Dissect - S2E8 – Monster by Kanye West

Episode Date: September 26, 2017

We continue our serialized analysis of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by dissecting "Monster." Follow Dissect on social media @dissectpodcast. Purchase Dissect merch at dissectpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushna. Today, we continue our serialized examination of my beautiful dark-twisted fantasy by Kanye West. Our last episode marked the end of the album's first act. If you'll remember, this first act titled Beautiful was comprised of the album's first four tracks. In the album Open or Dark Fantasy, we were introduced to Kanye's character, who established himself as a successful celebrity who indulge. in materialism, drugs, and women, but also subtly acknowledges the hollowness of this lifestyle.

The album's second track, Gorgeous, builds on the character introduced in dark fantasy. He positions his achievements within the systemic oppression and racism black men and women endure in America, while the song's hook adds complexity and vulnerability. There, Connie establishes the album's stakes in his own mind, that his life dependent on the success of this album, his vindication after the VMA debacle that would win over the public's approval once again. We also hear for the first time subtle allusions to suicide, which we might hypothesize as a consequence if the album isn't as successful as Kanye hopes.

Early on the third song Power, Kanye reaches the album Zenith in terms of the projection of his ego and bravado, a kind of armor developed against the emotional turmoil he feels within. Over the course of the song, that armor begins deteriorating and is a deterioration that will continue over the course of the album. Power ends with Kanye's imagined suicide, which is supposed to be. followed by a funereal interlude. This interlude can be interpreted as Kanye's metaphoric death, a portal into a fantastical world of Kanye's psyche. Kanye introduces this world with the

song All of the Lights, which we compare to the bright light experience that supposedly happens after one's death. The song's neon-infested binge of glamour and indulgence is an unusual but metaphorically accurate backdrop to Kanye's fantastical story of an ex-con trying to win back his girlfriend and daughter after being released from prison. If you'll remember, we heard this story as metaphor for Kanye's life post-V-MAs, with Kanye playing the ex-con, Taylor Swift being the slapped girl, the feds being the public's perception of Kanye, and the daughter being Kanye's inner childlike creativity,

which was put at risk because of his abusive actions. I included all of the lights in Act 1, mostly for referential convenience, but really the song acts like a bridge into the album's second act, which I've titled Dark. Here the ambitious beauty of the album's first four tracks begins to decay, and an ugly dark side of Kanye's psyche will begin to reveal itself. Indeed, Kanye wastes no time introducing us to this world

as the exquisite adornments of Act 1 are altogether chewed up and spat out by the album's next track and the subject of today's episode, Monster. a lonely night Are you willing to sacrifice your life? Monster was produced by Kanye West with additional production by Mike Dean and Plain Pat

At the time of its release Kanye tweeted that Monster was to be the second track on a five-song collaborative EP with Jay-Z called Watch the Throne. Of course that album ended up being a full-length release and Monster was placed on Twisted Fantasy instead. It's not difficult to see why.

Its phantasmic work musical setting and villainous themes are at home in the album's overarching narrative of fame and its dark underbelly. The track will find Kanye and others at their most grotesque, revealing the haunted, paranoid mind that comes with the vice of celebrity. The track begins with Boney Verre's Justin Vernon singing a string of sinister lines, his distorted and multidimensional voice, establishing the song's foreboding tone. The opening line, I Shoot the Lights Out, is of course the defamation of the previous track All the Lights, a declaration of the album's tonal and emotional shift. The next line, hide till its bright out, flips the nocturnal stereotypes of monsters, who usually hide till it's dark out.

The following line helps illuminate this somewhat puzzling wordplay, saying, Just Another Lonely Night. It would seem that the indulgences of celebrity nightlife is explored on all the lights are the very things Kanye is looking to hide from, as if the neon lights at the the Vegas strip are as threatening to Kanye as the hot sun is to a vampire. With the next line, are you willing to sacrifice your life? We have yet another illusion to suicide on this album. With this in mind, the opening line I Shoot the Lights Out becomes a bit more ominous. We could also interpret this introduction as metaphor for Kanye's work ethic and approach to the

creation of twisted fantasy. Isolated in Hawaii, it was well known that Kanye rarely slept during the making of the album, working long hours through the night and into morning, which we assume left little life outside the studio, a sacrifice he was willing to make to dedicate himself completely to his art. After this foreboding introduction, we hear a high-pitched scream followed by a literal monster roar, matched only by the grisly voice of Rick Ross, who snarls his way through a brief transitory bridge. Ross begins by

