BrUceBuNgi - Cry Pray Kumbaya

Topic: Rap
Politics was inherent in early rap. As soon as members of Grandmaster Flash went beyond proclaiming their greatness to describing their physical environment on "The Message" in 1982, [1] rap became political to people who did not want to hear accounts of daily experiences from African Americans. While it featured two rappers, the record developed the same theme from two perspectives, with the parts held together by a recurring quatrain.

Bruce Bungi adopted the format in his response to the spate of unpunished police shootings of unarmed Black men in 2016. [2] The video featured photographs, lists of names, stills from videos of police brutality, and leaflet art. The musical accompaniment was limited to drums and a rattle with a woman’s voice vocalizing in the upper register.

He began with the disparity in white’s responses to school massacres and to the killing of individual African Americans:

"King Kong can shoot up a school with oh well
That white boy’s crazy right
We need help
But if I’m shot with my baby the unparallel is unnoticed
I must have been a target
Must have had a gun about to shoot with both my arms"

After describing several fatal contacts of Black men with corrupt policemen, he observed

"Everybody got solutions but no action
I don’t know what to do
That’s why I askin’"

All he knew for sure was the official response, summarized as "cry pray kumbaya" at the very end, was inadequate.

Performers
Vocal Soloist: male voice doubled
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: female voice sang "la la"
Rhythm Accompaniment: drums, rattle

Credits
None given

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: kum BAH yah

Vocabulary
Pronoun: I
Term for Deity: not mentioned
Special Terms: street language

Basic Form: free form
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: own
Tempo: moderate

Basic Structure: unvarying accompaniment

Singing Style: chanted with strong cadence

Notes on Performers
Rayshawn Lane was born in 1989, seven years after the release of "The Message." He grew up in the Smurf Village section [3] of Bedford-Stuyvesant at the intersection of Utica Avenue and Fulton Street. [4] He began releasing his own material as Bruce Bungi in 2009. He said his inspirations included "Eminem Jay z and the great notorious big who are also former residents of the Bedford Stuyvesant section in Brooklyn." [5]

Availability
YouTube: uploaded by 450BuNgi on 8 July 2016.

End Notes
1. Grand Master Flash and The Furious Five. "The Message." Sugar Hill Records SH-584. 1982. (Discogs entry for album.) Rolling Stone listed it as the most influential of "The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time" on its website.

2. His YouTube notes explained: "ALL THESE SHOOTINGS I KEEP TRYING TO IGNORE BUT I CANT I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING HAD TO PUT IN A SONG."

3. "BrUce BuNgi." Biography posted by Reverb Nation for "Quiet Storm." Also available on other websites.

4. "NYC neighborhood and street nicknames (Bedford, Medina: building, island, venue)." City-Data website. Entry on Smurf Village posted by Seventh Floor on 22 January 2010.

5. Bungi bio. While Jay-Z was from Bedford-Stuyvesant and The Notorious B. I. G. from the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn that bordered Bed-Stuy, Eminem was raised in Missouri and Detroit according to their entries in Wikipedia.