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Flowers & Trees (2005)

by Yoshi

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  • Streaming + Download

    Brighton-based beatnik rapper-producer Yoshi is of Afghan origin and makes opium-scented, idyllic hip-hop that hankers for a new Daisy Age. Flowers & Trees is naive, infantile even, but unabashedly so. The opening track features a series of children discussing ecology issues, samples from gardening programmes and similarly themed soundbytes. But its seguing of musical scenery and ecstatic bursts of citrus, electric energy make it feel like some sort of acid, childhood flashback. Similarly, tracks like "Dream" are saved from lazy, looping trip-hop tropery by their lateral sound leaps and abrupt left-turns. Rapped sentiments like, "Love is the answer to American wars," may make some blanche, but Yoshi's art, as well as his heart, is in the right place. - THE WIRE

    Yoshi is a real one-man DIY operation, thankfully without ever compromising quality... Marrying DJ Shadow's aural patchwork approach with Danger Mouse's disregard for sample chiefing, Yoshi is patently enjoying complete freedom of sound... Beautiful. - HIP-HOP CONNECTION

    "Undoubtedly creative and colorfully experimental with his liberal and left-field sampling, abrupt disorienting shifts in musical style, and well-picked collaborations (Rahma Ali and The Pipettes contribute)... A very welcome breeze through the overtly self-conscious hip-hop scene." - THE SOURCE
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My little seeds reach far, Now you put 'em in your car, (boom!) Feel that bass in ya belly, Yoshi make the beats, Turn your waist into jelly, Put my soul in my LP's, Jus' like Ms. Nelly Furtado! Once I took a trip to Colorado, Up in them mountains, So free was my flow. I got so lovely on the microphone, When I came home, B-Town is my beautiful town, They call it a city now, 'Cos it's trendy, all these rich guys around, London's lovin' it, But I can't stand London, Can't stand anywhere where there ain't no beach, When I pen these lyrics, And the waves still teach, After all these years, I'm still makin' these beats, After all these years, My own life I'm controllin', No office jobs, No telesales, No phonin'. Hip-hop flowin' thru my veins like haemoglobin, Afghan man in a land of xenophobin' Everybody scared if ur different or hopin' To be original, takes skill and coachin', plus, The necessary gifts from Jah, That's bestowed on some people See them shine like stars, God or Allah; the same word for me, Yaweh or my way- we drivin' in the same car. On the road to the future, Still kissin' the future, She's my lady by my side as I pioneer music, I'm focused on the wheel (even tho I don't drive) And when you people sing my words Is when I'm feelin' most alive... When you see the future don't get scared When you see the future don't get scared When you see the past, don't get mad When you see the past, don't get mad Up & down everyday when I'm wearing my crown, it's like (oooh!) You see that gold in the temple? Blingin' in my mind, I only shine in the mental Glitter in the brain, Transfer it with a pencil. Bright-brown, like my tanned olive skin complexion, Flowers & Trees, I take a new direction, Humble, never stumble over phoney affection, Shy like a 12-year old hidin' his errection, Rappers too cocky, pumpin' muscles they flexin' A low down shame, Givin' MC's a bad name, Hip-hop got flushed down the bog with the cocaine, Paranoid junkies are the fans- they losin' it. Androids and monkeys with the money hands- Lovin' it. 15 minutes of fame they give, You thuggin' it. Got rid of my TV- no longer have to suffer it, No longer feelin' angry, No longer sayin' bugger it. Fans with my LP, you happy you discovered it? Laugh if you wanna, Yoshi always on some other shi- Protectin' my listeners like gloves or oven mits, Double-glazin, amazin', Got you buzzin' kid, My music is a melon and I'm tellin you to guzzle it, Guzzle my beats and my words are concrete, Sing along to this with your xylophone sticks, [Dum-da-dum-dum-da-dum-dum-dum!] Come and get a taste of words that I spit from my gums, I'm like Star Trek phasers, All you haters are spud-guns. And you know I ain't set to stun, I'm set to blow you away with my soul, so you better run When u see the future don't get scared When u see the future don't get scared When u see the past, don't get mad When u see the past, don't get mad