From the (currently un-released, at the time of this mix's posting) National Cynical Network program 'Guns4Xmas' which was webcast on Dec. 12, 2021 (for more info on our bi-weekly webcast go to nationalcynical.com/webcast) and was in part 'inspired' (I guess you could say) by a school shooting that happened around that time in which the shooter was given the weapon used by his Father for an early Christmas present. We found that this detail echoed the case of Brenda Spencer, who is often said to be 'the very first school shooter' in an incident that took place in San Carlos, CA in the late 70's and which inspired (I guess you could say) the very big song hit for the band 'The Boomtown Rats' called 'I Don't Like Mondays'.

Our program (still being finalized in production amongst many other on the back burner) 'Guns4Xmas' compared and contrasted these two events. One of the segments of the program was called 'Red Flags' and was about warning signs that could be detected in potential school shooters hopefully before any mayhem ensued. This intervention rarely seems to happen, actually, as one cannot be incarcerated for merely 'thinking' of committing violence.

But in the course of researching the 'red flags' issue, we observed that it was largely a suburban-oriented 'white culture' type of thing, while in the inner cities, in the urban environs, where school shootings are almost un-heard of (perhaps because it is almost an un-written requirement for many there to be armed, just for survival purposes) the whole 'red flags' question seemed to be turned on its ear.

To that end, the program takes an almost 1-hour foray/detour into the realm of hip-hop and 'gangsta'-oriented rap music to get some of that sensibility on the listener. Some of these pieces offered in the mix (like Volume 10's 'Pistol Grip Pump' and Rage Against the Machine's cover of same) are almost canon, but the mix generally becomes more and more adrenaline-infused level of energy when we start getting into the rapidfire delivery systems of T.I.'s 'New National Anthem' (feat. Skyler Grey), Royce da 5'9" (with 'Let's Go'), Logic (who with Eminem gives us 'Homicide' feat. Eminem), Eminem's insanely-paced 'Rap God' (and Nas's equally insane cover of same, done even more incredibly all in one take).

Also heard in this mix: Eminem's song 'Darkness' (which, in this re-mastered version actually bookends the entire mix) as well as his self-produced piece 'One Shot, Two Shot', Tink's 'Tell the Children', 'Stray Bullet' by Organized Konfusion, xxxtentacion's 'School Shooters' (feat. Lil' Wayne), and Pharoahe Monch's 'When the Gun Draws' (feat. Porter).

In addition to the structural change with the Eminem 'Darkness' song, this re-mastered version, most of the source files used have been re-placed with much higher quality lossless files for better sound fidelity.

The mix is available here on SoundCloud as a free lossless .flac format file, free of charge.

A more complete version of the 'Red Flags' segment from the 'Guns4Xmas' program, which contains a version of this mix, which is how it existed prior to this re-mastering can be found here:

soundcloud.com/nationalcynical/ncn-red-flags

Note--This mix contains lyrics that use explicit language, describe violent acts and scenes, as well as violent sound effects and repeated usage of 'The N-word' by black rap artists and therefore may be considered to be 'Not Safe For Work'. Please use Listener Discretion.

This exact mix is also available at our SoundCloud and is freely downloadable in .flac format there:

soundcloud.com/nationalcynical/ncn-red-flags-rap-music-mix-section-only-remastered

You do not have to pay anything to stream or download this album. Any proceeds collected through this album's page through voluntarily non-prerequisite amounts, designated by the recipient of the download(s) made from this page, are considered gratuities, or donations, made to The National Cynical Network, through Bandcamp, in order to show appreciation for, or to help support, the creative efforts of that artistic enterprise (NCN). Thank you for your support.


Enjoy!