A good blood sucker Fat motherfucker Now look who's in trouble As you run through my jungles All you hear is one Who's samples One for example Ross begins by cordially

Introducing himself As a monster A no good bloodsucker And a fat motherfucker While for most people These descriptors would surely be self-deprecating The aggressiveness and assuredness

With which they performed Make clear that these are badges of honor It sets the tone of things to come, as all three of the track's remaining performers will openly embrace their inner monster. Ross concludes his brief appearance by providing more vivid imagery, saying, as you run through my jungle, all you hear is rumbles. Kanye West samples, here's one for example. Again, Ross is doing an exemplary job at setting the song's scene as the beat literally rumbles beneath him. Ross's use of the word you in the line, as you run through my jungle, encourages us listeners to visualize running through the music. murky swans of his haunted psyche, perhaps being chased by the fat motherfucker himself.

Justin Vernon's introduction and Ross's brief appearance set up Kanye's dramatic entrance, who comes in performing the song's hook. Kanye rapsed, gossip, gossip, end-word-just-stop it. Everybody know, I'm a motherfucking monster. I'm a need to see your fucking hands at the concert. I'm a need to see your fucking hands at the concept. Nigra I got it. Kanye raps, gossip, gossip, N-word just stop it. Everybody knows I'm a motherfucking monster. This is almost certainly direct commentary on the country's reaction to Kanye's interruption of Taylor Swift as the gossip columns and late-night TV shows used the incident as material for months after the VMAs. While Kanye has shown brief moments of monstrosity on the album thus far, Monster sees Kanye fully

embracing the villain role the public bestowed on him post-VMAs, made clear by the vulgarity and narcissism of his verse that follows the opening hook. Kanye opens more than the devil is, track, triple double, no assist. And my only focus is staying on some bogus shit. I got shy, nigga. Kanye opens a verse, the best living or dead hands down. Let's talk more head right now. And my eyes more red than the devil is,

and I'm about to take it to another level, bitch. In four lines, Kanye claims himself to be the best rapper of all time, demands oral sex from his haters, establishes that he's high, aligns himself with the devil, and if that wasn't enough, lets us know that he's actually going to take his brashness even further as the song continues. Clearly, Kanye is unleashed his dark side, and the vulnerability and self-consciousness

alluded to on the album's previous four tracks have been, at least for now, swallowed by the monster within. Later, Kanye says, do the rap and the track, Triple Double No Assists. This is clever wordplay, as Triple Double refers to an NBA player with double-digit stats in at least three categories, which most commonly includes assists. But Kanye, being both a rapper, and producer, doesn't need assistance to make a track, so his musical triple double includes no assists. As the verse continued, Kanye says, I heard that people sing raps to give the track pain, which is a reference to the artist T-Pain and the popularization of Autotune in the early 2010s. Connie then says, bought the chain that always give me back pain. This would seem to be a direct

reference to the enormous gold horace chain we discussed in our power episode, accompanied by his custom-made all-red Philip Limbsuit, which was undoubtedly a tribute to Michael Jackson, Kanye wore this gold horace chain for several performances promoting Twisted Fantasy after its release. It's an absurdly large chain, apparently enough to give Kanye back pain, a slight jab at the irrationality of his materialism. The line, fucking up my money so yeah had the ax saying, comes next, which seems to be another direct reference to the backlash of the VMAs. Here it would seem any genuine remorse regarding the incident was just for the sake of good publicity, as his tarnished reputation was diminishing his

income. After a clever sequence of lines about the women that court him, Connie concludes his verse by turning up his monstrosity and delivering some of the most quotable lines of the album. I know that motherfucker will what you gonna do now whatever I want to do, God, because you'll never get on top of this. So mommy best advice is just to get on top of his. How you ever had sex with a fair row? I put the pussy in a sarcophical. Kanye Kanye that I bruise She just want to swallow shit You just so the presence is my past

My presence is a present kiss my ass Gossip, gossil just stop it Kanye intertwines his greatness in bed With his musical greatness In the now iconic succession of lines That conclude the verse He says, because you'll never get on top of this

So mommy, which sounds a lot like mummy By the way Best advice is just to get on top of this Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh? Put the pussy in a sarcophagus As we discussed on our power episode, ancient Egyptian culture had a strong influence on twisted fantasy. And while more serious songs like power, its influence leads to deep introspection and philosophizing on ancient ideas, on monsters put through Kanye's unique comedic filter, and out comes a line like Put the Pussy in a sarcophagus.

