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The Cheese Barrier

by Rotaris

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1.
Phone Crack 02:29
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Yeah yeah yeah Phone crack Phone crack Phone crack Phone crack For each day that ends with ‘d-a-y’ We reach for screens that beep, tweet and chime Stream clips of memes and teens that lie We scroll and stare till our eye balls go dry Wanna up-and-leave this damn social contract The business, the FOMO, the bullshit and all that Retreat back in time, I wanna fall back Where we don’t yearn for gold chains and wall plaques Or the modern day equivalent The followers ambivalent to morals so uncivil And we wanna be gorillas caged in beautiful glass And live in front of a flash And make telephone calls using bundles of cash I wanna leave During my teens I had this innocent dream That I could well-and-truly try to perceive Souls not faces, spirits not bodies The dull to the normal, right to the smarties The tall and the short, all par for the course When I was but a boy in the eyes of the law I guess things haven’t changed if at all I stay just as naive right to the core I don’t need drugs I got my phone crack Window to the world is through my phone glass I don’t need drugs I got my phone crack Window to the world is through my phone glass Feels like we life in gorgeous pixels And yet we do feel like tiny Shih Tzus Do we really have it all covered like some schnitzels? Should we go ahead — turn if off with a Clipsal? Play it cool like ACs — Fujitsu? Try to be more like some packets of pretzels? Twisted and salty Maybe we do like looking at pics of Halsey We have wireless but we stay so tethered Thoughts stay in air like we have wing feathers Main source of vitamin D is our screens In a futile bid to boost self esteem Eagerly await the notification bell As I like to call it: notification hell Matter fact, I even feel my phone vibrating When having a shower or in meditation I don’t need drugs I don’t need drugs I don’t need drugs Drug drug drugs I don’t need drugs I don’t need drugs I don’t need drugs Drug drug drugs
2.
Faded (Bloody) 02:41
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He looked down to see a whole bowl of red Explosions of rose that a colon bled And his retina reflected a cloud of branches His chambers in ribs turned to molten lead Repeat rodeo — that's why it's scary Thoughts swirled 'round a glass of dark sherry 'Round the rapid growth inside his temple His temple now thinks his temple's rental I'm faded, I'm faded I'm faded, I'm faded I'm faded, I'm faded I'm faded, I'm faded It sounds like he's being so damn overdramatic Tryna to introduce colour and to make it chromatic He's a single blade of grass standing out in a paddock With the hopes to break out of this damn Animal Planet A Bonobo He wants to be alive till he's put in the category of them octogenarian "old folks" Wants adventure sans the need for a GoPro Yearns to be held like mugs of hot cocoa I'm faded, I'm faded I'm faded, I'm faded I'm faded, I'm faded I'm faded, I'm faded I don't know what to say I don't know what to do See blood that drips away What else is there to prove? I don't know what to say I don't know what to do See blood that drips away What else is there to prove?
3.
The Why 02:29
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There are so many reasons why I choose to do this I wanna squeeze it out like I’m made of juices Clar'fy thoughts before I turn to putrid Flesh floating on these vast cosmic soupses Alright, reason number uno I crave respect, high-fives and approval Excavate downwards to greater depths and the true reason might be hmm...two-fold I get respect in other places easily But this makes me feel royal like fleur de lis The difference with music and spoken poetry Is that it’s a canvas to be shown vocally Reason 02: the process kinda fun To learn about the art, the science and the sums Of these tracks and tales, I don’t need rails to be moved I sail the globe without sails — ya dig? Feel it like the home keys F & J Long for moments in which I levitate Hope for a world in which there is less of hate But I do know my rhymes won't necessitate the changes My naïveté is bounded Cranium floats where clouds form mountains Soles remain on the soil where the ground is My butt on a lounge and pen on a leather bounded Nodding my head to the bounce of the snare crack proceed to push keys like I do play sax — terribly Best believe this a feeble bid to cement my own stellar rhyme pedigree Reason 03: it’s tied to my license ’Tis the horns if my person’s a bison If I do make some fans like Dyson Hope it helps with my self kaizen Summary: it’s so super fun Pro'ly do it till I live off super funds A craft — wanna go master that Capture my mind’s eye with a Hasselblad I know I’ll get some scars along the way With stabbing rebukes, a dash of praise Can’t help it — it’s so part of me Mistakes I’ll make please pardon me
4.
The Cheese Barrier / Outro 02:00
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Listen, I know I’m still a bit of a beginner But I know my taste be decent and I’m not talking 'bout dinner I’m just trying to clear the gap between my skill and drive To sail over this barrier and not topple and die I been doing this for a couple of years now Aware of the caliber and the grade of these sounds Close to closing the gap that I can reach out And touch it, even though I haven't got a real budget Push through even if all I can do is nudge it In spite of those who will undoubtedly go ahead and judge it It’s ultimately simple I just gotta persevere And use up every single cell in both my hemispheres The greater parts of people never ever pass this phase And turn to residents in a field that's so full of maize Told the only way out is by doing a lots of work So this is me with shovels and digging right into dirt Man, shout out Ira Glass Shout out to my parents Shout out to all my loved ones Friends, my coworkers, Vyv, Tanya, Shane Everyone — online, real life, who've sort of supported my journey so far Dom Yeah, everyone man Shout out, shout out to you all Thank you Cheese Barrier I'm out

about

Created in the span of a few months inside bedrooms of Sydney and Bangalore, on airplanes and footpaths, the release of this EP is a bucket list item being checked off.

An earnest attempt at overcoming the 'amateur phase' — that so many musicians experience in the beginning — this EP fuses observations and self-reflection laced over 'classic' sounding hip-hop drums and samples.

Check out this video breakdown of how the EP came about: www.instagram.com/p/BzYDvq7g6o9/

credits

released July 1, 2018

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all rights reserved

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about

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Rotaris Sydney, Australia

Rotaris is an Indian-Australian who makes hip hop for smart folks.

Characterised by speedy flows and poetic flourishes, he is known to tackle topics such as veganism, psuedoscience and addiction — all over self-produced instrumentals ranging from house to grime to boom-bap.

“It's a super exciting time to be an artist — especially from Western Sydney and with my background.” ... more

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