Plague: "Mustard Seed" (including Memoirs)

Artist(s): Jeremiah Dirt 
Song:  Mustard Seed 
Word Count: 415
Producer: Fingaz
Recorded: Area 12 
Album: Plague (Rescue rec.1999) 
Dirts favorite Line(s): ‘Locust is not me/Locust is us!’ (unity!), ‘insects move out thru out the ghetto/ spicing up activities like dried oregano’

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Lyrics & Memories: Mustard Seed

                  >>>SEE THE OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE!<<<

Alotta History behind this song! For one it was my personal favorite song on the PLAGUE album next to ‘a Chapter a Day’. Both these songs always stood out in my mind. Mustard Seed, because it was just a raw track. There was really no point to the song besides to be ill!

I built the song around the scratch. One day at a swap meet I found two old Star Wars records. ON WAX! They were story records that used actual samples from the movie (instead of those cheesy second rate actors and noise effects on some of those old tapes/records). I was lit! I was so excited about it! I found ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ both on wax, took em home and placed em on the Technics. I was doin some house chores while listening to them. Towards the end of ‘Return of the Jedi’ came that infamous scene were Luke is goin nuts on Darth Vader. He almost kills him! And then Emperor Palpatine comes in and says (paraphrasing)”Good! Good! Now kill your father and take your place at my side!”

OH MAN! That scene is crazy! But our boy Luke doesn’t submit. He turns his lightsaber off and says, “Never, I’ll never turn to the darkside.”.

And now…rotating on my turntable, I had this all on wax! I was trippin! I immediately concepted this idea where I would just scratch Luke saying the first ‘never’ through the chorus. People would be like, what is that scratch saying!?’. It would hook them into the rest of the song! Then all the way at the end of the song POW! Hit em with the rest of the line!

Needless to say, the end result is phat! I remember that we recorded this song in one of his friends personal studios. They didn’t have DJ gear in there so Fingaz was on the floor while he was laying down the scratches. But that night when I first heard my idea getting dropped in reality…I knew this song was gonna come nice!       

The beginning vocal sample is Emperor Palpatine laughing and then telling Luke to kill his father and join him at his side. It was sampled backwards on the turntable (I got to do that!) by simply turning the Technic off and pushing it in reverse with my finger. (Hey! We didn’t have all those fancy computer programs that do it automatically nowadays!) . It ended up causing the biggest stink in the Christian market. I remember a few times some pastors calling rescue Records and complaining that I was satanic because I had some ‘evil backwards satanic bible verse’ playing at the beginning of Mustard Seed.

If you listen at the end of the song to the last vocal sample of Luke finally saying, “Never, I’ll never turn to the darkside.”. You can actually hear the crackle of his lightsaber turning off. I LOVE THAT!

When I went on tour with POD, this song and Chant seemed to be the heavy hitters with the peoples. A few times I was able to actually have a DJ with me to do the chorus (usually Mike Czech or Manny) but most times it was just a crowd interaction thing. I would yell for everyone to say, ‘NEVER…I’LL NEVER TURN TO THE DARKSIDE!’. Then the crowd would respond by repeating me in this crazy loud ruckus!

Somewhere in 98 or 99 I was at a local show and started jokin around on stage. Instead of just doin the back and forth scream of the chorus with the crowd. I tried to mimic the actual scratching noises on the album version of the song (think Rahzel from the Roots). It was purely screwing around and havin fun, but after the show a bunch of kids remarked how it was fun to do that. Then a couple of shows later before I went on, a couple people came up and asked if I was ‘gonna do that scratching thing on Mustard Seed’. Truthfully I had thought it was a bit silly. But I promised them that I would. Then everytime I did a local show people started to make me promise that I would do it and so it has been to this day! Its really quite funny how some of these stage habits get started (throwing up the ‘Locustfist’ started the same, almost as a joke that just stuck with the crowd).

This is one of the few songs that got recorded a few times before the album version. It was done in Diego at ‘Green Leaf’ studio with Fingaz crew. And then again, later, in the Hollywood sessions. It was mixed a couple times also before the final version. I always thought Fingaz came raw with that dope piano loop.

George Lucas, please don’t sue me.

This song was remixed for ‘the Upsetter Mixtape’, 2009.

