Real hustlers rap on flute
Japanese Edo period saw the disintegration of the feudal system. At that time, masterless samurais refusing to seppuku, known as ronins, were forced to hide. Many of them, to survive, joined groups of itinerant preachers called komusos, famous for hiding their face with a basket. The ronins couldn’t carry swords anymore, but the solid bamboo flute played by the monks, the shakuhachi, was very convenient to break the head of their enemies with a blow. Thus, for the first and only time, they turned a musical instrument into a weapon.
From soldiers to monks (and pimps), flute is the instrument of disguise and revelation. The sound of every spiritual journey. In that sense, Murda’s airy production on Get Right Witcha is the apex of Migo’s last album Culture, as it symbolize the merging of a whole movement into the maintream.
I tried to gather some exemplary uses of flute in rap, with the intent to celebrate the essence of that culture : a rise to recognition, motivated by ostentation as much as introspection.
Listen to my playlist on Groovemp3 here and on Spotify here.