Like Harold Bishop from Neighbours, I'm in this for life, And my sons'll look like me, Get married, have a wife, I got a secret plan to grow older in Granada, Spain, where I grow into a white-haired father, Readin' socialist papers, sippin' tea, never lager, I'll be sad if I have to read about the intifada, But I stand by my brothers even if it gets harder, I stand by the Truth like a youth.. I'm like Panthro from Thundercats, Keepin' it real, Crackin' jokes, crackin' skulls, My resolve- like steel. You could never understand me, just sit back and feel, If you can't- lay low, Keep your nose out my business, They search me at Heathrow, Touch me like a terrorist, Pakistani guy with his hands on my inner thigh, "Easy bro, keep your eyes off the grand prize" I see the window outside, Take a look at the sky! I feel good when I think of Brighton, The place of my birth, Everyday so exciting, Everyday so random, I make new beats in tandem. Don't be suprised if the next song is different 'cos, Every single piece of music I make is different, I spit potent perfume for the stinkin' Earth fumes, Yoshi speak on things that should really concern you... When u see the future don't get scared When u see the future don't get scared When u see the past, don't get mad.. When u see the past, don't get mad.. [X3] [Freestyles...]
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Dream 04:26
A home, a xylophone, a chrome, A dome inside my loneliness, A minor-test, a piece of stress, Upon my life: a vest. A bush, a blair, a cushion there, A dumbing down, a funny frown, A dressing gown, a naked town, In the surround sound. Too much microchips, I'm fighting it, Technology's inciting it, The sickness of the violence-fix, Ish on my brain. It's like a stain, It's like a sting, It's like a thing that hurts my feelings And it brings, Pain impossible to sing I'm like a dummy, No emotions; only phrases, Fundamentalists-unholy, When I only turn these pages. I'm a zealot, I'm a lover, I'm a... cigarette brother, I don't know what zealot means, I'm just having a dream. Motion-eye-rapid, Body hazard, Snow in the scene, It rain green, I'm a baby with a strangers' face... So displaced, I'm in my home, I take a taste, But it looks different Like my primary school, When I was six-years old, with a red plastic lunchbox.... With the thermos.... Peanut butter sandwhiches, wrapped up in cellophane, But I spilt my drink on it.... Liquid love, Inside my water, It's a hawk, its a dove, Inside my daughter I seen eyes of my future woman. She be faceless, but warm in my embraces, I see us together talkin in the kitchen, and it, Looks like the kitchen I remember from my youth, Afghan carpet on the floor, Keep me warm like the truth. After hip-hop, I am sound, Hear my voice And make the choice, Between a loop or profound, Piece of image When I finish, (Let me finish!) If I finish, You can bet that you be turnin' around, And it be turnin' you round. Inside my mind I'm a still baby of peace, Walkin' 'round with my blanket, trynna to find a warm place to keep, Every moment where my soul ran free, I recorded it, then mixed it with one of my hip-hop beats, Inside my mind I'm still down for the cause, Speakin' honest with these bones that move inside my jaws, I'm thinking 'love is the answer to American wars' ............ . . .......... .. .. .. . . . . . . . ' ' ~ Compassion! Don't forget the passion, AND companionship, Even when the politic-dick He flip the manuscript. Clear-focus, God chose us, We be masters of the planet, Spreadin' seeds around the globe like the pomegranate. Stroke my guitar, blow on this here horn, My body is the voice, Hear them singing at dawn.. ... I had a dream last night about a piece of art, And I promised to myself that I would make a start...
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Production, vocals (Diamondscepter) Vocals, additional samples (Y. Misdaq)
