Outspoken Poet's Blog

“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times.
No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.”
David McCullough


The Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme is a project proposal for the building of a barrage between the coasts of the river Severn’s estuary. It shall be a source of carbon free energy and could cater for up to 7 percent of the UK’s needs. Despite those facts the projects has been delayed and opposed by conservationists and scientists alike as it will destroy the habitats of thousands of birds and marine species as well as obliterating vast amounts of potential archaeological sites, some of which have provided the best preserved organic materials in the UK, and range in date from the Mesolithic, through the Roman and Medieval periods and all the way to the 20th century. It is an important debate and a delicate balance must be struck so that future generations can benefit from the Severn Barrage with out having to loose valuable pieces of their ancestor’s history.

Though not a new idea (firstly proposed in 1984), the Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme is once again on the forefront of discussion as global warming concerns deepen and energy supplies are reaching their peak. Further more, the EU requires that 15% of the total power supply in the UK should come from renewable sources by 2020. The project is headed by the Severn Tidal Power Group (STPG), which formed in 1981 with a goal of making this idea a reality. At current there are five schemes for renewable energy using tidal waves that have been put forward for consideration. Those include the GW Severn Barrage, shoot and semi barrages, lagoons and tidal reefs. The Severn Estuary has the second or third largest tidal range in the world and is the most significant tidal range resource in the UK by some distance. In addition, the Severn Estuary tides represents one of the largest low carbon energy resources with estimates of up to 7% contribution of the UK’s total electricity demand. This can be achieved at costs in the range of 20 billion, producing electricity at a rate between 20-25TWh/a at a price around 14-15p/kWh. Even grater is the potential for the local economy as up to 20,000 sustainable jobs can be created as well as opportunities for investment.

As great as the potential benefits from this project maybe, there has been growing concern about the effects of this project, and whether they outweigh the benefits of its realisation. Even studies done by appointment of the projects proponents conclude that all options would impact inter-tidal flora and fauna while at the same time affecting dozens of potential historical evidence sites. The ecological impact of the Severn Barrage would be felt on all levels. According to Richard Boud, currents will change direction, speed and temperature as well as changing the density of seabed sediments in the area, thus permanently altering water quality and sea life, as many species will go extinct. This particular effect is argued by proponents of the Barrage to have the opposite effect. A report on the Severn estuary, commissioned by the DECC (Department of Energy And Climate Change) have concluded that although diminishing some of the existing flora and fauna, the reduced currents and halved tidal wave length would reduce turbidity and stimulate biodiversity. There are also arguments that the construction of the tidal range will affect population, feeding and migration patterns of all birds associated with the Severn estuary areal, though evidence for this claim is scarce.

In the same report another potential effect is stressed out, one of cultural and historical importance. This is the consequences that the construction that the Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme project will have on the archaeological sites of the area. According to the report “the effects of tidal power schemes on marine archaeology are likely to be negative and permanent. Those concerns were already existent and would not have been assigned weight if they were only addressing a limited number of scientific evidence. This however is not the case, as the area proved to be very rich in archaeological sites. A Survey of the Severn Estuary, commissioned by the English Heritage foundation and published in 2008, recorded a staggering number of 928 new monuments, ranging from the Neolithic all the way up to the 20th century. If the Severn Barrage Renewable Energy project is to be undertaken a big percentage of those potential sites will be damaged or lost permanently. The intertidal sites provide some of the best preserved evidence, including preserved biodegradable materials, which have survived due to the anaerobic conditions.Those circumstances cannot be overlooked and place paramount scientific importance on the Severn Estuary area, calling for deeper study and debate of the situation.

With the government pushing for a final decision voices of concern also increase. In an article for the South Wales Argus, reporter Andy Rutherford presents the standpoint of Professor Simon Haslett, director of the Centre of Excellence for Learning and Teaching ate the University of Wales Newport. Professor Haslett warns that “The Severn Estuary is a rich archaeological treasure trove and one that has unearthed internationally important finds, such as preserved Stine Age footprints”. He goes further to claim that model simulations have shown that the construction of a Barrage would raise the upstream sea level by three meters and in effect submerging all archaeological sites permanently. Other areas affected by the changing sea levels will suffer quite the opposite effects, as the range of the tide will be cut in half, leaving the upper area of the estuary completely dry, affecting not only biological species but also the most important archaeological sites which provide for the unique organically preserved material finds, that will then dry out and be lost forever. Mark Horton, form Bristol University’s Archaeological Department, describes this as “probably the largest acreage of loss of an archaeological resource ever to have taken place in this country”.

