Artist(s): Dirt
Song: Royal Rucus
Word Count: 382
Soundscape: GoldenChild
Recorded: Sad Puppy studios
Album: a War to Restore (Syntax rec. 2001)

Dirts favorite Line(s): ‘recognize my gifts to accomplish ministry’


The small intro track at the beginning (and a piece at the end) was done by Faze. I don’t know if many remember, but he had a dope album off of Grapetree records. He has always been a Jimi Hendrix fan. So when I thought about redoing Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’ (replacing ‘Hey Joe’ with ‘Hey Dirt’) I knew no other man for the job. Faze rocked the whole thing, playing the guitar himself. He dropped a breakbeat behind it all to complete it, and the rest is history.
This actual Royal Rucus song cracks me up! I still get emails from people that have had the album for a year before realizing that the second verse is the first verse backwards. I thought about the idea back in the PLAGUE days, but when it came time to record that album I didn’t have enough material for this song.
So after PLAGUE was done, I finished up this song and waited in anticipation to drop it! The problem was that the wait was almost 3 years. In that time I had always practiced the first verse forward and just thought it would be easy to rock it backwards. Not once did I practice it in reverse because of my big fat ego!
In the studio I deliver most songs within 4 takes on a bad day. I had never messed up so much while recording than when I was trying to do the second verse of this song. In my ignorance I had failed to realize that reversing the words reverses the rhyme patterns. So as I was used to the lyrics in forward, I was a bumbling fool when I tried to get em going backwards. You can’t hear it that well (because Jesse is a genius at mix downs) but I had to punch in on the second verse every few lines. I could barely get it out. It was like doing a tongue twister because I hadn’t practiced it at all. The sucky consequence to this is that, although it’s a fan favorite, the fear of repeating the recording session on stage has kept me from performing it live!
It was Jesse’s idea (and voice) to do the ‘therapist’ in the chorus. My favorite part of that is how he asks me to ‘take him back to the beginning’ before I start the second verse (and then I literally do, by taking him back to first lyric). At the end of the song Jesse says ‘theres not a lot of help for you’ and then he jumped up, threw some things around the room and slammed the door! We were cracking up in the sound booth. At first we couldn’t figure out what the heck he was doing, jumping around all crazy! He got mad props when he came back to the soundboard.
If you listen closely, you can hear my voice break on the backups during the first verse when I say ‘I turn around’. Just a small thing I always noticed that always bugs me.
I have been told that on Nas’ last album, he does the same idea (second verse is first in reverse). I haven’t verified this because I like Nas. The creative ideas are out there, and if you don’t get it out then someone else will! My ideas have always been cutting edge and I love pushing the envelope, but I am not known enough to be the originator…yet!
This track was remixed by DJ Theatre for ‘the Upsetter Mixtape’, 2009.







ROYAL RUCKUS
RECOGNIZE MY GIFTS TO ACCOMPLISH MINISTRY
HOLD MY MIC EFFECTIVELY
DEMONS THAT MISDIRECT ME
WHEN I FIGURE IT OUT I TURN AROUND N' CHOP 'EM IN VISECTOMIES
MAKE CERTAIN OF VICTORIES
AND TO PREVENT INJURIES
I STRUCTURE MY FORCES ACCORDINGLY
TO SUPPLEMENT EXTRAORDINARY,
TACTICS
SPRING FORTH LIKE A MATTRESS
I MARRIED MANY STYLES LIKE A POLYGAMIST
BUT ONLY LOVE ONE WOMAN
AND WHEN I SING THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE UNION
I STOMP AN ARMY LIKE THE SMALL FORCE OF GIDEON
DO SOME WORK ON YOUR BRAIN LIKE ASPIRIN
2 TIMES IN THE MORNIN', AND 2 TIMES AT DUSK
TO GOD I'M PRECIOUS, MOVE LIKE EARTH CRUST
ATTACK N' LEAVE FEW DEFENSES

THE EARTH LEVITATES, DEEJAYS STORE RECORDS IN CRATES
AS I CONCENTRATE
TO GENERATE A MANDATE THAT WILL IRRITATE
THOSE WHO STAGNATE
MY CULTURE
REAPOLSTER EMCEE'S LIKE FURNITURE
THEN SIGN MY AUTOGRAPH
RECEIVED BURNT LIPS FROM SERAPHIM AND SERAPH
NOW I WRITE DEADLY PARAGRAPHS
N' LEAVE DEVASTATING AFTERMATHS
THAT SMASH THE PATHS OF WICKED OFFICIALS
'CUASE THEIR WAYS ARE SUPERFICIAL
I STEP ON EM, LIKE STAIR CLIMBIN AROBICS
PLUCK EM OUT LIKE ACCOUSTIC
THEN SEND THEIR PHILOSOPHIES AWAY, BROKEN N' AFFLICTED


SEND THEIR PHILOSOPHIES AWAY, BROKEN N' AFFLICTED
PLUCK EM OUT LIKE ACCOUSTIC
STEP ON EM LIKE STAIR CLIMBIN AROBICS
'CUASE THEIR WAYS ARE SUPERFICIAL
THESE WICKED OFFICIALS
I SMASH THEIR PATHS
N' LEAVE DEVASTATING AFTERMATHS
FROM MY WRITTEN DEADLY PARAGRAPHS
RECEIVED BURNT LIPS FROM SERAPHIM AND SERAPH
THE I SIGN MY AUTOGRAPH
REAPOLSTER EMCEE'S LIKE FURNITURE
FOR STAGNATING MY CULTURE
I GENERATE A MANDATE THAT WILL IRRITATE
AND AFTER I CONCENTRATE
I STORE RECORDS IN CRATES AS THE EARTH LEVITATES
ATTACK N' LEAVE FEW DEFENSES
MOVE LIKE EARTH CRUST, TO GOD I'M PRECIOUS
2 TIMES AT DUSK, AND 2 TIMES IN THE MORNIN'
DO SOME WORK ON YOUR BRAIN LIKE ASPIRIN
I STOMP AN ARMY LIKE THE SMALL FORCE OF GIDEON
THEN BLAST OUT WITH THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE UNION
N' ALTHOUGH I ONLY LOVE ONE WOMAN
I MARRIED MANY STYLES LIKE A POLYGAMIST
SPRING FORTH LIKE A MATTRESS
TO SUPPLEMEMNT EXTRAORDINARY TACTICS
I STRUCTURE MY FORCES ACCORDINGLY
N' PREVENT INJURIES TO MAKE CERTAIN OF VICTORY
I CHOP DEMONS IN VISECTOMIES
WHEN I FIND OUT THEY MISDIRECTED ME
HOLD MY MIC EFFECTIVELY
N' RECOGNIZE MY GIFTS TO ACCOMPLISH MINISTRY