The punchline is topped only by its infectious delivery, with the long drawn-out O of Pharaoh, perfectly setting up the rapid-fire sarcophagus line, and we can't help but to sing along every time. Kanye concludes the verse, I'm living in the future so the present is my past. My presence is the present kiss my ass. It's an impactful exclamation mark on a verse filled with extreme braggadocio. And however egocentric its delivery, it's a true statement. Kanye's time and again proved his forward-looking artistry.

The impact of his work felt years after the releases and often misunderstood at the time of publication. All in all, Connie's verse is a remorseless, calculated blitzkrag of egotism. He shows no signs of vulnerability as he does on the album's previous four tracks, nor should he. Monster is a song about the cathartic release of antagonism, Kanye embracing the villain role bestowed on him by the public, and unapologetically basking an untamed, unadulterated malice. After a repetition of the song's hook, Jay-Z enters the track listing a string of monstrous creatures.

Side-squarets, Godzilla, King Kong, Lockness, goblin, goo, a zombie with no conscious, question. after having common. Everybody knows I'm a motherfucking monster. Conquer. Stop you, stop your silly nonsense. Nonsense. None of you niggas know where to swamp is. None of you niggas have seen the conish that I've seen.

I steal and fiends scream in my dreams. Murder, murdering black convertibles. I and children. Everybody want to know what my Achilles Hill is. After Jay-Z's the source entry of ghoulish creatures, he clarifies the origins of his haunted psyche as his upbringing in the streets of Brooklyn, which he likens to a swamp. He says,

None of you N-words know where the swamp is. None of you N-words have seen the carnage that I've seen. I still hear fiends scream in my dreams. As a dope dealer, the fiends here are likely the addicts J-sold drugs to, who are either withdrawing from the drugs they crave or have just taken drugs and entered a state of chemical psychosis.

After Jay somewhat disturbingly claims to rape and pillage a village full of women and children, the verse breaks down as he emits his weakness. don't get enough of it. All I get is these vampires and bloodsuckers. All I see is these niggas I made millionaires. Milling about spilling their feelings in the air. All I see is this fake fucks with no things trying to draw blood from my ice cold things.

Seems to be the only way to back you bastards. Jay admits his weakness is love, which he claims he doesn't get enough of, and follows with what he receives instead. Vampires, bloodsuckers, backstabbers, and no-fang fakes. Finally, he ends his verse by smelling blood and implies a massacre on his enemies. It's not often that we can say Jay-Z, a definitive hip-hop great, is overshadowed on a song, but thus was his fate on Monster. He sandwiched between two great verses by artists with everything to prove. As you know, Connie was rapping as if his life depended on the success of this album,

and thus he wrote down his raps for the first time, and also crowdsources rhymes with the top MCs he imported to Hawaii. Nikki Minaj, who enters after Jay, was relatively unknown to the general public at this time and saw Monster as an opportunity to showcase her skills along two of the world's greatest artists. Indeed, Nikki Minaj had not yet released a proper album when Monster first appeared online. She had been making ways as a mixtape artist for a few years, and had signed to Little Wayne's Young Money Records in August of 2009. She did a slew of featured verses alongside artists like Gucci Main, Mariah Carey and Robin Thick, but it wasn't until Minaj's monster verse that she really broke the mainstream. To this day, Minaj credits Kanye's monster as their big break.

Regarding her experience in Hawaii and working with Kanye, she told Complex Magazine, quote, I heard through Drake that Kanye wanted me on his album, and I got on the next thing smoking to Hawaii. He's a legend in hip-hop and in pop culture, and to be on his album is a blessing. I don't even remember him ever working with a female rapper, so to be on an album and on a record this monstrous,

I couldn't have planned it better in a perfect world. I remember a conversation I had with Kanye every time I sit down to right now. Every single time I sit down, I remember him asking, what is it that you want to say? It's not about rhyming words. It's about what you really want to say. The fact that he wasn't even looking at me when he said it, he was on the computer looking at naked girls, I think.

