The quintessential
Irish communist ghetto rap band. Founded on the principles of
Karl Marx and all of the other
workers of the world, their career, to my knowledge, consists of a scant two albums. Their first album,
33 Revolutions Per Minute was a masterpiece of funky
Celtic beats layered beneath slow, intelligent rap based upon themes like
English oppression of Ireland et al,
Domestic Abuse, and the brutality of
Slavery, past and present. Also featured a guest appearances by
Sinead O’Connor on “Ship Ahoy”, and the venerable
DJ Premier of
Gangstarr on “Driftin’”. As far as I know, the only two copies of this CD in America reside in my house and the Jukebox at
Rocky Sullivan’s.
Marxman left there
capitalist swine record label after much non-success, and dropped
Time Capsule around 1995. This album featured a much more harsh and angry bout of songs like the fed-up and raw “Whassinit ? (For the
Cynic)” and the borderline
anarchistic “What’s in the Basket?”. To my knowledge, this album was only available in
Ireland and
England, where I obtained my copy, and never sold well anywhere.
For a band that was so obviously set to change the world, to sink into oblivion is perhaps the worst fate of all. Extremely intelligent, well-read rap acts are hard to come by, especially with lyrics like:
"Gone are the days now the ships cease to sail
I don't think so what does a wage entail
Nine to five slavery or a twenty four seven
Most slaves tricked by the promise of a heaven
Controlled by the sound of a whip that goes sack
Mind - forged manacles make sure there's no slack
Think your not a slave, cos no whip marks your back
Now a bureaucrat wields the nine tails of the cat
Ain't nothing changed but the weather the song remains the same
Hollis comes left set up upon the Lamebrain
You can't tame the beast, the beast can't be changed
Have to smash the system, wisdom rearranged
Slavery claimed to be histories mystery
Wished it could be....It's still part of we
Search and look around my birthplace is torn
But England has fallen dusk negates dawn”
-“Ship Ahoy” by Marxman
I highly recommend picking up 33 Revolutions per minute, it can be found on ebay for 1 penny quite often!