A possibly informative, definitely speculative, loosely conceptual timeline leading up to the release of Sole and DJ Pain 1’s Death Drive:
September 11, 2009: Sole retools Rick Ross’ “Every Day I’m Hustling,” includes the line, “And I ain’t from nowhere, homey’s a nomad/ In the Rockies, where I wage my fucking jihad,” decides he enjoys rapping over trap drums, resolves to continue exploring the subgenre.
June 29, 2010: Rick Ross drops “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast),” includes the line, “I think I’m Big Meech, Larry Hoover,” which soon becomes part of the American vernacular. Sole watches the phrase go viral, as does Lil B.
March 21, 2011: Lil B unveils the video for “Think I’m Based God,” continues doing songs about various cultural icons he thinks he is. In the tradition of Wesley Willis, many of these songs have beats that sound similar, if not identical, to one another. Sole hears this, experiences some form of ego death, finds in Lil B a kindred spirit.
May 5, 2011: Sole puts out “I Think I’m Noam Chomsky,” an attack on neo-liberalism rapped over a beat consisting of a Carl Orff sample set to trap drums. No producer credit is given.
July 19, 2011: Sole and the Skyrider Band premiere “Bad Captain Swag” featuring Lil B.
October 8, 2011: Sole posts the video for “I Think I’m Ben Bernake,” in which he portrays “Ben Bernake in the near future as a homeless drunk living in a shanty.” The lyrics and beat recall “I Think I’m Noam Chomsky,” but again no producer credit is listed.
March 7, 2013: Sole debuts the “I Think I’m Emma Goldman” video, includes the line, “Avant-garders say I’m dumbing it down/ But Emma didn’t speak in riddles, she spoke in the common tongue.” The song sticks to the same format as the previous “I Think I’m…” tunes, but this time DJ Pain 1 is credited as the producer.
February 20, 2014: The Death Drive trailer arrives, filling in some of the logistical gaps.
June 9, 2014: Death Drive is independently released.
• Sole: http://www.soleone.org
• DJ Pain 1: http://www.djpain1.info
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