Cyne

When you think about the word Rap what images come into your head? Radio songs, music that has mass appeal, abusing women, and drugs, gold chains and jewelry. You get the idea. The group Cyne disagrees with that notion completely. You've probably never heard of this group, and they're perfectly fine with that. Cyne raps in the way that is defined by the acronym R.A.P.: Rhythmically Accentuating Poetry. That's what the emcees that make up Cyne are, Poets.

Pronounced "Sign", the name Cyne itself is also an acronym, standing for Cultivate Your New Experience. As a group, Cyne is comprised of two emcees and two producers. Cise Star of Florida and Akin of West Africa joined together to drop imagery on the mic. Producers Spock and Enoch always combine a melody with a smooth rhythm to form a one of a kind sound.

Cyne – Running Water

The beat starts out simply with no percussion, building up, and by the time the drums come in this is a full, complex beat that is captivating. There is no silence, much like listening to the sounds of running water.

Cise Star comes in hard, reminiscing about how he used to be much worse off. "I used to let the stress get the best of me/empty liquor bottles litter the floor/ before was my enemy", and you can almost feel the pain he's conveying over the beat. Past traumas, things that have affected him, and how all of it is water under the bridge are tied together in this short, untraditional verse packed with complex wordplay. "A fallen angel/ flip the L and E to make it angle/ my mind ain't RIGHT because my mind aint STABLE, get it," and "Like Icarus becase I'm close to the sun". The last line is one of the most impactful lyrics I've heard listening to hip hop.

The next verse showcases Akin's talent in telling stories using only a few lines, while still managing to paint a reverberating picture in the listeners mind. He also sets himself apart from the mainstream even further in his verse, referring to Ja rather than God as though he were broadcasting his differences. He speaks about how obsessing to stay popular makes the act of enjoying life itself seem boring and not interesting, "Where vanity be so real that life's dormant". Akin also ties the beginning and end of his verse together beautifully by reusing the same lines to illustrate that it's the same thing that's happening, and uses the verse to paint the picture of differing circumstances.

I'm taking Creative Writing this semester. My teacher explained to me the difference between a simile (all too commonly referred to as a metaphor in hip hop (ex: Put the red dot on you like a Japan flag- and all Papoose actually) and an actual metaphor (ex: Heaven opened up its doors and I fell through a cloud). Don't get me wrong, similes are short, can be funny, and definitely require a little thinking. But a metaphor has the power of being interpreted by the listener, making it much more powerful. Cyne is one of the best groups at utilizing this, period. No doubt I'll cover them again in the future.

-JR

Cyne - Running Water (mediafire)