It was just a life-changing experience. Outside of Wayne, no one has ever spoke to me that way and caused me to better my craft. I credit him with bringing out something miraculous in me. I really do, unquote. Nikki Minaj's verse on Monster is a masterclass in lyricism, but even more so in delivery. She performs a phenomenal dynamic range of vocal peaks and valleys, her elastic voice effortlessly fluctuating from subtle softness to diabolic crescendo like a virtuoso pianist. Throughout her verse, Monage will oscillate between two opposing alter egos, Roman Zelansky

and Harajuku Barbie. These two characters played a prominent role in Minaj's earlier career, and on an album full of contrasting duality, their presence on Monster is a perfect thematic fit. Minaj spends the majority of the verse embodying the Roman Zelansky character, an arrogant, insensitive, outspoken male from London, England. Roman is a crazy boy who lives in me, and he says the things that I don't want to say. I think he was born out of rage. He was conceived in rage, so he bashes everyone.

He threatens to beat people and he's violent. Of course, it doesn't take much to see why Nikki chose to perform as a Lansky on the majority of the verse. As a character's maliciousness is at home on a song about embracing your inner monster. Nikki begins with vivid imagery as she arrives on set, saying pull up in the monster, automobile gangster with the bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka, Guiam and the Tonka color of Willy Wonka. The passenger from Sri Lanka is speculated by some to be the musician MIA, who is born to Sri Lankan parents.

Nikki and MIA are friends and I have collaborated on songs together, so the possibility of MIA being the bad bitch passenger seems likely. Next, Nikki says, you can be the king but watch the queen conquer. This to me is a brilliant line for a few reasons. In and of itself, there's a passive right-off of the position of king. We think of the game of chess where kings are immobile deadweights, while queens are savage and limitlessly agile. She also says, watch the queen conquer, which is self-referential to her own upcoming verse.

Of course, the payoff here is that she backs up her words above and beyond our expectations. Indeed, the now iconic line that follows is, first things first, I'll eat your brains. It's a jarring right hook of a line, the monster personified. And if that weren't a detailed enough message, next she describes the teeth and fangs currently eating your brains as gold-plated. Nikki then establishes a rhyme scheme and cadence centered around all things monster, her monster hair from the fashion capital Milan, her monster shoes from designer Giuseppe Zanote, and her monster record label Young Money.

Throughout this section, Nikki's voice wavers with a strange vibrato that would seem to be imported from Transylvania. As the verse continues, she pivots to her Barbie character, marked by the 7th of the 7th,000 and changed in her focal inflection. Nikki's sarcastic personification of Barbie begins, let me get this straight, wait, I'm the rookie, but my features and my shows 10 times your pay, 50K for a verse, no album out. As we noted, Minaj hadn't yet released a commercial album at the time a recording monster, yet she still demanded high fees for her features due to the respect she garnered through

her mixtape trilogy. But more than the words themselves, with the introduction of Barbie, Nikki's dynamic performance of the verse begins to take center stage. On the phrase, no album out, she suddenly pivots back to the scratchy aggressive accent of Roman Zelansky, a transition made more impactful by the beat dropping back in after having been absent for several measures. Over the next six bars, Nikki rides the momentum of the beat and establishes a rhyme cadence with sharp accents placed on the ending phrases, climate, climate, violent, whin it, wiling. It sounds like she's literally spitting out some of these words. But in another sudden 180, she halts the short accents and elongates the phrase

when I sign it to the point of absurdity. Before moving on, I would just like to point out a phrase that I personally never understood until sitting down to write this episode. In the section we just discussed, she says Tony Matterhorn, Dutty Wine at Wylan. Tony Matterhorn is a Jamaican dance hall reggae DJ whose big hit was a song called Duty Wine, released in 2006. Nikki's line about Matterhorn could be self-referential to the accent she's using on this particular part of the verse, which does sound strikingly similar to Matterhorn. As the verse continues, Nikki pivots back to Barbie for some time. Throughout the section we just heard, Nikki keeps the energy comparatively low, which is a brilliant wind-up for a verse's upcoming dramatic conclusion. the only brief appearance of Roman during these bars is an excellent moment during the line

