Stream “S.W.A.T. II”
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If any song I’ve ever written will cost me fans, it’ll be this one. While every song on the album represents an element of my life falling apart, this one is a bit broader. It represents the collapse of society.
This is going to be the most difficult Rootbeer Report to write, except maybe for the last song on the album but we’ll see once I get there. The reason this one is so tricky is because the lyrics themselves were written with precision in mind and I wanted every line to be taken at face value. Any “analysis” that I could do would simply be turning poem to prose so if you clicked on this post looking for justification for anything I say in this song, you’re not going to find it here.
I will, however, discuss the impetus and consult both the timestamps on my files and Wikipedia when I misremember specific dates and details.
Let’s Get Political!
If you count all of the projects I’ve mixed myself, I’ve released 6 solo albums (In/Stability is the 7th), 3 collaboration albums, 3 EPs and 1 mixtape. The only songs that exist partially in the realm of political rap are “S.W.A.T.” on Alternate Ending (there’s your callback) and “They Need Us” on Whiteout! 2. I’ve avoided making political rap because all too often it comes across as corny, especially from white rappers. I made that decision a long time ago after becoming an Immortal Technique fan. I learned a lot about history from Tech’s music, and I also learned how little I truly understand about the world. For me to tackle political topics based on gut feeling would be irresponsible.
That doesn’t mean, however, that I am out-of-touch. A very specific series of events inspired me to write the first verse of this song:
- On July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling was shot and killed on camera by two Baton Rouge Police officers.
- A DAY LATER Philando Castile was murdered by a police officer on camera in Minnesota
- ANOTHER DAY LATER, a terrorist opened fire on police officers at a Black Lives Matter protest, which the news quickly spun to a false narrative undermining Black Lives Matter.
After this hellish series of events, I was enraged and wrote a verse, which ended up becoming the first verse of “S.W.A.T. II.” On July 12, 2016 I recorded that verse over Cypress Hill’s “Cock the Hammer” beat and sent it to a few people looking for honest feedback, namely: “does this come across as corny or disingenuous in any way?”
To my surprise, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Still, I felt like I shouldn’t release the track, not because I didn’t stand by the lyrics or because I feared a negative response, but because a 16 bar freestyle over a then-23-year-old beat (albeit one of my favorite instrumentals of all time) detached from any sort of project was unlikely to make any sort of impact. If I’m going to use my platform of privilege to speak on issues, I don’t want it falling on deaf ears.
So I sat with the song for a while and that’s when my memory gets a little hazy. Chris Prythm posted a beat called “Crush,” and I thought I got it specifically for this song. However, the file was saved to my computer on December 21, 2015 – seven months BEFORE that first verse was written. What likely happened was I grabbed the beat because I liked it but didn’t have a plan for it, then rediscovered it in my files later on and found that it had the right energy to compliment the lyrics. So I suppose my foresight is stronger than my creativity.
Once I decided the “Crush” beat would become “S.W.A.T. II,” I got to work on some other verses. The first covered police brutality, so I chose two other topics for which I have strong opinions: racism and religion. With that, I’ll let the song speak for itself.
Rawhide Report
“Jesus Christ, another song that is in the running for my favorite of the album and another hard ass song. I’d certainly say that this is a worthy successor to the original, in fact it’s my favorite of the two. I hope when people listen to this song they really listen to the lyrics and give themselves some time to digest what you’re saying and what you’re trying to accomplish with this song because I think this is one of the most important songs in your discography. This song works because it’ll make people think and make them question their beliefs and belief systems when they might not normally do so.”