30/12/2024
Ka tribute (45 songs playlist below and personal bio). Words written and playlist curated by Mark Mcauley from Strictly hip-hop
Ka - Off The Record (2013)
Hermit and the Recluse - Argo (2018)
Ka - I Love (Mimi, Moms, Kev)
KA- Mourn at Night (2016)
Ka & Roc Marciano - Sins of the Father (2020)
Hermit and the Recluse - Sirens (2018)
Ka - Peace Akhi (2013)
Ka - No Downtime (2012)
Ka - 30 Keys (2016)
Gza & Ka - Firehouse (2008)
Ka - Jungle (2013)
Ka - That Cold and Lonely (2016)
Ka & Roc Marciano - Iron Age (2012)
Ka - Beautiful (2024)
Hermit and the Recluse - Golden Fleece (2018)
Ka - Solitude of Enoch (2020)
Ka - To Hull And Back (2014)
Roc Marciano & Ka - Nine Spray (2012)
Natural Elements - I Mean This (1994)
Ka - Sad to Say (2021)
Ka - My Only Home (2022)
Ka - I Wish (Death Poem)
Ka - Having Nothin' (2021)
Hermit and the Recluse - Atlas (2018)
Ka - Such Devotion (2024)
Ka - Decisions (2012)
Ka - My Brother's Keeper (2020)
Roc Marciano & Ka - Marksmen (2017)
Nightbreed - 2 Roads Out The Ghetto (1998)
Ka - Conflicted (2016)
Ka - I'm Tired (2022)
Ka - Knighthood (2013)
Ka - Vessel (2012)
Ka - No Reservations (2022)
Ka - Every Now and Then (2020)
Ka - We Not Innocent (2022)
Hermit and the Recluse - The Punishment of Sisyphus (2018)
Ka - Bread Wine Body Blood (2024)
Ka - With All My Heart (2021)
Dr Yen Lo - Day 81 (2015)
Ka & Navy Blue - We Living/Martyr (2021)
Ka - Family Color (2022)
Ka - Children (2008)
Ka - Eat (2022)
Ka - Hymn and I (2024)
R.I.P Ka we lost one of Hip-Hop’s true lyricists and creatives of the last 15 years . Not gonna lie I shed some tears cause his music did a lot for me personally and I hope it touched others as much, He was the definition of being poetic, being unique and ripping up the narrative of every man for themselves cause he did it himself and on his own terms those albums he made but still gave so much of himself to the craft and the fans, I can’t thank him enough for the healing in my soul he has given over the years with his music, it’s being monumental for my spirit, truth is he was a lone wolf who loved his friends, when it came to Hip-Hop he was like a hood prophet mixed with a preacher from the church, the way he could give knowledge and express himself lyrically, he could give his pain and past confessions to the listener to give them strength and realism, he was Hip-Hop God who liked to live in the shadows. Not only was he a gifted MC. He was a respected man in his community giving 20 years of service as a fireman, Ka wasn’t a bragger though, he was very mysterious with the way he would release his music.
His career was about art and expression. Not fame and co signs, when I became a huge fan of Ka was when I seen the video for his song “Off The Record” for his album “The Nights Gambit” back in 2013, where he flips through classic Hip-Hop vinyls in a dusty basement and tying in the titles of those classic albums into his lyrics on the song, the slick intelligence of that track made me buy that album on Cd right away. Truth is I liked “Grief Pedigree” his album in 2012 it got his foot really in the door as a solo artist and it’s often praised for being a more exciting album than albums that followed but it was devoid of the concepts you would get on The Night’s Gambit and even more so on the albums that followed that one too , “Grief Pedigree” was more of a straightforward traditional Hip-Hop album that i grew to love . The creative and abstract nature of Ka was showing more on “The Nights Gambit” for me and that album for me was when Ka was finding his niche and starting to master his craft, He leans on the concept of chess and the idea of competing to get ahead. This album also plays out like a personal cautionary tale of the weariness of those experiences that come with a crime lifestyle and trying to juggle doing good and doing bad, Off The Record” was innovative, “Jungle” with it’s elegant and airy production has Ka in reflection mode. Looking back on his youth in Brooklyn where he always felt he was in survival mode from birth and had to sin and navigate that life just to eat, he often flirted with wanting to do right in the past but couldn’t realistically, on “Peace Akhi” you get Ka at his punchline best . Over one of the eeriest Hip-Hop beats you will ever hear, the creakiness and tense nature of this beat makes this track is an atmospheric nightmare that makes you think something bad is gonna go down. The lines on this song are a huge standout for me as he raps “My art is parked in the medicine section, stay sharp each word carved, it’s lettered perfection, I got full bars you need better reception, Did I Mention I pay attention instead of for protection, Peace to my brethren in the depths of correction, true lives survived death and deception, a few cry from my effortless sketching" , the next album was a change of alias and direction when he comes back in as Dr. Yen Lo with the album "Days With Dr. Yen Lo" with the producer DJ Preservation. a very dark and abstract album loosely inspired by the film "The Manchurian Candidate", a year later he dropped his most ambitious album yet in "“Honor Killed The Samurai” where he explores the concept of wanting to live by the code of the samurai, instilling the beliefs of being humble. Being selfless and not being driven by greed but flirts with the temptations of doing bad once again to survive and in the bigger scheme of things realizes doing good all the time doesn’t always reward you, he never looked back from being able to execute the conceptual albums. As a writer after this album. It may still be his most popular project overall to this day also but it was obvious he made the music, in his own way And time period, these were artistic passion projects, albums where he could vent and paint his own canvas as an artist but also offer comfort, give valuable knowledge and lessons to the listener, you can right a lot of wrongs and self improve just listening and investing deep into his lyrics.
