Rumi: Original B-Boy?

Propaganda Anonymous

[Calling Down The Earth] • An Iranian-American musician once told me a story about Rumi. She came up to me and my companion after her performence of a Rumi poem and answered my inquiry as to who the original lyricist was with an anecdote about its author.

She mentioned that Rumi, or for those into titles, Master Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, was part of a Sufi sect known as the Mevlevi order. The Mevlevi's would spin and whirl in graceful circular patterns in order to achieve an ecstatic communion with God.

The musician, whose name is Haale, said that the poem she just sang was not so much 'written' by Rumi, as it was spontaneously emitted from his whirling mouth in the midst of a ceremony. Nearby seated students of his would then write down his words.

Now, I claim no 'expert' stance in the history of Sufi ecstatic poetry and the life of Rumi. I am just relaying an interesting thought, perhaps a legend about a holy individual. Holy in the sense of invoking the ability to continually channel the transcendent. To me, and apparently millions of other people all over the world, Rumi's poems are very capable of nearly instantly, with very few words, opening my eyes to the infinite amount of love that is around us all the time. So, while I am no expert, I am a fan.

I'll tell you what I do know about Rumi. Or what I think of this 'legend' of Master Mevlana's ability to say some extemporaneous brillance in the presence of others. I think he was a straight up B-Boy.

But I'm not there yet. First let me briefly inform some of you about what the Mevlevi's were actually doing with all the swirling and wirling and spinning and careening around in those white tunics. These Mevlevi cats believed that through the combination of music, dance, and poetry one could reach God. They called this method 'Sema.'

'Sema,' to the Mevlevi's was a mystical journey. This journey is about an ascent through the sensibilities and senses of one's own mind and feelings of love, to a destination they referred to as 'the Perfect'. 'The Perfect,' what a name. So very serene sounding, it is.

'The Perfect,' sounds like that nice one-pointedness of equinimity Buddhists speak about, or what John C. Lilly called 'The Center of the Cyclone.' Perhaps it is that place where one's ego completely dissolves like melting wax waning by a fire, and whatever remains in the seeker is then imbued with the deep wisdom of love.

Again, a whirling Mevlevi dervish, like our man Rumi, would partake in the ceremony of 'Sema,' which is in itself a metaphor in motion about a soul's journey to heaven, basically, and back to this earthy plane. So the story goes, that as the seeker is spinning and twirling, he will turn towards truth, and with that movement in the right direction, he will then grow through Love; to the point where his ego is then abandoned, and the truth comes, and with it, 'the Perfect' is found. Those returning from the communion with 'the Perfect' will more than likely feel the need to be of service to humanity, regardless of race, color, or creed, and the ability to see the Love underlying every living being. At least that's what those kooky Sufi goofs like to say. I guess Love and all that wasn't just a New Age hippie concept afterall. Anyway, all of this is symbolically played out in the dance of the Mevlevi dervish. And with all this came some ecstatic poetry.

So upon reflecting upon what Haale told me, I have decided to dub Master Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi an O.G. B-Boy par excellance. Why?

One reason, if he really did express some of his poetry spontaneously, in the moment, then he was Freestylin. And since the Art of the Freestyle is predominantly practiced by those who are involved with the culture of Hip-Hop, and those MC's that are able to excel in the art are then labeled B-boy/B-girls, then Rumi, dear readers, is therefore a B-boy.

Maybe you require further expositions and explainations. I'll provide some. That said, meet me half way, and grant me some poetic licence here. For sometimes what many like to call the 'facts' require some massaging and kneeding in order for a deeper and more satisfying truth to come forth.

So what is this 'Freestylin' I speak of? Well, just in case you didn't know, a Freestyle, in it's simplest form, is a verbal expression of a series of ryhmes and rhythms from an individual's mouth, which adheres to a certain type of ryhme pattern and flow. So, for those who like sub-cultural guidelines promulgated by the Hip-Hop culture, a Freestyle is just an amazing expression by person during a cypher session.

Cypher? Yes, cypher session. The fun stuff. This is where a group of MC's will stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle. (Get it? Cypher--circle.) In this circle, MC's will attempt to spit from the top of their heads a ryhme pattern that is in tune with a beat, and try not to fall off that particular beat. The results range from anywhere along the spectrum of pathetic to utterly amazing and inspiring.

