SOLE “NO WISING UP NO SETTLING DOWN”

Sole has never been a whore for attention, though. The Maine rapper, who is considered to be the most (in)famous representative of anticon. and one of the group’s eight founders, has never sought to be anyone’s main man. This may be the first time you’ve heard of him because he has stayed so far away from the limelight of pop culture. He would contend that’s good whereas I would contend that’s a shame. Some artists produce work in the hopes that it will be seen by millions of people. 

Some people just create because they have an insatiable urge to create things and share them with the world. Even if no one else sees it, the creation is fulfillment in and of itself. Sole is at least in her mid-30s if you rate those two things on a scale of 1 to 37, where 1 is “I want to be more famous than Michael Jackson” and 37 is “I just need to do this for me.” “I know why communism always fails, a power hungry communist is as dangerous as a blood sucking capitalist”

Immortal Technique and Zack de la Rocha are the two musicians who, at least politically, come the closest to Sole. He would likely object to such crude parallels, but since he isn’t the one evaluating “No Wising Up No Settling Down,” that’s just, like, my opinion. All three of them are tremendously dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the US. They reject the notion that democracy is freedom or that the state serves the interests of the people. Some of his opinions are distilled into the succinct 218 second song “I Think I’m Emma Goldman.” “They say anarchism can’t work, but all anarchists do is work—not for the money, but out of necessity.

If you took the time to read, you’d find you were an anarchist.” I think he does want people to hear this: “We can bicker over differences, or we can fuck up shit, cause shit’s fucked up and bullshit.” In this day and age, is there anything that may make somebody think? Why the fuck are you begging, one wonders? On songs like “Geneology of Giving a Fuck” (yep, that’s how he spelled genealogy), I applaud his fervent desire to question everything, but a thoughtful listener has to question him in return.

That seems to be his ultimate objective to me. Instead of just consuming media and spouting rubbish, Sole wants us to consider what it means and whether or not it’s beneficial to us personally or collectively. Anticon.’s ambition to reject the clichés of rap music was evident from the movement’s conception until its collapse, yet it was inevitable that they unintentionally or purposely formed their own genre as a result of that effort.

How can you Rage Against the Machine if you’re a part of it? Since Sole discusses on “Emma Goldman” how she spoke the common language of the people, I’ll try to do the same here with a thought exercise.

That could be the reason why, by the time “No Wising Up No Settling Down” was released, Sole had left the collective he helped create and relinquished his 1/8 ownership of it. and it’s also acceptable to criticize Sole on that issue. After a while, avoiding “The Trap” turns into a trap unto itself. Only Zach de la Rocha, out of all the artists I’ve compared Sole to, agreed to compromise by signing with a major label and touring the world to sold-out crowds.

You could say it makes his opposition to authoritarianism comical or that it’s the pinnacle of subversive anarchism. Zach is free to donate the money he earns from Rage Against the Machine’s success to whatever cause he chooses, including providing food and shelter for the needy, free access to libraries, and clean water where none is currently available. You become further away from the individuals inside the machine the further you try to move away from it.

Making art for the sake of making art is by its very nature a self-masturbatory endeavor. That momentary high is gone once I voiced myself, big O face. So what do you do? Produce more art. I AM that, thus I cannot judge that. The same reason Sole writes rap songs, I write album reviews because it’s a wonderful way for me to express myself. Like Mr. Holland, I am self-aware enough to recognize that this is a self-contradictory statement.

Fewer people will read it if I discuss albums like Sole’s than if I review whatever popular singing rapper is now featured on Soundcloud. In a time when viral TikTok songs are more useful to an artist than a full album, even the concept of a “album review” seems a little antiquated. In other words, I’m a throwback evaluating a throwback in a circle jerk that gets more and more obvious, but before we all climax, I must draw attention to a difficult fact.

Even though I appreciate Sole discussing his philosophy in songs like “My Veganism,” the track’s production is essentially unlistenable. He’s saying something significant here, so it’s a shame about the poor audio. Because he doesn’t eat meat, Sole doesn’t want to be one of those preaching vegans who acts better than you. In fact, he absolutely loathes individuals who are that self-centered. Good. So do I. He merely disbelieves in any form of animal cruelty, whether it occurs when an animal is either on his dinner plate or is confined in a zoo. Not attempting to instruct anyone on how to live.

I’m grateful. In this discussion, it’s crucial to treat each other with respect. If we each share our views without forcing them on others, we can all hold different beliefs about politics, religion, capitalism, social media, and anything else. Therefore, “No Wising Up No Settling Down” is not intended to reflect my judgment of you. I value a lot of what Sole has to say here and his sincere effort to provoke thought rather than merely passive listening.

As I’ve already hinted at, the best approach to encourage people to listen to music with a message is to make it appealing to them. It was Bob Marley. Despite the respect I have for Sole, he occasionally seems to overlook that aspect of the puzzle. He has a lot to say, but sadly few will listen to him because of how purposefully out of reach the production takes it.