Satchel Page: “The Moment I Wake Up”
Hip-hop is generally not the forte of Good Weather for Airstrikes, as we tend to cater more to an indie-rock crowd. When I find a track as phenomenal as “The Moment I Wake Up”, however, I feel as if it would be a crime not to post it here. Although he is currently based in New York, Satchel Page was raised in the Washington, D.C. area. Killer Mike justifies his incredible 5-minute tirade “That’s Life” by saying he went to Morehouse (where he didn’t graduate), but not many rappers can claim to be graduates of Harvard University. Satchel Page got his start rapping during his time at Harvard, where in 2001 he founded a rap group known as Tha League, which featured fellow Harvard students N.I.C., Hollaman, and K. Kess. Tha League saw marginal success in their short lifetime, opening for Fabolous in 2003 and Busta Rhymes in 2004, and managed to put together an EP. Produced primarily by Page, the EP is nothing to write home about, excepting one song: “The Moment I Wake Up”, which sees Page rapping solo. A smooth, pensive track, “The Moment I Wake Up” features lyrical content reminiscent of early Kanye West with less braggadocio, as Page talks about the difficulty of getting heard as a rapper/producer. When Page delivers triumphant lines like, “hide your rulers, I’m measuring up to pros now,” it doesn’t feel like he’s bragging. Rather, it seems obvious that he’s telling the truth: he’s got talent.
Page considers Mos Def, Common and Talib Kweli as his influences in rap, and his delivery evokes those three. The beat, which was produced by Page himself, is the most initially impressive aspect of the track. A gorgeous piano loops over a drumbeat punctuated by samples of “I Say A Little Prayer For You”, and it’s obvious Page is a talented producer. In fact, as a producer, Page has a gold record to his name. Well, technically, it’s not to his name: he wasn’t credited in the liner notes for the beat he made, on which a song rode to gold status. Needless to say, Page was upset by the slight, and has since sought and succeeded in some fashion in taking legal action against the offenders, but the reality remains that Page’s talents as a producer are undeniable. As evidenced by “The Moment I Wake Up”, his talents as an MC are definitely up to par as well.
MP3: “The Moment I Wake Up” - Satchel Page ((highly recommended))