Sometimes cyphers are opened up and performed in front of an audience. One by one MC's will stand, with mic in hand, and jettison words in freestyle format to the beat provided by a DJ and'or live band. These are always fun.

(For those interested in witnessing the rapture live, if you live in New York City you can watch some of the best Freestylers in New York for free, at Sin Sin Lounge--2nd Ave. & 5th St.--every Monday night roundabout midnight until last call. Or if you live around the Bay Area, there is Cafe Royale every Wednesday night over on Grand St., right up the road from City Lights Bookstore(10pm-2am). Both certified dope in delivering fresh freestyle semantics.)

A few years ago filmaker Kevin Fitzgerald(aka DJ Organic) put together a documentary about Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme. This movie is a very good primer if you seek further light upon this subject. I recommend it to those interested in what I've been writing thus far.

A current that weaves its way through the film is one of spirituality felt by this art form. Fritzgerald captured many interviews speaking about the transcendant qualities of the Freestyle, from it's possible roots and lineage, to what people feel when they are totally in-tune with a flow.

That moment of one-pointedness, where there seems to be very little buffer of self-editing and stream-of-consciousness expression, can bring with it a deep feeling of connection and elation. Maybe it's the feeling of freedom.

The film continually calls attention to moments like that.

As far as spiritual roots of the Freestyle, a Jazz historian named Edward Burt II, draws a connection to the type of homilies Baptist preachers have practiced. Burt speaks about how these preachers would open themselves up in a way in order to catch the spirit, and then spark the same in the congregation. The content of the homily will slowly subside in importance and what would take precidence would be the flow of his expressions. Burt says, "it was the rhythm that signified where the preacher would go next." The cadence and timing of this expression surrenders itself to inspiration, to the point that those watching would feel it.

So, inspiration and elation are certain aims that some MC's are reaching for in their Freestyles. And it is in the Freestyle where more surprise, and hence more life exists.

The Freestyle allows MC's to loosen the reins of everyday thought processes, like paying bills and/or taking orders from bosses or patrons, and lets them ascend over these socially constructed semantic games for another level of communication. The power of the word expressed then goes beyond the form of bla, bla, bullshit that so often fucks with people, and arrives at a truth that we all know but have a tendency to forget.

If words are, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'fossilized poems,' then the art of the Freestyle breaks open those fossils to reveal a living breathing organic life that wants to do nothing else but move and be free.

Now there are many different levels of the type of Freestylin that exist. For the purposes of this article I'm only focusing on that level that Rumi so often went to, and that some MC's have been able to rise to. Granted, it's rare, but it most certainly does happen. (Go to Sin Sin Lounge and see for yourself.) So when those moments are reached through rhyme, one more veil is lifted from our perceptors and we are one step closer to knowing and embodying truth, and with that truth comes the acknowledgment of 'the Perfect.'

Many people seem to dwell upon the more egocentric dimensions of Hip-Hop, and tend to forget about it's possibility to do nothing but uplift. Too bad for them. Cause for those who know, this shit is fun as hell.

Seriously though. The Art form known as the Freestyle has beckoned a plethora of people to it's clarion call of ulitimate expression and possiblity to stand within a sacred space not experienced too often in everday social interactions. There are those who have answered this call with a devotion to the beat and thus surrendered written rhymes for the glory of trusting that whatever is going to come out next is going to be the perfect word and flow. It is those moments that the spirit of Master Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi may very well be busting a six-step into windmill, back to uprock in whirling ecstasy and sporting some pimping white Sufi tunic gear.

"Make Yourself Low"

Loving-kindness is drawn to the saint,

As medicine is drawn

To the pain it must cure.

Where there is pain, the remedy follows:

Wherever the lowlands are, the water goes.

If you want the water of mercy,

Make yourself low;

Then drink the wine of mercy and be drunk.

Mercy upon mercy rises to your head

Like a flood.

Don't settle on a single mercy, O son.

Bring the sky beneath your feet

And listen to celestial music everywhere"

Jyeah!

check out these links:

myspace.com/freestylemondays

myspace.com/haale