Within the scientific community there is a unified opinion that the barrage would cause great damage to archaeological and historical sites and monuments that rival only the paramount effects the Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme would have on the Estuary’s habitat. Similar unity is to be found amongst governmental bodies and officials, though on the other side of the debate. Though initially the barrage was not supported due to “strong environmental concerns” (Energy White Paper, 2003), and despite of the DECC’s conclusion that “all options would impact inter-tidal habitats there has been growing impatience on the side of politicians and parties who support the project and are pushing for a decision. This decision was supposed to be announced by the Government in early 2010 but is at current postponed. One of the reasons for this might be the protests and movements by organisations like Severn Estuary Partnership (SEP), “Save Our Severn”, “Stop The Barrage Now” and the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), which have over the past few years raised awareness for this problem.

The Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme has proven to be controversial and as an opponent of any extremity I take a standpoint that strives for balance and would draw the most from this situation whilst limiting the damage done. Knowing all the circumstances surrounding this project, it is my opinion that to stop the project would be hard and probably unsuccessful. After all if we were so concerned about living green and preserving nature, we would all ride bicycles and light our nights with candles. And we don’t. What we do is to consume more energy than ever. Our energy needs must be met and with the threat of global warming and indications that the biggest oil field in Saudi Arabia has reached it’s peak they need to be met in a less damaging manner. Renewable energy is one alternative, and whether we like it or not the Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme has great potential, and we cannot shut our eyes to its potential benefits. Still, this potential cannot and must not be realised at the cost of taking lives and destroying history. If the construction of the Barrage is to be undertaken, extensive research should be done and full compensatory systems and projects should be launched to save the species, dependant on the estuary and compensate all affected parties. The Archaeology of the area must not be destroyed and the community should push for full compensations. Those should take the form of funding for the excavation of all potentially important sites. Furthermore the turning the first sod should be delayed for a reasonable amount of time. Just as nature manages to balance all its elements so must we.


It is ironical that a project intended to reduce global warming and CO2 emissions by exploiting renewable sources of energy will at the same time have such paramount negative effect on the environment surrounding it. The Severn Barrage Tidal Energy Scheme shall destroy one of the richest areas of archaeological interest and forever alter a unique and diverse natural habitat. It is our responsibility to look after our blue host and if we are to accept the construction of the barrage, we should do so only when the Government and the EU take responsibility and work together to limit or compensate the damage that will surely be done. If we perceive ourselves as rulers of our planet we must respect and protect all that inhabit it and all that walked the Earth and left their traces before us.

(c)Outspoken Poet

“Told you the truth but who was I to brag / Especially how Kymani finds it hard to laugh / I miss my homie but she’s missing her dad / It weighs on my conscience and I hate Conscious Rap…” - Malice, “Footsteps”



By Radoslav Penchev

I was listening to Til The Casket Drops—not necessarily mad at it, but definitely wishing it was more like Hell Hath No Fury—when I found Malice quoting scriptures and talking about watching Madagascar with his kids in a way that didn’t sound preachy or forced. I started wondering if Malice and Pusha T had stumbled upon some bastardized form of “Conscious Rap.” The Clipse have voiced their distaste for rhymes with heavy-handed messages over the years. But if this is the new standard for what’s conscious, I’m either glad Conscious Rap, as my generation knew it, is dead or interested to see who else will toss a few more shovels full of dirt on the casket [no pun intended].

Nearly everyone was familiar with Conscious Rap back in the '90s. For those in the suburbs, or those in the hoods across America and the world,who were bussed to schools in the suburbs, it was a nice alternative to the N.W.A. cassettes that we had to hide from suspecting parents. I can remember beefing with my camp counselor—a bearded white guy who played acoustic guitar—for nearly a whole summer, until we discovered a mutual love of A Tribe Called Quest. Now this shared appreciation of “Verses From The Abstract” didn’t produce some deep moment where we both suddenly understood each other’s cultures. But it pretty much ran the gamut of what Conscious Rap was good for. At best, a song like “New World Water” is a talking point and semi-educational because it comes from a familiar source, as opposed to watching An Inconvenient Truth.

