Burning Tire Artisan by Chee Malabar
“Work for everything you have, never have your hand out…”
If there ever was a chant on an LP that matches the artist spittin’ the words better than this, I’d be surprised to hear it. Chee Malabar never has and never will have his hand out. Everything he is, everything he has, everything he will become, is because of hard-fuckin’-work. With four LP’s under his belt as 1/2 of the hiphop duo Himalayan Project, another LP under the moniker Oblique Brown and an EP titled “Dust” w/long-time collaborator Zeeb, you know this cat has put in his time. Chee’s voice is powerful and he uses it to speak openly & vulnerably about love, the immigrant experience, relationships, politics and religious ignorance…he’s a true social commentator, engaging his listeners with subject matter that could make some uncomfortable, always speaking the harsh truth. That’s what I feel is missing in a lot of today’s music, honesty. Who we are in this world is based on our life experience. Many try to change that or create an alter-ego in the arts to creatively release whatever expression is brewing within them and it more or less ends up looking like a side-show. With Chee, what you see, is what you get. His music, his writing (did I mention he’s an author with a plethora of incredible short stories and is currently completing his first novel?) is all based on his unique experience in life. He hides nothing, he pulls no punches. His art is his truth…
“But life is hard, why go at it easy?”
Big ups on another solid release my brotha…my people, you can listen to & buy the record here:
