''Bayani'' is the second full-length album by
alternative hip hop group
Blue Scholars
Blue Scholars is an American hip hop duo based in Seattle, Washington, created in 2002 while the members, DJ Sabzi (Saba Mohajerjasbi) and MC Geologic (George Quibuyen), were students at University of Washington.
The name "Blue Scholars" is ...
. The album was released on the group's own label,
Mass Line Media, and
Rawkus Records
Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One).
Label heads Brian Brater and Jarret Myer then si ...
on June 12, 2007, nationwide and has been available for purchase at their shows since May 11.
The album's title is a
Tagalog and
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
word meaning "heroes of the people" and "the Word" respectively. Those specific languages were chosen because the Blue Scholars' two members, Geologic and Sabzi, are Filipino and Persian respectively.
The album is thematically similar to the duo's previous works, with some songs focused on socio-political issues and others showing devotion for the
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
area. The song "50K Deep" in particular brings both themes together and describes the events of the
"Battle of Seattle" in November 1999. The song was the inspiration for an interview featured in Seattle paper ''
The Stranger'' with Geologic and
Against Me! frontwoman
Laura Jane Grace, who also wrote a song about the WTO protests titled "Baby, I'm an Anarchist".
A video for the song "Back Home" was produced by Sabzi's brother Zia and released in June 2007.
The duo also released a video for "Joe Metro" in November 2007. It features Geo riding
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
's route 48 around Seattle and walking the city streets. A video blog was posted to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
documenting the filming of the video.
[. Last accessed October 19, 2007.]
Since the original 25,000 copies released through Massline/Rawkus in 2007 are out of print, Blue Scholars re-released this album through
Duck Down Records
Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 20-year existence, the Company has rel ...
on September 1, 2009. The re-release is called ''Bayani Redux'' and includes three bonus songs not on the original release: two from digital EPs and one new song.
Track listing
Personnel
* Sabzi – DJ
* Geologic – vocals
Additional personnel
* Baháʼí Healing Prayer on Track 1 chanted by "Amu" Behnam Khoshkhoo.
* Trombone on Track 6 by Ben O'Shea, additional vocals by Khingz.
* Additional vocals on Track 11 by Rahwa Habte and Semone Andu.
* Additional vocals on Track 12 provided by Jill Laxamana.
* Guitar on Track 14 by Andy Coe.
* Trombone on Track 6 and guitar on Track 14 recorded by Aaron Walker-Loud and Deva Griffin-Grimes at One Family Inc. Studios.
* Mixed by
Martin Feveyear and Saba "Sabzi" Mohajerjasbi at Jupiter Studios, Seattle WA.
* Mastered by David Locke at JP Masters, Seattle WA.
References
External links
Blue Scholars Myspace Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayani (Album)
2007 albums
Blue Scholars albums