At worst, Conscious Rap was dreadfully corny and heavy-handed with the messages. From Tribe’s “Ham ‘N’ Eggs,” a few dozen horrible imitations, and even my beloved dead prez with the throwaway “Mind Sex.” I challenge any reader to send me proof that you’ve either successfully executed or fallen victim to the “garden salad and chess combination” stic.man describes below:

“Now I know you think I wanna fuck and no doubt / But tonight we try a different route / How about we start with a salad / A fresh bed of lettuce and croutons / Later we can play a game of chess on the futon…” - stic.man, "Mind Sex"

I’m in no position to question stic.man’s intentions, and that’s really beside the point. But his line unintentionally illustrates one of the worst things about Conscious Rap. For conscious male emcees, the position of the alternative to gangsters, thugs or whatever you want to call them, was this type of super-sensitive captain save a ho. It emasculated men and robbed us of the fact that a male emcee could be intelligent, articulate and ignorant all on the same album. And there is a lesson to be learned, not only for Dead Prez, that metaphors are a delicate matter. They can elevate your lirics in the realms of genius or as is the case in "Mind Sex", they can make you look silly.

For all its hipster-induced faults, that’s one of the beautiful things about Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 album. In less than 20 minutes, Hov goes from criticizing people “sitting in front of their computers/shooting YouTube up” to advising enemies to give their suit size so they can be properly dressed and buried after the “ruger runs through a few clips.” Is it hypocritical? Maybe. But this is the human dynamic. The pseudo-conscious emcee trying to remake “Bonita Applebum” every album is denying what we all know to be true. In certain situations he will behave just like the gangster/thug he tries so hard to be the opposite of, because thats we all need to feel superior some times. Ironically, Jay-Z might also provide the best example of why “conscious” Rap is dead. As with most things in Hip Hop, it comes down to the money.

“I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars / They criticize me for it yet they all yell holla / If skills sold truth be told I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli / Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense / But I sold five mill, and I haven't rhymed like Common since.” - Jay-Z, “Moment of Clarity”

For some one like me, who manifests hip-hop as a mirrored projection of life, a blueprint for problem solving, those lines punch. And I am sorry to hear them.
To be fair, there’s a large number of emcees we tried to relegate to the arena of Conscious Rap. They not only took offense to the label, but they found ways to parlay whatever underground success they had into more mainstream visibility and paychecks. Common, who was a mainstay on the conscious circuit, has with four albums and five movies made during the last decade,with his last album predominantly radio orientated. I would venture to say the only reason Talib Kweli can continue to make anything conscious is because he also knows how to make a catchy single like “Get By.” It also doesn't hurt that his BlackSmith imprint gives him more creative control and a larger share of profits than he saw during his Rawkus days.

But beyond any doubt there are "veterans" left.Mos Def, once thought of as the poster child for Conscious Rap, has made more movies (11) than albums (3) over the last 10 years but let's hand it to him - none of his movie(except The Hitchickers Guide To The Galaxy), nor any of his albums, have deviated. He is a great actor and an even better lyricist, and he more than etched it in stone with "Extatic". The album sealed his name as a conscious rapper, and is just what we expected - a vivid depiction of the downwardly spiral on which human kind is now sliding. The Roots, probably the most critically acclaimed and in my oppinion the best of the best, are just as likely to appear in a commercial or alongside The Clipse, as they are to release a song like “What They Do.” It’s all about balance. But yet their music remains predominantly a depiction of all the sides of humanity we do not want to talk about, and if that is not conscious, I honestly don't know what is.


A couple months ago, during a press junket for Survival Skills, KRS-One made the observation that the declining retail sales of Rap music over the last decade would cause a return to some of Hip Hop culture’s fundamentals. Since Kris is always good for a pull-quote (i.e. “Def Jam singlehandedly destroyed Hip Hop”) many of us took his observation as the type of sour grapes we usually hear from formerly relevant artists of yesteryear. After all, this is usually the part where they start talking about a B-Boy renaissance, complete with boomboxes and Addidas track suits. But KRS wasn’t just talking about culture; he was talking about commerce too.