Shiana diet but her pocket eating cheesecake, which begins as Barbie and schizophrenically morse midline to Roman. Immediately after this line, Niki cleverly references the split personality she just displayed by saying, I'll say, Bride of Chucky is Child's Play. Both Bride of Chucky and Child's Play were movies in the Chucky horror film franchise that's centered around a homicidal but sweet-looking toy doll, not unlike the contrast between Nikki's Barbie and Roman alter egos. The lines, besides Ye, they can't stand besides me. I think Me, You, and Am should Monage Friday, contains a few clever references. Am here is short for Amber Rose, Kanye's girlfriend at the time of riding monster. She implies that the three should Monage eto, which of course

references her name Nicky Monage. The significance of specifying Friday cleverly eludes to Minaj's debut album Pink Friday. Both this out of the album, album and Twisted Fantasy were released on the same day, Friday, November 22nd, 2010, a kind of monage eto between Kanye, Nikki, and their shared release date. After maintaining the longest period of calm and the verse thus far, the beat drops to kickdrem alone, and Nikki delivers a TKO of an outro. This now iconic outro is accentuated by rapid hard pans between the left and right channels, creating a jarring audio strobe light-like effect. She uses a complex rapid fire three-phrase

double rhyme scheme saying pink wig, thick ass, given whiplash, I think big, get cash, make him blink fast. Within each of the two lines, the last two phrases rhyme, ass, whiplash, cash, blink, fast, while the first phrase in both lines rhyme, wig, pig. This creates an accelerating effect into the verse's final lines, which is punctuated by a high-pitched scream and a statement of the song's reoccurring motif, I'm a motherfucking monster. All the emcees on the track say a variation of I'm a monster at some point in their verses.

Rick Ross, of course, opens with the phrase. J.Z. also states it early on in his verse. By the time Nikki's part comes around, we've heard the phrase eight times. Whether we know it or not, the repetition of this line has been conditioned into our minds as cadential, as resolving, the answer to the song's unasked question. Rather than open with the line like everyone else, Nikki uses her entire verse to build towards it. And when she finally delivers, it's extremely impactful, heightened by the grueling high-pitched squeal that precedes it. It's a monster moment so large that Kanye doesn't reappear to perform the song's hook.

Instead, the beat continues instrumental, a kind of metaphoric dropping of the mic. Nikki Minaj's verse on Monster has quickly become one of hip-hop's all-time treasures. Its impact was felt immediately upon the release of the track and is seen by most, including Nicky herself, as their first big break into popular culture. In 2013, Complex Magazine named the verse the best verse of the last five years. In that same year, Kanye admitted that he had a momentary thought of potentially cutting the verse from the track because he felt it was the best verse not only on his song, but of the entire album. It was like that moment, you know, when I thought about taking Nikki's verse off a monster

because I knew people would say that it was the best verse on the best hip-hop album of all time, arguably top 10 albums of all time, right? And I would do all that work, eight months of work on Dark Fantasy, and people to this day would say to me, oh, my favorite thing was Nicki Minaj verse. So if I let my ego get the best of me, instead of letting that girl get the shop to get that platform and become all she could be, I would take it off or marginalize her, try to stop her from having that shining moment. So what happens when Mark Parker's riding on his jet, would somebody come up to him and say, my son's favorite shoe is a Yeezy. Now, they could have been working on the fly.

Indeed, Connie provided Nikki with a phenomenal platform, not only with his audience and influence, but a musical platform as well. For me, the success of a song like Monster is just as much about the musical details than it is about the quality of the song's verses. Monster is an exemplary model of cohesion. Everything about the track contributes to its monstrous theme. The production rumbles and shakes with the persistent, driving low end, and minimal treble. There's use of multiple sound effects, including literal monster roars and screams, detuned voices, and the sound of a crowd when Connie asked to see our hands at a concert. Kanye also selects artists and coaxes them to staying on theme.

