Coming back from a series of mini vacations (yes, bloggers need breaks too), I found several great tracks from artists waiting to be checked out. One that immediately caught my eye was a song titled Monsters by Jalopy Bungus. Now if you’ve been around for a bit or have gone back and check out some of our old content, Jalopy is one of those artists we’ve covered from the start when we were new at covering independent artists. Some of my personal favorite songs from Jalopy, songs which you should check out if you haven’t, included Rushmore which had one of the best videos on the scene that I’d seen at the time, and Head of The State, a song in which he was featured with Emmitt Dupree and Charley Brown. What I’m trying to get through here is that Jalopy Bungus has been going hard for a few years now and if you haven’t done so yet, start with his old music first and work your way forward to see the longevity. If you are thorough, you’ll find that this artist is not a talented and young lyricist, but also a battle rapper making moves in that arena as well.
To me, the latest track, Monsters, is a sober, honest, and raw first person/POV type of narrative of a specific reality. I know, that’s a long description. But simply put, this is a description of life from Jalopy’s artistic point of view. Again, if you review good previous work, you’ll know this is his lane. Providing a darker but honest alternative perspective. “The monsters that used to be under my bed sound just like the monsters in my head…”
What take from this track is a person realizing the works is crazier than you once believed while growing up. Especially when looking at the history of slavery, the effects of the past on the present, whether we have as much control as the theory of the “American Dream” would have us believe out of our fates are fixed. Just look at a few of these few lines:
Homies tell me don’t sell your soul because you gon’ pop. I replied, "how the fuck to sell what you don’t got?" --- What you rather? Fork in the road or a roadblock? Either way, Devil gon control what you see today. Devil gon control what you eat; what you read today. They say free will is a hoax. It’s determined. So we all had no choice but to be vermin. --- Newborns covered in soap up in the bath. The same baby covered in hose thrown in the trash. Mashing* inside. Get caught in a war path. Deliver drones to homes way quicker than DoorDash.
In each of these situations, it seems the lesson is that no matter whether we are in control, shut happens. I’m interested to hear what everyone else got from Monsters. A difference in interpretation of a song is the sign of an artists level of creativity.
Monsters is currently available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify. For more information about Jalopy Bungus, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
BIRDCITYVIEW 