“I’m taking it back to Zulu Nation when Afrika Bambaataa used to throw jams in Bronx River Houses,” KRS said. “It was understood that Jazzy Jay would make the cassette and dub the tape for this person or that person for $5 or $10. Everybody knew that if you got the tape, you would then be able to sell the tape yourself.”

His tendency to use hyperbole aside, it’s worth noting that Kris was holding semi-automatic weapons on the cover of his first two albums while dropping knowledge on the songs inside them. I can’t speak for everyone, but that kind of balance is all I really ask from an emcee. Don’t kill your crossover appeal in hopes of dropping a jewel on me. One of the things conscious rappers forget when they’re emulating legends from the 80’s is that someone like Slick Rick was versatile enough to give you “Lick The Balls” and “Children’s Story.” Yet he remains one of the great storytellers. Rappers can't choose their audience, but you can sure as hell chose what to listen to. Is there any reason why releasing an album which harshly criticizes mainstream, urban radio and being in Nike commercials have to be mutually exclusive? As someone who dropped Hip Hop Lives with Marley Marl then took a nice check from Nike to rhyme next to Nas, Rakim, Kanye and Premier, KRS would likely answer that question with a loud, “Hell no.” If Lupe Fiasco does it on every album, then is conscious hip-hop dead? No. The problems is that hip-hop music gave it's place in the focus of mainstream media to it's retarded cousin - rap, gangsta or not. And with a constantly dropping IQ rate of the average MTV rapper, a very negative notion about hip-hop is settling into peoples minds, just as the media tried to do in the 80's.

While having this discussion with a friend, the question of if the sub-genre of Conscious Rap could have been saved came up. The thing is, Conscious Rap didn’t necessarily die. Maybe the best thing to ever happen within the last 15 years is that mainstream emcees learned to integrate any socio-political agendas within their bars during the same time “underground” emcees learned how to manufacture good singles. Both groups realized there was no need to alter their appearance or limit themselves to making a certain type of Hip Hop.

Can you really be mad at the Game when he tells you that he had to deal to save his brother, because he was expelled from school over a tattoo. Does he not then say that he would change it all if he can go back to scratch? I need not know if he is "real" or not. Gangsta or no gangsta, conscious or not, what he speaks is truth, and that is all that matters at the end of the day.

Now that no one is forced to buy a physical album, the so-called conscious emcee can’t present him/herself as the alternative to the norm in hopes of grabbing a small share of album sales. If conscious artists are forced to make better singles and emcees who want to use the word gangster need to offer some social commentary and credibility, then be it so. That’s probably why you won’t find anything that could be considered “conscious” on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Yet Foreign Exchange is nominated for a Grammy award, The Roots are the only positive thing in the corny world of late night talk shows, and Styles P sounds better than ever alongside Talib Kweli and Statik Selektah. To me this is exactly what KRS was talking about. Not only does limiting an emcee to conscious subject matter make them one-dimensional, but they’re also likely to go broke. It is high time that hip-hop music reconnects with hip-hop culture and instead of bouncing girls in the background we start seeing breaking b-boys, and DJ's(real once, not winamp faders) regain their rightfull place along side rappers. Conscious hip-hop is not dead, it's out there as long as you are looking for it.

As long as people are dealing with unemployment, gentrification, police brutality and other issues, there will always be emcees rapping about it. It’s been that way since Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five dropped “The Message.” And as long as the aforementioned issues exist, people will probably turn on Gucci Mane, New Boyz or DJ Webstar as some form of escape. Part of being truly socially conscious, is accepting those facts, and not throwing on some costume to push your own agenda under the guise of being uplifting.

On paper, it’s one of the most intriguing musical matches in recent memory: Strong Arm Steady and Madlib. Yes, we’ve already heard the Gang on Lord Quas’s production (“The Function”), but could their inherent west coast chemistry translate across an entire album?

The answer is a resounding yes.

