Ka- Honor Killed the Samurai

Ka grew up in Brooklyn in the seventies and eighties, which should say everything about his upbringing. As a child, according to the song “Conflicted,” he got two different messages from his parents. His mother wanted him to keep his head down, stay alive at all costs. His father told him to carry a gun and be the one to shoot first. This is the conflict that is meditated on for the rest of the album, on the one hand to stay down and stay safe, on the other to fight to take what’s yours, be a criminal but also create opportunities for yourself.

In case you can’t tell, the second path is more appealing to a young person, it could in fact seem like the only option, and its the one Ka favors, though there is guilt to be had on either path. Ka feels guilty for what he did. Or maybe he doesn’t. “To get what we need/ we did what we must.” To quote Omar “It’s all in the game.” But while Omar might be able to say that with a straight face, Ka can’t say it so that one can believe it. The music is slow and labored, like a dying man trudging down the street.

It’s not like there isn’t a positive message here. On “$” Ka raps about trying to start community centers but needing money. He finds himself in the same situation he’s been in since he was a child. He needs, so he has to do what he must. Or at least that seems to be the thought in the back of Ka’s head. He’s trying to spread a positive message but can’t. Even though his attitude might have changed, the socioeconomic situation hasn’t.

Then there’s the conflict that is hinted at in title of the album. In medieval Japan, so the story goes, their were brave warriors called samurai who lived according to a strict code. They would sacrifice their lives rather then go against this code and dishonor themselves. That’s the story at least. In reality there was no Bushido Code, it wasn’t codified until after the samurai class was declining, and samurai were just like any other warrior: they did what they had to do to stay alive when it came down to it. Read about some of the tactics used by Oda Nobunaga, or any other general during the Warring States period for proof of that. Honor and the code, was just a story.

The same could be said of the code Ka lays out over the course of this album. In the end, he just did what he had to do to survive, and this whole concept of “honor,” to quote Jack Falstaff just turns into “air.”

2/5 I can’t recommend this album to most people, it’s just too slow and plodding. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the beats either, and Ka’s delivery wasn’t great either, very monotone and quiet. BUT there is someone out there for whom this will become a favorite. There’s simply too much here for it not to appeal to someone, and they themselves might be surprised that it does.