Immortal Technique

Released: November 18, 2003

Featuring: Mumia Abu-Jamal

Songwriter: Mumia Abu-Jamal

Producer: 44 Caliber

To think about the origins of Hip-Hop in this culture and also about Homeland Security is to see that there are, at the very least, two worlds in America: one of the well-to-do and another of the struggling. For if ever there was the absence of Homeland Security, it is seen in the gritty roots of Hip-Hop. For the music arises from a generation that feels, with some justice, that they have been betrayed by those who came before them, that they are at best tolerated in schools, feared on the streets, and almost inevitably destined for the hell holes of prison. They grew up hungry, hated, and unloved, and this is the psychic fuel that generates the anger that seems endemic in much of the music and poetry. One senses very little hope above the personal goals of wealth to climb above the pit of poverty. In the broader society, the opposite is true, for here, more than any other place on earth, wealth is so wide spread and so bountiful that what passes for the middle class in America could pass for the upper class in most of the rest of the world. They're very opulence and relative wealth makes them insecure and homeland security is a governmental phrase that is as oxymoronic as crazy as saying military intelligence, or the U.S Department of Justice. They're just words, they have very little relationship to reality. Now do you feel safer now? Do you think you will anytime soon? Do you think duct tape and Kleenex and color codes will make you safer? From Death Row this is Mumia Abu-Jamal

Immortal Technique is an American rapper and urban activist of Afro-Peruvian descent. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, NY.

Most of his lyrics are focused on controversial issues in global politics. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely commentary on issues such as class struggle, poverty, religion, government and institutional racism.

Immortal Technique has voiced a desire to retain control over his production, and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music.

more tracks from the album

Revolutionary Vol. 2

From the album

Revolutionary Vol. 2 (2003)

Immortal Technique popular songs

Homeland and Hip-HopImmortal Technique

Immortal Technique

Revolutionary Vol. 2