“Into the Clouds” is the second single from the upcoming more-than-human hip hop kraKIN LP. With mushrooms playing 808’s and basslines, melodic percussion built from the calls of Steller's Jays, and rapid tapping hi hats created out of the rhythm of a Woodpecker, this bouncing track is infused with the natural world. Joining the fray are biosonified indigenous plants: Horsetail on horns, and Wild Blueberry and Hellebore on ambient and staccato synths. Singh and Datura’s lyrics invite us on a pilgrimage to the mountaintop to contemplate our impact on the environment and invite our imaginations to take flight into what could be possible. One of the verses is even written from the perspective of Woodpecker who has hopes for joining the Wu-Tang Clan, ‘Rrratitatitat: now that’s where it’s at / guard a habitat with a rapid tap / punch a hole through the back of this bark like a hole through the dark | stacking bills, making marks with this art / keep it sharp.”
“This tune was inspired by the alpine regions of the world which have always been destinations for spiritual pilgrimages,” says Singh. “All the sounds come from Mt Washington in Strathcona National Park on the lands of the K’omoks people on Vancouver Island. The colourful lyric video was created by Alevate Studios with animations from the flavourcel collective.”
Through the valley and up to your peaks
Feet curve on the Earth so it speaks now
Sit for a second and sit for minute and
Sit for an hour so you might see an image of
Those that are airborne air formed in the storm
Walking in the land of the gods: better pray hard
Better play the odds for time out of mind
There's been union in this paradise
Colonizer bind got us thinking twice: fuck a vice
Imma get lost in a birdsong
Let it steer me wrong—migration of a dream gone
Catch me with the dawn as it breaks with these 808’s
Jays start bouncin’ at just the right pace now
Grace is bond and it all belongs—we better catch on
Before we pass it on / it’s hard to stay calm
when you can’t right a wrong / When you can’t see beyond
So we cast it in a song
Chorus
Get up and get higher
Get your wings gettin flyer
Get up, Get up, Get up
Yo—this life is wonderous / & this life is what you make it
but the Industry infinitely perpetuates the fake shiiit
Escape the matrix / we on some more-than-human shape shift
the mountains are alive: with the music that creates this
place as sacred playlist / what makes the booties shake with
a grace that never did betray the heart who loved her shameless
we wander on / we aimless / we leave with what we came with
believe that only you prevent the fires that could change us
Chorus
Get up and get higher
Get your wings gettin flyer
Rrrrttititat—Now that’s where it’s at: guard a habitat with a rapid tap
Punch a hole through the back of this bark like a hole through the dark
Stacking bills, making marks with this art—keep it sharp
like the edge of wing tips as they kiss the sky—how high?!? —(breath)
We keep it so fly with this battle cry – occupying air like the blade of a samurai
Katana folded tongue got it sprung reaching out from these lungs
Is it real son? Is it really real son? (Sample: Bring the Pain)—Encoded in the bass drum
You can hear the Earth hum—that’s where we coming from
Gotta us strummin on the web of life with the edge of a knife
—Think twice (echo): who's payin’ the price cuz it ain’t right (it ain’t right!)
So we take flight from the dawn into the night
Taking apart the pattern the pace —making a chart, a ladder to grace
Shapin’ up on the matter to face we interlaced through time and space
Chorus
outro:
From the mountains we’ve been reaching to the edge of the day
All the dreams of our futures seem to pass away (melt away?)
taking wings into the wild we pray><prey for them to wake
we fade into the clouds while we wait for them to break (go high)
released October 17, 2023
Produced & Composed by Ruby Singh
Lyrics & Vocals by Ruby Singh and professah exile (Dr. Michael D. Datura)
Background Vocals by Holly Eccleston
Turntables by DJ Su Commandante
Artwork by: Ruby Singh
Design and Layout by Rob Eccles
Mixed by Alex Penny at Monarch Studios
Mastered by Brock McFarlane at CPS Studios