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Mustard Seed

BODY  FRAME  LICKLE-BUT  STILL  DAVID  ROCKED  GOLIATH
HOTTER  THAN  THE  PLANET  SITH
FLAMING  ARROWS  COMETH  BUT  THEY  USUALLY  MISS
AND  THOSE  HITTING  TARGETS  ARE  GETTING  EXTINGUISHED
I  SPEAK  MY  OWN  SLANG  LIKE  PATOIS
DISPATCH  LYRICS  TO  GRAB  YA
AND  NEVER  EVER  LET  GO
INSECTS  MOVE  OUT  THROUGHOUT  THE  GHETTO
SPICING  UP  ACTIVITIES  LIKE  DRIED  OREGANO
GIVING  UNDERGROUND  PEOPLE  H.E.A.T.
WITH  A  FINGAZ  MIX-DOWN  THAT  SMASH THE  CONCRETE
TUNE  IT- INTO  YOUR  MENTAL  STATION
TRANSMITTING- ANNIHILATION  TO  YOUR  FOUNDATION
IT  CRUMBLES  THEN  IT  COLLAPSES
SHADOW  MOVES  LIKE  VIRUS  WORLDLY  SYSTEM  CAR-ASHES
PHILOSOPHIES  OF  TRANSGRESSION
AND  YET  WE  SIT IN  CLASSES  AND  STUDY  THE  LESSONS
FIELD  SOULJAZ  AND  LOCUST  LETS  PUT  IT  TO  WORK  
INDIVIDUALS  DONT  MOVE  AND  STILL  GET  HURT
THE  GUNS  ARE  ON  THE  BLOCK- PEOPLE  ACTIN  HARDER  THAT  ROCK
TEMPLES  DESTROYED  FROM  CRACK PIPES  THAT  BURN  HOT
LETS  MISDIRECT  THE  MISDIRECTION
SIT  DOWN  AT  TABLES  AND  COME  UP  WITH  PROPOSITIONS
TO  UPROOT  TEENAGE  STAGNATION
AND  DESTROY  GUN  TOWERS  THAT  SHOOT  PERVERSE  AMMUNITION

(Chorus Scratch "Never, I'll Never Turn to the Darkside")

GRIP  EVERYONE  UP- WHATS  UP- WE  GET  RAW
WITH  NO  WEED  OR  ALCOHOL
WITH  THE  HOLY-SPIRIT  WE  LICK  UP  THE  DANCEHALL
CARRY  OUT  LIKE  U-HUAL
MAKE  ENEMIES  SIT  DOWN  LIKE  BATHROOM  STALL
PUT  TITLES  ON  WICKED  EMCEES  LIKE  TOMBSTONE
LET  THEM  DO  THEIR  SOUND CHECK  THEN  BLOW-UP  THEIR  MICROPHONE
THE  ATTITUDE-CHILL LIKE  THE  CORNER  CAFE
THE  WEAPONS-TAPEDECKS  WITH  REVERSE  PLAY
THE  ONLY  GHOSTFACE  THAT  YOU  CANNOT  KILL
SOUND  SYSTEM  MOBILIZE "DIRT  UP  IN  YOUR  GRILL 
NO  EAST  OR  WEST  BECAUSE  WE  PENTE-COAST-AL
DONT  TRY  TO  MASTER  THIS  CUASE  WE  METHOD-IS
TO  GET  UP  IN  YOUR  FACE  LIKE  ZIT  AND  TRANSMIT

(Chorus Scratch "Never, I'll Never Turn to the Darkside")

CHECK  THE  IMPLOSION- LOCUST  STARTED  WITH  ME- BUT  LOCUST  IS  NOT  ME
LOCUST  IS  US
MANY  ROCKS  CRUSH  CUP
RIGHTEUOSS  PEOPLE  GET  UP
AND  NEVER  DEGENERATE
DONT  GIVE  UP  LIKE  STORES  THAT  LIQUIDATE
RECORD  FREESTYLES  ON  HIGH  RESONANCE  TAPES
HADES  LOCKS  ME  BUT  WE  FIND  FIRE  ESCAPES
---AND  BRING  IT  HARD  LIKE  IMPACT
CANT  FIND  RIGHTEOUSNESS  LIKE  NEEDLE  IN  HAYSTACK
POLICE  STICK  US  TO  THE  WALL  LIKE  A  THUMBTACK
PEOPLE  BURN  US  WITH  JUDGMENTS  SIMILAR  TO  SHADRACH
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BUT IT COMES STEREO PHONIC
AND BLOWS YOUR EARDRUMS WITH THUNDERCLAP LYRICS
DON'T GET MAD....TAKE A DEEP BREATHE AND COUNT TO TEN
SETTIN OFF CAR ALARMS WITH HIGH POWERED VIBRATIONS
YOUR MAN TOLD YOU, THAT YOU OUGHTA, BRING YOUR CAMCORDER
AND RECORD IT ON FILM, WE BURN HOT LIKE KILN
CHECK IT OUT, NO DOUBT, THEN BURN OU LIKE THE END OF A JET
THE SEED IS BREAKING BRICK WALLS IN THE PROJECT