cause I go home with them! You think your penis is as big as your pedestal Oh hey, here we go It's weird though You claim to champion the underdog Here comes the preacher flow... But you wander of to shag it If you think its bum is hot Come on Once again you want to pretend A woman is a victim Why? 'Cause she has some fun in a bed You're numb in the head, geez 'Cause a woman is sexy Or someone is a victim just 'cause someone has more and someone has less Doesn't mean she wants your affection Your infection You wanna dumb a test Just 'cause someone gets less Than a hundred percent Your me me pestering Your erection Or censor rap so it doesn't offend? Don't tell me you're not a hater Your justice is just this The lowest common denominator And yours is uncannily similar to Stalin and Hitler And any other dictator that happens to fit in the picture Your casual references to Nazism Show disrespect to their actual victims Just like your vapid activism A version of reality That purges the weak savagely Whatever A hell for the majority A paradise for predators Survival of the fittest right? Survival of the six foot five White male with a checkbook signed By dad and a sick look in his eye Man I'm sick of this ridiculous fight Man I'm sick of these clashes Your constant hypocritical victim's rights discussions The farce this is becoming Your insipid accusations of fascism I'm ashamed to be associated With an asshole that sticks to nothing And predictable judgements Who stands for nothing But diluted establishment mutterings I get physically sick When I hear you riff on political subjects And it is a fascist That hides behind your liberal frontage In fact I'm finished with it I'm finished with it Man Fuck this
19.	Fourth Cell 03:58	lyrics	buy track
The Fourth Cell Such a damn shame Five years down the road And we're both exactly the same You're still on your political campaign And you're still chasing the champagne Yeah, well now you're locked down So I guess things can change So what's your game plan mate? I don't plan games I plan to stay solid on it I can still fight the revolution With my ankles chained So I should write... That the movement hasn't lost it's father It's gained a full time writer And a martyr You never were as good a finisher As you were a starter So now you go from rebel fighting to exercising In the yard Making license plates and letter writing As long as I stay defiant I stay fighting As a symbol of the undying heart Whether or not I'm behind bars I still remain free A prison guard can't chain me That's what pains me I hate to see you wasting this opportunity To make your statement plainly My statement is against the whole foundation Of this state's edifice Where the rebel takes the blame And the rich take the benefits That's what I'm saying Can't you see how strange your message is? If you plead not guilty You're saying that the justice system is not only corrupt You're degrading its existence You're saying it's only in place to protect riches You're promoting base anarchy at its most vicious Civil disobedience is an ancient tradition That goes back to Socrates and Plato Engaged citizens who respect the rule of law And want to change it From within Yeah Martin Luther King's civil rights Ghandi's hunger strikes Nelson Mandela with apartheid They were all fighting to shed a harsh light On the injustice of the laws Not to burn down the archives If you plead not guilty Then you're just another part time rebel Showing disregard for life by trying to start riots If I plead guilty I'm admitting committing what's not a crime If a system is wrong at the root it's not wrong to defy it And I do degrade the existence of this system of injustice As much as the worm turns against the boot that crushes it Some laws are valid Yeah but this law's so far corrupted It's just there to keep kings as kings And us as subjects And to protect the rich that run it That's why I'm a dissident If I plead guilty I'm rejecting the possibility of something different And you're rejecting all historical precedent So the story I write Is about the wasted potential Of a glorious fight But, you're right These laws are disgusting Yeah, I just wish you would engage them constructively Instead of disruptively But that's just me And this is just me man If it's principles at stake If I'm going down I'm going with my fists raised Even if it is just symbolic Great We'll get that etched on your grave And you can tell all your cellmates That you're symbolic jail bait Look our politics hit an obvious stale mate I wanted to salvage a failed state And you wanted Che's fate But it's real late in the day to still debate So I just wanted to say If you decide to call in your supporters To organize a voter drive And get your political base fortified I'll help you get it sorted All right? And in the same way When you realize a failed state Is better swept away than renovated The rebel cells are waiting And we'll still be making spaces Where democracy actually happens Day to day And philosophy is born as actual action I think your mind and your passion might help them Just let me know and I'll make sure you're welcome Damn That's my one hour interview finished In less than two minutes So much for the rescue mission Yeah true Listen Baba, here's my mom's number Can you call her? Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't see her Say I love her Of course brother And Baba Your article Yeah? Just tell it true Will do
20.	BPNBC Four 01:33	lyrics	buy track
BPNBC Four We interrupt BNPBC news' continuing coverage Of Celebrity Lawsuits including tips on the latest Cosmetic improvements of their boobs and lips To bring you this exclusive Earlier today in the criminal court of law Dizraeli, the Rebel Cell leader Stood in a prisoner's box and faced a judge In response to an assortment of charges When asked how he would like to plead Dizraeli righteously denounced the court as a facade And pronounced himself not-guilty on all counts Like a common scoundral He was given seventy consecutive life sentences To be served in Glastonbury penitentiary With the rest of his henchmen It is also reported by a reliable source that Dizraeli commanded the remaining members Of his rebel faction Be immediately disbanded For lack of any realistic chances The Canadian journalist Baba Brinkman Who interviewed the prisoner Prior to the Judge's conviction Has apparently gone missing And is wanted for questioning And currently under suspicion Of casting aspersions on the justice system Right now We return to Amy Winehouse Live As hidden cameras follow her and her girlfriends On a night out To find out how it ends Check tomorrow's Time Out This is BNPBC News signing out

about

Written and premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, The Rebel Cell is a hip-hop exploration of civil disobedience, direct activism, and political dissidence, set in a nightmarish dystopian world: England in the year 2013.

Written and performed by Baba Brinkman & Dizraeli

Reviews:

"The hypnotic beats of [Mr. Simmonds] soundscapes provide so much more than a supporting role.”—AlltheFestivals.com

★ ★ ★ ★ "Like listening to a cross between Shakespeare and Mike Skinner...a joyful experience."—The Scotsman

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "Powerfully intelligent and awe-inspiringly eloquent, Baba Brinkman and Dizraeli are the saviours of hip-hop." —Three Weeks

★ ★ ★ ★ "High-octane lyrical content...a cerebral, savvy production that explores our modern social contract with vivacity and zeal."—Fest Magazine

★ ★ ★ ★ "A sensationally accomplished and powerfully thought provoking piece."—Dubliner Magazine

★ ★ ★ ★ "Excoriating and moving and shocking and furiously beautiful." —Theatre in Wales

credits

released August 1, 2008

Produced by Tom Caruana, Soulful Spider, and Mr. Simmonds

Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Mr. Simmonds

license

about

Baba Brinkman New York, New York

Science rapper and inventor of several novel hip-hop variants. Canadian transplant to New York. Pathological optimist.

contact / help

Contact Baba Brinkman

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

The Rebel Cell

by Mud Sun

Digital Album
Streaming + Download

$3 USD or more

You own this

Subscription

Subscribe Now $30 USD/year or more

Full Digital Discography Full Digital Discography

$69 USD or more (40% OFF)

You own this

about

credits

license

tags

Tags

about

discography

contact / help

The Rebel Cell

by Mud Sun

Digital Album Digital Album Streaming + Download

Buy Digital Album $3 USD or more

You own this

Send as Gift

Subscription

Subscribe Now $30 USD/year or more

Full Digital Discography Full Digital Discography

Buy Digital Discography $69 USD or more (40% OFF)

You own this

Send as Gift

Share / Embed

about

credits

license

tags

Tags

about

discography

contact / help

Digital Album
Streaming + Download

$3 USD or more

$69 USD or more (40% OFF)