In Search of Stoney Jackson is a funky mission that lives up to lofty expectations. It’s a Soul-filled sojourn that hearkens back to the utopian days when a single producer and emcee/group combined to make music, not simply disjointed phrases over mismatched beats from seemingly a thousand chefs. We recently saw how mutually beneficial this relationship can be over a full-length in Fashawn’s Exile-helmed debut, Boy Meets World.

According to Stones Throw, J.Rocc secured hundreds of Beat Konducta concoctions from which SAS trio Phil Da Agony, Krondon (and less involved-this-time-around Mitchy Slick) could pick. The result is 16 tracks and four instrumental interludes that have that distinct Madlib texture without becoming redundant or repetitive. Mr. Jackson has long been king when it comes to this trait – crafting beats that are unique enough to stand alone, but each retains a subliminal signature informing the listener of the Invazion.

And SAS and the (many) Stoney guest stars sound very much at home over the production. The album boasts concepts and emcees who can get their points across in skilled fashion. The soaring opener “Best of Times,” tackles the increasingly-bleak economic picture, with nuggets like this courtesy of Phonte of Little Brother: “It make me think about the loot I shell out / If times get tight, will the shows still sell out / Po’ folk need help, they call it welfare / But rich folk need help then they call it a bailout.”

The aptly-titled “True Champs” is perhaps the LP’s best track; a vicious posse cut featuring Montage One, Evidence, Oh No and Roc ‘C’ that highlights hungry rhymes and Madlib’s drum work and Spidey-sense of sampling. While Stoney is impressive throughout, other standout songs include “Pressure” (with a strong Sick Jacken), “Get Ya Money Right” (featuring Defari), “Needle in the Haystack” (featuring Roscoe and Guilty Simpson), “Ambassadors” (featuring Planet Asia and Chace Infinite) and “Two Pistols.”

As you can see there are plenty of guest appearances. This makes Stoney feel more like a Madlib album than a SAS effort – the crew at the heart of the offering seems to get lost in the mix a bit. But as I said earlier, every emcee brings something to the table, so it’s not like the heavy roster causes any significant damage to the overall project. Phil and Planet Asia deserve special recognition as they blistered every track on which they rhymed. Phil’s super-aggressive, reckless style have made him an underground favorite for years and his effort on this album will only serve to increase his visibility.

In Search of Stoney Jackson is another Stones Throw gem mined by their incomparable in-house Konducta. It’s a funky ride to Rap’s far side in a car fabricated by Madlib, commandeered by Strong Arm Steady and a slew of able narrators.

By Radoslav Penchev

It has been a few days since the release of the iPad and it has made quite a fuz. Half of it however is concerned with it's unrealistic price/quality ratio. This article is about what the iPad cannot do, or what it should have been able to do for the money it costs buyers.

First of all I want to share with you the one perminent thought in my mind as I was watching Steve Jobb's announcement speec - WTF? What is this guy talking about? A totaly new, awesome browsing experience - oh really?Let's analyse.

The size of the tablet, as much as Apple tried, is substantual, and a wrong contact with the touch display can cost you an hour or so lost on unwanted settings.
But OK, it locks one way or another so we leave it aside.The virtual keyboard is beyond criticsim. Everyone who has used a tablet with such keyboard, knows how frustrating it is, but Apple have not worked in this direction. Not at all.

How is it possible, however for an innovative widget like this to not be multi-functional? And you assume that iPad will replace the netbook?Apparently, while listening to music one will not be able to chat,or while one is clicking through Twitter one cannot browse the Internet. What a mockery!

Oh did I mention the lack of even a prehistoric VGA camera? Forget about video-chat. You want to watch those HD clips you just downloaded from YouTube, on your TV? Think again. There is no HDMI exit so you need to buy an Apple TV - not intended at all ;)

As "Futuristic" as it is, the iPad lacks simple features that a browser must have, like a flash player or streaming video support. Oh and don't think about changing the browser - not permitted! Let's not forget that every new feature, software or application you one wants to installed must be bought and the iPad becomes even more "irresistable".

It might be trendy and cool but it can't replace the netbook, little less the laptop. Not even if it made your bed and cooked you dinner!

Open up your eyes,and realise those lies!

(c) Outspoken Poet