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I got that color in my mind, Gimme colour in my knees, Puttin' shades of green, In the flowers and trees, Cut grass- we have fights like it's snow, The smell so fresh, on a spring-time meadow, Age 5, and I'm feelin' alive, The child inside me, awaiting the bee-hive, Buzz-buzz-life in my beautiful brain, I'm a innocent baby, I got no complications, No women, no lust, no interest, No banks, no bills, no contests, No jealousy, nobody ahead of me, Lie on my back with the clouds on my eyebrows. My low-esteem?? Bye-bye now We all know how age looks from the inside out, let's listen for a change, feel how time sounds It sounds like birds up on a tree, Invisible songs, they appear from nowhere, The voice of God in my ears like a prayer, And if you don't believe, then your life is despair, Santa Claus don't exist up in here, There ain't no cupid, and the pints of beer only leave you with amnesia, Lost in fear, there's a light that's near, there's a light that's near, We can't live it like we love it and never pause for gratitude, Life's got too much goodness to be rude, To all the beautiful ladies with angel-faces, I got love in my body, lemme tie your laces, I'd run a million miles just to be so close, I got love in my heart, if we can share it, let's toast... Make a toast to us, And we can watch the sunset on Brighton beach with no lust... [Rahma Ali] Chillin' with my memories yeah, Chillin' as I reminisce yeah Chillin' with my memories yeah, Chillin' as I reminisce yeah No stress no pain I remember when, I's free happy, take it back again To a time and a place which at times I crave Running with emotions mama tells me you better behave No.. responsibility, No.... bills to follow me, Oh..... How I miss them days, Running through the park, swinging high on the swings I had a dream, I climbed the walls like spiderman, Flyin high like Orvil, 'cos he said I can, Anticipating, waiting for the ice-cream van, Lookin in the mirror child starring at me, And.... See the Catherine Wheel spin, See me skip as I sing, Tokes in Victoria Park, Tellin ghost stories so scared of the dark [David] Welcome to the future, All types to suit ya, .Point. 2 nutters per-every-square-meter, Spirited away, and I'm humble when I meet ya, Locked in my wordplay, Doin' it with synergy, Don't believe the talk about renewable energy, Swingin' from the branches, Shine from the enemy. God-ly almighty, He's alright with me, I've got these basic needs, just like newly sown grass seeds, Sub-text in your dreams, things you couldn't believe... Nah, you wouldn't believe it, And that girl at present; I think she'd definitely leave me. Got a nought an' breeze as I watch the trees leaning. Dwelling on the past, Overtaken by the cold, Two chapped lips and a coffee I hold, They trying to find ways to keep the caps frozen, Poppies overseas got our mothers hearts broken, Stars in the sky, it's like, dot-to-dot, This is grimey as sunshine, and seaside rock. [Yoshi] And let me sing it, cos if I sing it, it would go like this- When I'm running in the sight of the sun, I wanna have that fun with you... ...come on David, [Yoshi & David] When I'm running in the sight of the sun, I wanna have that fun with you... ...come on Rahma, [Yoshi & Rahma] When I'm running in the sight of the sun, I wanna have that fun with you... ...come on everybody, everybody, everybody.... [Everybody] When I'm running in the sight of the sun, I wanna have that fun with you... I can't sing but I got some soul...
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Intermission 00:29
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The Funk 04:46
Ever since all of my life, I been trapped, Shut me up, they tried to gimme a bit-- slap, They tied my talent in a knot, but I love that, Harry Houdini- Mr.Yoshi got a magic act... Rappin' with a venom, catch your breathe on the track, Wack rappers with high voices and babies nut-sacks, Trying to get your place in this hip-hop? You may look all right, with your headbands and what-not, But what you really know about this cultural music? What you really know about the history of this sh--??? F money, I do it cos it's funny when my lines, Make a smile, and I'm feelin' the styles, It's like, Primo's beats make me smile, 'Cos I know him like family, he's in my ears, Pete Rock and large Prof. thru the years, Rza, and Timbo, Neptunes & Dre I'ma be up there with the best of 'em one day, Workin' on my sound from Sunday to Monday, Waiting for the day when they pay me for my lazy lifestyle, I got beats in my right-pile, Lyrics in my left, and my room is a mess, I got notepads fallin off of my desk, Full of stress, that I put into rhymes, I confess, I only spend 5 minutes on each of these tracks My minds always jumping from this to that. I got books on my mind, Write words til I'm blind, Uni takes up time, I got classes I'm behind, Essays I can't find, Oh ... it's presentation time! I ain't rehearsed, so I'm gonna be stutterin' As long as you know, so let's commence with my mutterin' I