Puss and Cush [Track 18] | Reclaiming Artistic Sovereignty: Why Commercial Hip Hop is Still a Gimmick
From Parody to Reality: Looking Back to Move Forward - May 2026
Today, I am taking you on a profound trip down memory lane all the way back to a piece I originally posted in 2011. Back then, I was trying to process the sheer absurdity of the mainstream music industry and how it interacts with the public. I created a satirical character named E$ to act out the ridiculous, hedonistic tropes dominating the airwaves. It was my early way of using sociology and philosophy to hold up a mirror to a deeply broken cultural landscape.
Looking back at this body of work now, I realize how much the world has shifted, yet how radically it has stayed the same. In 2011, the E$ gimmick was designed as a heavy-handed parody of what commercial hip-hop had become. Today, that exact parody has been completely institutionalized and optimized by massive corporate gatekeepers. What used to be a joke about artistic compromise is now the standard business model for the masses. The industry doesn't just tolerate shallow content anymore; it actively, algorithmically enforces it.
When I read my old words today, I see an artist wrestling with the tension between mass entertainment and raw truth. I wanted to see if I could beat the system at its own game by being intentionally preposterous. You can see the frustration in the writing regarding an under-educated populace being fed a diet of materialism and distractions. It was a necessary stepping stone for me to understand the true mechanics of cultural manipulation.
Reclaiming Artistic Sovereignty in a Corporate World
My perspective has evolved profoundly over the last fifteen years since this original post went live. As a conscious rap artist and sociologist, I view these systemic issues through a much wider macroeconomic lens today. The modern music machine forces creators to act like corporate craftsmen rather than genuine, sovereign artists. They want you distracted by mindless entertainment so you do not look at the real economic and social structures holding people back.
That is why I completely stepped away from the gimmicks and the alter-egos to focus entirely on conscious rap. True artistic freedom does not come from playing the corporate game better than the executives do. It comes from stepping off their game board entirely and building your own infrastructure from the ground up. We have to focus on creating intrinsic value and sparking real, philosophical dialogue through our work.
If you want to dive deeper into how I structure my music catalog and navigate the industry today, check out the LyceumRecordz.com blog. Over on that blog, I share regular updates about my albums and break down my raw business perspective. It is the central hub where I discuss the mechanics of maintaining creative control as an independent artist. You will get a behind-the-scenes look at how the music actually gets made without corporate interference.
Building the Future Direct-to-Consumer
We can no longer rely on centralized distribution platforms or predatory labels to value genuine human expression. The only viable path forward for independent creators who actually have something to say is absolute sovereignty. By connecting directly with the people who value the message, we build an organic ecosystem that cannot be manipulated. This is about taking back your psychological ownership and establishing true financial independence.
The tools we have today allow us to bypass the gatekeepers completely and cultivate deep, direct-to-consumer relationships. I want to build a community of critical thinkers who value depth over cheap, algorithmic thrills. We do not need the validation of a rigged industry when we have a direct line to each other. This journey is about reclaiming the soul of the art form and using it as a tool for actual societal awakening.
Are you ready to stop feeding the corporate machine and start supporting real, unfiltered conscious art? I invite you to join our independent ecosystem directly and get closer to the movement. Head over to
The 2011 Archive: Deconstructing the E$ Gimmick (Original Post)
Most hip-hop “artists” today are really just craftsmen. They make, package, and sell a product that is meant to not reflect on society and say something genuine or original, but capture a wide audience by bantering to popular and meaningless subject matter, which entertains the gross incompetence of an under-educated populace. That’s great if you are trying to JUST sell records (otherwise known as your soul), but it takes more skill to try and create something that has both intrinsic value and a desirable aesthetic.
“It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other.” - 2pac, “Changes”
“I’ve created a monster, cause no one wants to see Marshal no more, they want Shady, I’m chopped liver.” - Eminem, “Without Me”
Although some are rather generic, like E$, I like the over-simplification because, at root, E$ is a parody of modern commercial hip-hop suited to the average American male (which is hip-hop's main demographic). This track is also spelled incorrectly on purpose. I am a horrible speller! I actually had this misspelled on my outline, and a couple of days before I listed it, I found that Kush is spelled with a K. But I figured I would leave it because it's suiting. E$ doesn't have time to check things like spelling! Shit, you serious?
The first verse takes the object of men's desire and turns it into an animal. Instead of objectifying women (in the traditional sense), I wanted to turn their genitals into a literal object (and make it pretty offensive in terms of vulgarity) by anthropomorphizing the vagina into a beloved American pet... and then eating it.
A Grimalkin is an old or evil cat. Which, to me, is really funny... It fits perfectly in the rhyme scheme, but throws you off because you don't know the word. The halarity comes when you find what the word means, because it is even more grossly offensive and paints a disturbing image. It gives you a joke for now and a joke for later. ...your welcome hip-hop!
The second verse starts with "executive entity, mayor of ya city. Love flavored titties, so I slay the kitty." When I wrote this, there were a lot of political scandals involving all sorts of public figures (like Anthony Weiner). It is also saying something about women's attraction to power and prestige. The rhetoric gets rather descriptive and really hammers home the point. It usually makes people uncomfortable, or more accurately, makes young men laugh profusely because they understand the song is designed to be outlandishly preposterous. (I want women to take notice of how the second verse ends.)
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