| Revolutionary Vol. 2 | |||||
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| Studio album by Immortal Technique | |||||
| Released | November 18, 2003 | ||||
| Genre | Hip hop Political hip hop |
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| Length | 67:46 | ||||
| Label | Viper Records | ||||
| Producer | Toure "Southpaw" Harris Metaphysics Danja Mowf Domingo 44 Caliber Omen |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
| Immortal Technique chronology | |||||
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| Extended artwork | |||||
| [[Image:{{{Cover}}}|200px|Extended artwork|200px]] | |||||
Revolutionary Vol. 2 is the second album released by rapper Immortal Technique and is a follow-up to his debut album, Revolutionary Vol. 1. In spite of the fact that it was released independent of major studio support, it made record sales, fueling its revolutionary concept. All of the CDs displayed Immortal Technique's phone number. It was endorsed by Mumia Abu-Jamal, who introduces the album and also provides a speech about hip hop's relationship to Homeland security. Apart from crude sexual imagery, Revolutionary Vol. 2 attacks the United States government, especially the Bush Administration. Immortal Technique goes as far as suggesting that there is a conspiracy that serves to divert and imprison blacks and Latinos, if not all of the peasantry. In an attempt to reveal the hypocrisy of American jingoism, he makes reference to Project MKULTRA, the Patriot Act, Acid rain, American companies with Nazi ties, the Catholic Church's platform of non-involvement during the The Holocaust, and the Church calling Muhammad a "terrorist" amongst many other accusations.
Contents |
Track listing
| # | Title | Producer(s) | Performer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Revolutionary Intro" | Mumia Abu-Jamal | 0:13 | |
| 2 | "The Point of No Return" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique | 4:03 |
| 3 | "Peruvian Cocaine" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique, Pumpkinhead, Diabolic, Tonedeff, Poison Pen, Loucipher, C-Rayz Walz |
4:50 |
| 4 | "Harlem Streets" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique | 3:54 |
| 5 | "Obnoxious" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique | 4:51 |
| 6 | "The Message and the Money" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique | 3:57 |
| 7 | "Industrial Revolution" | Metaphysics | Immortal Technique | 3:40 |
| 8 | "Crossing the Boundary" | Danja Mowf | Immortal Technique | 4:49 |
| 9 | "Sierra Maestra" | Domingo | *Instrumental* | 0:49 |
| 10 | "The 4th Branch" | Danja Mowf | Immortal Technique | 5:20 |
| 11 | "Internally Bleeding" | Domingo | Immortal Technique | 2:47 |
| 12 | "Homeland and Hip Hop" | 44 Caliber | Mumia Abu-Jamal | 2:46 |
| 13 | "The Cause of Death" | Omen | Immortal Technique | 5:55 |
| 14 | "Freedom of Speech" | Danja Mowf | Immortal Technique | 3:09 |
| 15 | "Leaving the Past" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique | 4:30 |
| 16 | "Truth's Razors" | *Interlude* | 0:21 | |
| 17 | "You Never Know" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique, Jean Grae | 7:50 |
| 18 | "One (Remix)" | Southpaw | Immortal Technique, Akir | 4:36 |
Song descriptions
In "The Point of No Return", Immortal Technique discusses the origin of Latinos, "just like the Spanish exterminating Taínos, raping the black and Indian women..." and mentions the Templar Knights taking Jerusalem and figuring out what was buried under Solomon's Temple. He raps about Mary Magdalene giving birth to the children of Jesus and about the depleted uranium scandal. He quotes Scarface and New Jack City in "Peruvian Cocaine", describing the journey that cocaine takes as it reaches American cities. Each MC featured on the track takes on the role of a character involved in the drug flow, including a Coca field worker, a Peruvian drug kingpin, a corrupt leader of Peru, an American CIA Agent, an American drug dealer, a corrupt policeman, and a prisoner incarcerated for drug trafficking. One of the more graphic songs on the album, "Obnoxious" is one of most humorous tracks on the album, also containing some of most offensive subject matter. "I'm going to prank call 1-800 cop shot just for kicks, payback for every time that they called me a spic, and Puerto Rican chicks tell me that I fuck like I'm loco, and Dominican women call me the rompe todo". Along with its humor and vulgarity, the song is also very political and attacks multiple angles of popular culture. The song was noted in several magazines as one of the most downloaded hip hop songs on the Internet in 2004, only beaten out by Eminem and The Neptunes. "The Cause of Death" suggests that the United States government was not only aware of, but indirectly and/or directly responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks. Immortal Technique also discusses the seven-headed dragon of the Book of Revelations, rapping that he will reveal "George Bush and Bin Laden as two separate parts of the same seven headed dragon". "Freedom of Speech" uses the samples from Walt Disney's Pinocchio; Pinnochio's lack of strings serves as an allegory for Immortal Technique's artistic independence. Immortal Technique raps about the contractual slavery of the rap industry, deriding the government's restrictions on free speech, and insulting Bill O'Reilly, criticizing him and the supposed strings attached to being told what to say or write by Pepsi or Media Corp. In "You Never Know", Immortal Technique laments a missed opportunity at love, with Jean Grae singing the chorus. Technique himself has stated that the song is not based on one true story, but rather a collection of unrelated experiences in his life.
Impact
This album was referred to in the song "Truth" by rapper Diabolic: "I wanna go to the oval office, pop a few and act out the cover of Revolutionary Vol. 2".