know you don't care what it is that I be utterin' As long as it sound good, teacher be lovin' it, Yoshi get an C, it's all good, see me hugging it, My standards ain't high, I'm just thinkin' 'bout my other hits, Beats that I make, they rain-down from my mother-ship, Onto him and her, I mean them clubbers in the public, Even goodie goodies in the parks havin' pic-nics, Bumpin' my sounds through their futuristic megabits, memory sticks, mp3's, and mini-discs, Most of my time, I'm thinking of some new silly-skits, Guitar-licks, check out my brain, it's like acrylics, Shiny bright red paint, I know you can't feel it, Cos I'm independent in every sense, I think different to u cats that's trapped up in pence, 50 cents and a penny for your thoughts, There's too much sh-- on the radio that's bought. If they don't pay the Neptunes to make them sound good, They'll copy 'em anyway, to make themselves sound good... That's is how it's always been, But I got no time for hate when I balance the beam, I'm just trynna keep a straight path, follow my dreams, Nobody can control my type, Yoshi sings, Everyday, in my freedom life Try to touch me, you best not try 'Cos You can't, see me, even with a big flash-light.. [[[I dedicate this to the robbers that stole my bag when I was in Barcelona, cos they took my MP3 cd-player, and I know you can't appreciate Joni Mitchell or D'angelo or Krs-1 or Dead Can Dance or any of the other albums that you nicked....but rest assured in your cocaine dreams; if I ever see you again boys... I'ma dispose of you like the Spanish voters disposed of Jose Maria Aznar! That guy was shiesty, Jose Maria you were shiesty boy- you got voted out!]]] Nobody can control this war, It's like, All the troops know the bullsh-- score They love using big words like 'terrorist', But they get confused when their target miss. This the sound of the UK troops, Droppin' bombs in hip-hop, and makin' loot. I don't think about the money, not at all, I just love my funk, and my basketball... Oh funk don't leave me now [x15...]
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Afghan Eagle 01:07
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Under 01:13
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... Home 02:37
I went from... Wall Street to Andalucia's heat, From San Diego palm trees to Brighton beach breeze, There ain't no place like home- call me Dorothy, You clickin' on your heels, Gettin' down to this polished beat. You could say that it's a change in policy; Rap reminiscing like a kid so honestly. You'd be surprised if you heard my first LP, But I couldn't stay depressed forever (somebody helped me!) My soul's a contented buffalo, I roll with the flows, keep it real, had enough of those, Fake musicians, so snobby with your upper-nose Stuck in the sky; musical elitist. Middle-finger up in your eye- you're a defeatist, Tellin' me about cliche's and "what I should say"!!? Step out my way, gerbil face, you forgotten, My whole style is fresh, I do it for the down-trodden. Leave you inspired like a trip to the Tate Modern, You know I do it cos I love it- that I solemnly swear, So King Charles, get your hands in the air, Let's start a new UK without commercialism, If you speakin' the truth, then every word I listen, I'm like a bird, fly high, or a man gone fishin', sittin' Remenisce, and fill my vision with the wisdom, Play my tracks real loud for your system... . . I'm just a little kid lost in the flowers & trees, I'm tryin to scrape a little moss from the powers that be, I'm tryin to be my own man independently, I'm gonna make a little money if it's meant to be. But otherwise; hip-hop is helping me, I got a sunshine-mind, shine mentally, From down South to the North where the Shetlands be, I spit words full of love for this entity... Make Islamic-art, do it frequently, An outcast like no-other on my frequency, I had a childhood complex secretly, But I'm a grown-arse man jus' recently.... Oh when I go home, where I want to be. Pick me up, and turn me round, and turn me round and round and round. I feel young! Guess I must be, guess i must be, guess i must be havin' fun. Oh when I go home, Where I want to be , Pick me up, and turn me round, and turn me round and round and round.. I feel young... I feel young! I feel young (You can't touch me when I feel like this, so I don't care if you ain't feelin' my lyrics!) Yoshi Yoshi, in the house and I'm signing out... In the house and I'm signin' out. . . . ....... Peace!