In 2018 I was still going through some serious health problems and one of the albums along with “Rosebudds Revenge 2” & “A Breukelen Story” in particular was his album with Animoss called “Orpheus Vs The Sirens” came along at the perfect time . That album was like the calm in the storm for me and a haven for my brain and ears, it was loaded with creativity. Ka was one of the modern greats at doing concept albums and blending it with his real life and this album is no different, “Orpheus Vs The Sirens” came at a troubling and stressful time in my personal life, as mentioned, Animoss used some instrumentation on here but he gives a generous amount of mellow richness to the production along with that , every time I played this album at night it was like going into a dream world and different one from my normal reality and this is what KA try’s to paint here, he blends the subjects of Greek mythology, his own personal life and the state of the modern world into one album, he also offers the listener guidance with the lyrics. Gets thoughtful on history and also shared his own struggles and pain on this album . These beats were made for him and his philosophical nature, this album made it onto my top 30 albums of the last 15 years comfortably, it meant a lot to me and was a escape and sort of comforting crutch to keep me relaxed, that just shows how creative and imaginative Ka gets here. He adopts the role of Orpheus on this album who was a prophet and poet . Which fits Ka as he gets compared to a poetic MC’s by fans, on the opener you get a snippet of Orpheus saying “Of Death I Am knowledgeable, danger I Do not fear and I Can give you music that will will tame wild beasts, lift men’s hearts to heaven” , this sets things off nicely in terms of the theme of the album, he uses the Greek mythology characters but he also incorporates and vents on coming from struggle and poverty in his own past life, to give the listener a cinematic and relatable experience at the same time, the whole atmosphere of this album, was like medicine for me on many long days. Some of my favorite Ka lyrics are also on this album, whether it’s a punchline or a long verse. His pen is just unique, on the track “Argo” he raps “The People love me deeply cause I speak that ugly elegant..” it summarises Ka completely. When you are so real people appreciate it and remember you, later on the album on the track “Golden Fleece” he raps “I want compassion from the highest, food for the lowest. Cures for the afflicted, rooves for the homeless, direction for the misled, heat for the coldest, love for the lonely, peace for the soldiers..” , this album is a modern classic for me, some of my favourite albums in Hip-Hop history, such as a “Midnight Marauders” really took your imagination on a journey and gave you an experience and a high you never wanted to come down from. This is that but more on the therapeutic side.
The next album was "“Descendants Of Cain” in 2020, this album was when Ka really got more religious and biblical in his themes in a bigger way and it extends as far to his final album “The Thief Next To Jesus” those topics of religion . On “Descendants Of Cain “ he compares the Cain & Abel murder to that of being even your own brother could kill you in that ghetto environment. Over drugs, ego and currency. This album he blends dark street storytelling of injustice and violence with things he was raised on by religion, for me Descendants Of Cain" is a top 3 Ka album, spiritually its an amazing album to listen to, the concept is interesting and the album is very atmospheric, its an emotional and poetic piece, sometimes haunting. He goes for a looser concept album on his 2021 album “A Martyrs Reward” where he speaks on wanting to be a leader willing to suffer for his community to see the light and a way out of poverty and their own suffering , this album had a more unified feel to it and he even had a younger MC called Navy Blue on the album. Ka typically only worked with friends and on his own prior to this album, he also branched out a little more on his two albums in 2022 but his final album this year was very much a personal album with no features once again and a strong concept, which was never a foreign thing when it came to Ka, he was an example of a leader. Staying Home team working with only his friends and those he wanted to guide and help shape their own inner greatness, this man’s powerful music will always have a place in my life and catalogue.
My facebook end of year ranking for Ka's albums of the years :
Dr Yen Lo - Days With Dr Yen Lo (6th best album of 2015, 1st was L'Orange & Jeremiah Jae - The Night Took Us In Like Family)
Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai (2nd best album of 2016, 1st was Apollo Brown & Skyzoo - The Easy Truth)
Hermit and the Recluse - Orpheus vs. the Sirens (2nd best album of 2018)
Ka -Descendants of Cain (2nd best album of 2020, behind Blu & Exile "Miles")
KA - A Martyr's Reward (3rd best album of 2021, behind Awon & Phoniks - Nothing Less & DJ Muggs & Rome Streetz - Death & the Magician)
Ka - Woeful Studies (14th best album of 2022, 1st place was Danger Mouse & Black Thought - Cheat Codes)
Ka - The Thief Next to Jesus (2024, still to be decided)
