Immortal Technique

hi my name is michael weston and i used to be a spy

This song intertwines Technique’s own life with his views on various issues in society. The song details his life growing up poor in Harlem and being surrounded by gangs and drug dealing. Throughout the song, he carries a very dubious outlook on life while discussing problems like gentrification, police brutality/corruption, and the negative influence of the media – all problems that are being swept under the rug. In doing so, he illustrates the pain he felt growing up surrounded by these troubles while also giving his listeners a wake-up call to stand up to these issues and not succumb to them.

Obnoxious:

Here, Immortal Technique combines his brash attitude and lyrical versatility as he fearlessly delves into and protests the ridiculousness of censorship. As the title of this song is Obnoxious, one might argue that the content in it is offensive and harmful. However, as Immortal Technique points out, it is just a harmless use of the First Amendment. A clear distinction from his previous song (Harlem Streets), Technique shows a bit of a different side to him while still focusing on social-conscious issues.

The Message and the Money:

This song focuses solely on the problems in the hip-hop industry. Immortal Technique incorporates numerous references about how unoriginal the genre has become and how certain artists, record label, and music promoters are hijacking the ability for the genre to be the expressive and open-minded genre it once was in the 80’s-90’s. Techique’s passion for the issue clearly shows, as he magnifies all the problems in the genre. Furthermore, much of his emphasis targets how money and lucrative deals often force artists to “sell out” and limit their artistic creativity and gravitate towards mainstream listeners in order to take