about

" 'touch me like a terrorist' is one of the best lines i have heard in long time. y, in all seriousness, it is a tight jewel that i cherish dearly and it has uplifted beyond words.

all i could say to when listening to it is 'that's my brutha flowing'.

khoda hafez and duas" - Lawrence Braithewaite, New Palestine, Canada.

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"listening to ur album has become a daily thing for me, like a daily dose of happiness, i think the nicest thing about the songs is that u can never really get bored of them or know them too well." - Hiba, Amman, Jordan

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"The best thing is in 'when u see the future' and those xylophone sticks kick in, that's genius man, seriously. I didn't see that coming at all, it made me laugh aloud the first few times I heard it, and a broad smile everytime now. And thats awesome, I mean I can think of plenty of records that get that headnod reaction, that get feet tapping or make me smile, you know, but I can't remember the last time some music made me laugh like, just sheerly out of amusement ... Seriously though, the BEST thing is actually the inspiration you've given me. I've been feeling so much music recently, all kinds of ish and just really getting the urge to express myself in creative ways that I haven't felt for a few years and that I thought wouldn't come back. But when you say "I had a dream last night about a piece of art and I promised to myself that I'd make a start", it slapped me like a one-hit cure for procrastination. Its become part of my mantra as I get up in the morning, because what's the point of all these ideas, these revelations and crazy stuff rattling around my head if I'm not going to put it down some how, get it into the world and share it with people?" - Nelson, Huddersfield, UK

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"I fell asleep listening to "flowers and trees" last night and had the most interesting dream Ive had in a while so I thought you should know about it ... sooo ok I’m walking through this road covered in yellowy golden autumn leaves ... I reach this community of people that live near the ocean ... the place is abandoned ... some buildings are in complete ruins ... and there's this awful smelll something I’d never smelled, just intolerable... my eyes hurt ... some real stankin' fumes ... but theres children playing everywhere ... laughing and it’s raining, and they're jumping all over the place .. they’re everywhere !... and so I keep walking and I reach a field covered with dead bodies ... like a battle field ... BUT ...trees are growing through the dead bodies!! .. lifting them above the ground ... and the trees are huge and just so strong and the leaves ... they’re like rainforest ones ... those huge ones ... I drew this ... I wish I could show ya cus I don't think you're getting the picture .. maybe you are .. the bodies arms and legs are hanging from the trunk of the tree and it keeps growing and growing ,.. towards the sky until I cant see them anymore ... I dont know what to get from it ...

anyway ... just wanted to share ... especially cus i think it had to do with "flowers ..."

I was writing in my journal about it last night (your LP) ... as I was listening ... thinking that it felt like re-reading a good book.. you know ... second time around ... you have more freedom to enjoy the details ... let yourself be enriched by ...take in so much more cus youre no longer worried about following the story ... getting the plot together.... anticipating... plus i got so much feed back from the author ...YOSH its so playful!! ... its played with my mind as much as the first time I listened... its fresh squeezed yoshiberry juice ... "I like it i like it " like that voice in f &T hahaha - Anonymous, California, USA

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"YOSHI, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE HERE!? :)

you did it again, musicman! sometimes you feel something so real you can't even get dramatic about it. I'm impressed to no limit, this album's like nothin ive heard. the sound is so different, so upbeat, great ensemble of samples and beats and voices...man, it's like...its like the perfect detailing of an architect who designs a room in which every form of sunlight - high beam, low beam, direct, indirect - comin thru those windows is in some way always beautiful, always welcomed, and always meaningful.

the sampling is really, right on target, a message behind it always, sometimes its light hearted and great sounding and other times it gets deeper and you listen more closely at the slower sounds. my first thoughts as I listened to the first couple tracks were about the beats tho, such awesome sounds, and your voice, its much more experimental, you sound so happy, so full of life...it made me laugh at times, smile, and just THINK, you know? it's such a good feel, so inspiring and uplifting.

you know what it was like listening to it the whole way through for the first time: it was like beautiful kids sitting around you talking to you at the same time cuz they want your attention so bad...youre just bombarded by so much goodness and it just keeps getting better...like every time you listen to the album you notice something new and fresh, a small detail you never noticed before, but then it was already so good to begin with. its funny i feel like ive known the album forever yet ive only been listening to it for three days, im not sure what that means, but you discover something different each time. its layered so deep. God! you can't do this if you don't commit your whole self to it you know...i mean, yeah, of course you know. i realized that again reflecting on what it probably took for you to produce this.

the album is an incredible one: positive, inclusive, full of reality and goodness, and not the empty-headed happiness that just floats away with no after effect, but the kind that makes you wanna change, to improve yourself..." - Nadia, New Jersey, USA

credits

released May 17, 2005

Written, produced & performed by Yusuf Misdaq aka Yoshi.
Album cover by Y. Misdaq, inspired from a different original design by Dana Shahzada.

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about

MASTAKAI Los Angeles, California

MASTAKAI, (previously Yoshi / Yusuf Misdaq) has lived many lives in many places. He was making beats, writing lyrics, producing music and singing songs long before he was born. He is from Afghanistan. He will die there, and be reborn again there.

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