History
Lyrically, "Bug Powder Dust" is essentially a homage to the author William S. Burroughs. Crowded with seemingly random images and 'in' references from pop culture, Justin Warfield's lyrics adopt a Burroughs-type view of the world.
However, through its use of Burroughs imagery - both fictional and biographic - as well as pulp science fiction iconography from the period, "Bug Powder Dust" also mimics the author's mashing up of fact and fiction by becoming simultaneously about, and of, Burroughs
Burroughs' most famous work, Naked Lunch, made famous his cut-up style of composition, which, alongside the subject matter of his novels, sought to question reality, mimic the brutality of sensory overload in modern life, and reproduce the confusion of inner-logic smashed by drugs.
In "Bug Powder Dust", Justin Warfield adopts Burrough's hallucinatory perspective, but plays it off against the bragaddocio of hip hop. Where a traditional rapper would compare themselves to the endurance, strength or impact of a famous object, person or quality, Warfield uses seemingly cryptic pulp images instead.
The effect is of a narrator - like Burroughs - who apparently possesses a perspective on life that cannot recognise the difference between fact and fiction, sanity and madness.
Bug Powder Dust was accepted by the British Hip-hop community, and makes an appearance in many rundowns of 'classic' British hip-hop and rap tracks.
The track incorporates a bassline by Alphonso Johnson, as performed on the title track of Flora Purim's album, Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly. Johnson is probably best known as having been with the jazz-fusion group Weather Report.
Read more about this topic: Bug Powder Dust
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“What is most interesting and valuable in it, however, is not the materials for the history of Pontiac, or Braddock, or the Northwest, which it furnishes; not the annals of the country, but the natural facts, or perennials, which are ever without date. When out of history the truth shall be extracted, it will have shed its dates like withered leaves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)