Justin Vernon's distorted sinister introduction, Rick Ross's grisly monster voice, Jay-Z's clever wordplay, and of course Nicky's oscillating alter egos. Lyrically, we could display how on-topic everyone stayed by reciting a simple list of quote-unquote monstrous theme words like compiled from the track. Lonely, night, sacrifice, bitch, monster, bloodsucker, jungles, rumbles, dead, red, devil, devil, cold, Paine, Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong, Locknest, Goblin, Gould, Zombie, Swamp, Carnage, Fiends, scream, murder, rape, pillage, vampires, bloods, massacres, eat your brains, Chuckie, and Kill. This concentrated vocabulary, the content and performance of each of the track's verses, as well as the production and tasteful insertion of sound effects throughout,

all create a tightly knit cohesion rarely executed this well in a song with so many features. While songs like Dark Fantasy, Power, and All the Lights might be more obviously polished and therefore more easily perceived as cohesive, everything about Monster is thought out to the tiniest detail. And this brings us to the song's outro, which features a reappearance of Justin Vernon. While Vernon was distorted and sinister on the track's opening, here on the outro he's much more vulnerable. This passage is a signal of resignation, and coming after a track so outwardly brash, it creates

It's a strange, unexpected juxtaposition against the onslaught of egocentric glorification and remorseless embrace of wickedness that preceded it. It seems to be another direct acknowledgement of the VMA incident and backlash. Vernon begins, I cross the limelight. The word limelight is pronounced in such a way to also hear the word line. This cleverly comments on both crossing the line of the VMA's and his relationship with the limelight of fame. But when we consider the next line, and I'll let God decide, crossing the line light comes to

of celestial connotations, perhaps alluding to the bright light one sees after death. As we discussed at the top of the show, all the lights can be viewed as a portal into another world, Kanye's dark twisted fantasy, and crossing the limelight may be an acknowledgement of that transition. Of course, letting God decide the fate and consequences of his actions, finds Kanye a bit indifferent to the whole VMA debacle now, perhaps ready to move on and let the chips fall where they may. Finally the lines, I wouldn't last these shows, so I'm heading home, can be interpreted a number of ways. First, we might still think of the VMAs,

with Kanye acknowledging his inability to last these shows, or stay quiet when he believes a mistake was made. Could also be alluding to the fact that his world tour with Lady Gaga was canceled due to the aftermath of the VMAs. But I think more than this, these last lines are an exhalation of forfeiture. Kanye, who on the song's hook repeatedly addressed an imaginary crowd on an imaginary stage,

is exhausted by his efforts to uphold what now seems like a manufactured anti-hero image. It says this the song, Monster, was Kanye's best attempt to try on the villain's clothes, and after having a little fun, is ready to call it a night. Indeed, Monster's resignation transitions directly into a track that is in many ways a continuation of Monster, just viewed through a different lens. Like Monster, it's also set at a concert. Like Monster, the hook asks us to see our hands at said concert. But unlike Monster, the emotional quality is much more somber.

This hypnotic, dreary, dreamlike concert is the setting of the album's next track so appalled, which will thoroughly explore next time on Dissect. Dissect is written in produced. DECD is written and produced by me. D-Music by B-Rocratic. Before I go, I want to tell you about a podcast you should be listening to, if you don't already. It's called Switched on Pop. Switched on Pop breaks down what makes a pop hit work.

Musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding put melody, harmony, rhythm, and lyrics under a microscope to discover what makes a great song stick in your ear. Seriously, if you're into Dysect, you're going to be into Switched on Pop. Start with episode 34, where Charlie and Nate. investigate wolves by Kanye West. It's incredible. You can find switched on pop anywhere you get your podcasts. If you enjoy Dysect, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, tell a friend about the show, or share a link on your favorite social media outlet. There's no team behind Dysect. It's just me, and I can use all the help I can get growing the show. If you'd like to support Dysect,

you can do so at patreon.com slash Dysect. By pledging as little as $1 per month, which works out to be about 25 cents per episode, you can help dissect become more sustainable and help me offset some of the costs of the show. My dream is to one day make Dissect my full-time job, and if just half the listeners of the show pledged $1 a month, I could very easily do that. A big shout out to my Diamond Level supporters Evan Sweat, Jonathan Hardyway, Saman Chaudry, Mike Jolla, Robbie Landsberg, Greg Cervini, Artura Macias, Raymond Rays, Danny Park, Grant Jenkins, Judy Kushina, that's my mom, Quentin Samuel, the 3-1 crew and the Portland Art Ensemble Secreto Secreto at OrganizeVo.org.

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