{"id":11968,"date":"2014-07-18T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/?p=11968"},"modified":"2014-07-19T06:31:34","modified_gmt":"2014-07-19T11:31:34","slug":"introducing-na-hip-hop-a-k-a-rna-the-messenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/introducing-na-hip-hop-a-k-a-rna-the-messenger\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing… N\/A Hip Hop a.k.a. RNA the Messenger"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"N\/A<\/p>\n

Those of you who frequent this blog will know that I don’t cover a whole lot of hip-hop. In fact, I think the only rap artists I’ve ever covered here have been John Forte and M.U.R.S.<\/a><\/strong>. It’s not that I’m racist, or even that I particularly dislike this style of music. The issue is that I’m a lyrics girl, and let’s face it, the vast majority of rap\/hip-hop is incredibly misogynist and perhaps even worse than that, vacuous. This is why, when I hear someone doing something vital and interesting in this genre, I get really excited.<\/p>\n

Greg Matthew, the mastermind behind N\/A Hip Hop a.k.a. RNA the Messenger<\/a><\/strong> is originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, though he’s now based in Austin, Texas (one of many Boston to Austin defectors). An English grad from Boston College, he delivers the message to teens that it’s possible to rap sincerely and honestly “without selling out and saying all the nonsense one hears on the radio.” He’s inspired by the emotion the music evokes, and expresses himself through the filter of his literary background. The result is something sophisticated yet visceral, poetic and predatory.<\/p>\n

\"

<\/p><\/div>\n

N\/A Hip Hop (which stands for nucleic acid and\/or not available) released their first 6-track EP, “The Code”<\/a><\/strong>, under the name DNAtheG. They’re currently recording with Robie Rowland at Echo Studios<\/a><\/strong> to release their second EP, “Here Cometh The Dreamer,” under the name RNAtheMessenger, later this year. In the meantime, they’re releasing singles from it, the first of which is “Marco Polo.” The music video (see below) was filmed by Steven Yee, a former classmate of Matthew’s at Boston Latin School and Boston College who now works as a Hollywood film director. It’s beautifully shot like a short film, and follows the story of an emcee who chooses a performance over a date with his girlfriend. What follows is a dreamlike series of events where he comes home to find evidence that she’s cheating on him (though it’s not clear if she is or not), they fight and he takes off into the woods to clear his mind. There’s a lot of symbolism with a dropped and then found yin-yang necklace, as he confronts his personal demons. As the artist himself explains, “What I was trying to say is that even though he just fought with his girl and she cheated, he knows he was the reason for her disloyalty because he didn’t put her first, so the real fight is not with her but with himself.” That’s certainly a far cry from “bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks.”<\/p>\n