[CLICK PICTURE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!!!*]

HUGE respect and thanks to Adriel “Drizzletron” Luis of iLL-Literacy for hooking up the download link w/illshare!

*you may also right-click and “save as” on each track name, below if link isn’t working at any time.

[Senbei - Intro]

This is where my head is at in the winter of 2009. I’ve decided to take some time to reevalute and reexamine my identity (for the umpteenth f*ckin time!). This album is for everyone who resides on borderlines, be they race, class, religious, gender, etc. Here’s to being a bridge between worlds but also remembering to not let the bridge your peoples walk over, be your back.

[Senbei - Shikata Ga Nai 2009]

This is for my Bachan – my SHERO (R.I.P.). Shikata Ga Nai in Japanese means quite literally, “it can’t be helped,” or “nothing can be done.” From my frame of reference, the internment of Japanese Americans has done a plethora of (often hidden) damage to the psyches of my Nikkei bretheren, and can play out many times, in a defeatist/fatalistic attitude where we hope for the best, but always expect the worst. To me personally, Shikata Ga Nai is about a feeling of isolation and solitude. As Asian Americans the one true thing we all have in common (except for Japanese Americans) is a healthy distrust (and many times hatred) for the Japanese people due to their history of a capitalist, imperialist and colonialist mentality. To be interned for being an “enemy alien” in the land of your birth, while other Asian Americans wore buttons stating, “I am NOT Japanese” MIGHT just send you the signal that nobody has your back. I fight these feelings of isolation passed down from my grandparents and father (unknowingly & unwillingly) on a daily basis, and to top it off, even within my own Japanese American community, I’m not “pure.” …Shikata Ga Nai, indeed.

[Senbei - Lost]

Like many, I tend to spend way too much muhf*cking time feeling bad about myself, wallowing in self-hatred and despair (America! F*ck yeah! =P). This song is a testament to my knowing that I serve a righteous purpose in this world and just like Chris Martin states, “just because I’m losing, doesn’t mean I’m lost…”

[Senbei - Fly (feat. Jeimil)]

This one’s pretty self-explanatory:
1. Broken Halos is fly as f*ck and we’d like to tell u just why that is.
2. We wanna fly away from all this f*ckedupededness (gaza, oscar grant, iraq, halliburton, kkk, fbi, cia, prison industrial complex, schwarzenegger, etc.)

As an American male of Asian ancestry, its not often that we get an opportunity to brag and boast about how good we feel about ourselves. Hip-Hop (at its best & when used correctly) is a wonderful platform to explain just exactly how f*cking proud you are of yourself for overcoming the obstacles life throws at you and how much you love being yourself.

[Senbei - Chameleon]

This is for all my folks who wear different hats and possess the ability to connect deeply with people from a vast array of walks of life. IE: One of my childhood best friends went to Harvard after High School, another went to San Quentin penitentuary. I can name the cast of characters in the Wu-Tang Clan, and the TV series “Friends.” Some of my best friends are queer womyn of color who can have difficulty trusting that any hetero white and/or male person could be capable of thinking a single, solitary righteous thought, and I love them because they tend to teach me something new and life-changing everytime I speak to them. Some of my best friends are alcoholic, pothead pill-poppin’ cats whose sole mission on a Friday night is to find a woman and f*ck her and I love them because they love me and with a little less resource and a few different decisions, I could have been one of them myself. Due to where, when and how I grew up I am blessed to be able to see the beauty in ALL my homies, their vast potential as well as the ways in which they were setup by this country/world to be the way they are. This song is about my ability to blend into and fall in love with any crowd, whilst trying to not forget to be me and “show my true colors.”

[Senbei - California (feat. eM)]

This one is special to me because its the first time I’ve done a song wih eM since our wedding last summer. eM is so f*cking talented its scurry. This is us reminiscing about growing up in the Yay. Eastbay Senbei + Frisco eM = match made in 41510. When I’m not caught up in my madness, I sit back, smile and remember that eM is my life partner and that I am the luckiest jerkface on the face of the earth.

[Senbei - Mixed President (feat. Slavename)]

First off, Slavename is one of my favorite rappers because of the mere fact that who he is on the mic is the same person I speak with when I see him. I’ve been working my ass off since I started rapping 8 years ago to connect “Senbei” and Colin Masashi Ehara. I am just now feeling like we are becoming one and “Senbei” is not relegated to an alter-ego. Almost every f*cking rapper you know does it. I just decided to own up to it.

This song is about Barack Obama. I already did a huge post on this song so check HERE if you haven’t seen it already.

[Senbei - Social Tool (feat. Jeimil & Drizzletron of iLL-Literacy)]

I f*cking LOVE this song. If you recognize the chorus, I salute you. It was taken from the hook of Green Day’s “She” off of their first HUGE album, Dookie. It seems that a lot of Hip-Hoppers don’t pay Green Day much attention because they are, well…hella white. If you are a Hip-Hopper of color who has been hurt by racism enough to write-off white people completely (or a white Hip-Hopper who has self-hatred for white people – they do exist!), I would highly recommend checking out Green Day for their mere artistry, not to mention the fact that Billy Joe Armstrong is one of the greatest punk rock singers/writers who ever lived. Oh yeah, they’re from OAKLAND!

With that said, this song is dedicated to Oscar Grant, my brother from another mother: Jahmari Butler and a plethora of other young people who are having their lives played out and decided for them. Adriel “Drizzletron” Luis of spoken word super group iLL-Literacy did the DAMN thing on here, and Jeimil as most of you know already, always almost brings us to tears with his vivid imagery of the grief wrought by oppression. Church.

——-

Are you locked up in a world that’s been planned out for you? Are you feeling like a social tool without a use? Scream at me until my ears bleed. I’m taking heed just for you…

LOVE.

Senbei