All-around Breakdown: Mega Ran & MC Lars Dissect Kickstarter-funded "Lit-Hop" Album THE DEWEY DECIBEL SYSTEM (Horris Records)

"Ever since our fortiutious connecting at Comic-Con in 2008, we have been teaming up to drop fresh rhymes and play concerts for our fans and friends. It's been a wild ride and it feels like we are just getting started. For the last three years, we have been working on an album and are glad to say that it is 90% finished! In other words, this will be in your hands this year! We know some Kickstarters have taken longer than expected, but this project is super-close to being complete...

Simply put, this album will contain Rap songs about some of our favorite literary works (works of Fiction, short stories, poems, and even graphic novels) transforming them into bangin' and joyful Hip-Hop jams with help from some of the hottest beat-makers and guest rappers in the game. We rap about Shelley's Ozymandias, Moore's Watchmen, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Poe's Masque of The Red Death, and so much more. This album features guest appearances by MC Frontalot, Schaffer The Darklord, [B. Dolan], Storyville, Miss Eaves and more!"

- Mega Ran & MC Lars (Kickstarter)

1. "The Dewey Decibel System Intro" (Produced By: Rich Matthew)

Mega Ran: "On the intro of a new album, I always like to let everyone know what to expect from the album. What's The Dewey Decibel System? Bars. Beats. Books. My favorite thing to hear when two emcees are on a song together is for them to go back-and-forth, like EPMD, Run-D.M.C. and even Jadakiss & Styles P do so well. So, for this one, we wanted to showcase some teamwork. The book and author references were a must, as was the "just read every day" line that I had come up with on the road one time. We'd been doing that for about a year on tour until we thought it'd be a perfect tagline for the whole project. As you'd imagine, we originally wrote it to Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode" and wanted a track similar to that for the album. Shout-out to young Richie Picasso, who shot the video!"


2. "1984" Feat. B. Dolan & Mike Russo (Produced By: Rich Matthew & Last BeNeVoLeNcE)

Mega Ran: "I think, when writing this, we had a few ideas in mind to maintain the 80's-style beats and rhymes and to get someone imposing to play Big Brother and B. Dolan was the perfect pick. The hook was based on the iconic opening lines of Public Enemy's "Fight The Power," which we're all trying to do. The video was so perfect, Kevin Parkinson did a great job on it. "1984" is probably the book that's been referenced in Rap more than any other, I think, with the concepts of being watched permeating Rap music for as long as I can remember. So, the key was to execute in a way that hadn't been done, which, I think, we did. Last BeNeVoLeNcE, an artist that I work closely with, assisted Rich Matthew on the track, which was topped off by some KILLER shredding by Lars' bandmate and our frequent tour manager, Mike Russo."


3. "Ode to A Grecian Urn" (Produced By: Steggozaurus)

Mega Ran: "Another track where we got to go back-and-forth, "Ode..." was so fun because I [was] literally learning while I was performing it. Lars wrote the raps and I studied them at the studio, THEN, went back and read the poem. It's a pretty [cool] piece that I'm a big fan of now and I love the lines "'beauty is truth, truth beauty,'—that is all / Ye know on Earth and all ye need to know." After researching it, I found that a lot of poets and critics disagreed on those words and their meaning—but, I think, it makes great art when there's something to be discussed. What's more beautiful than the truth?

Funny story: the producer of this track is Steggozaurus AKA Paul Edwards, who wrote the books How to Rap[: The Art & Science of The Hip-Hop MC] and How to Rap 2[: Advanced Flow & Delivery Techniques]. As a gag gift at the end of our first tour together in 2011, I bought Lars the book How to Rap. Lars loved it and later, became friends with the author, who made the beat for this track. Joke's on me, I guess, 'cause dude is dope!"


4. "Gulliver's Travels" Feat. Jill Sobule & Storyville (Produced By: Rich Matthew)

Mega Ran: "For this story, we rapped about a 3-man crew getting shipwrecked and scattered across a wide land full of wonders, based on Jonathan Swift's satirical story. Lars had his verse and most of the concept ready for me when I heard it and after re-reading, I decided to write my verse based on a meeting with The Houyhnhnms, a very rational group of horse-people. I explained to them how their land was different from mine and they were so nice about not needing laws and punishments and that made me re-think my own home's customs.

Interesting production note: Lars and I wrote this to a completely different beat and then, had to change it (based on some strange business tactics by our original producer.) We had a second beat that we couldn't quite agree on, so then, a third beat appeared and that was the one. Jill [Sobule] KILLED the hook and Storyville brought it all home on the third verse."


5. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (Produced By: Rich Matthew)

Mega Ran: "Stories like this are why I say that Lars is a master at concepts. Somehow, he thought to make the story of Ichabod Crane one that would tell a tale of us going to play a show in Tarrytown, New York, at a strange venue where DJ Ichabod Crane was signed up to play for 100 years. We've played our share of crazy venues, so this one wasn't a stretch. Definitely had Run The Jewels in mind, based on a joke we've made often on the road about being "Run The Schools." Their bombastic style of beats were what we originally wanted to use to tell the story and Rich Matthew knocked it out of the park."


6. "Jabberwocky" (Produced By: Mustin)

Mega Ran: "Jabberwocky was such a fun story to read as a kid, with its cool artwork and silly nonsense words throughout, so this was one that we definitely felt we needed to cover on the album. Mustin's beat captured the feel we imagined perfectly and I played the role of the monster, who was just a bit misunderstood. It feels child-like and whimsical and, I think, it's one of the few tracks on the album that nailed that vibe."


7. "Julius Caesar" Feat. Dan Bull (Produced By: CharlieMumbles)

Mega Ran: "Super fun track to work on, one of my favorites. This is the story that almost stopped our album from being in the "Children's" category! It's a gruesome tale, but it's literally history, so, hey. Shakespeare's take on the Caesar story is one that examines the friendship of Julius with his friend Brutus, who, ultimately, does the deed. CharlieMumbles made a great beat and Lars and I interpolated a little of an [Insane Clown Posse] verse from "Chicken Huntin'" to make up our hook. We had just gotten finished doing The Gathering of The Juggalos, so we were definitely in a darker space when creating this one and it shows; it's very sinister! Technically, I really had a lot of fun with flows on this one and tried some things I hadn't done before, experimenting with triplet flows and more. We had the record almost completely done and then, thought we should have another character on it, so we hit up Dan Bull about being Cassius and he MURDERED his verse. We even got to shoot a video in his studio, which was awesome. Can't wait 'til you guys get to see that!"

MC Lars: "We knew we wanted to do Shakespeare for this album, so we revisited this classic play. A few summers ago, a performance of this play in Central Park was protested because some New Yorkers did not like the modern depiction of Caesar as a Trump-esque "villain," whose reign was mitigated by some misguided revolutionaries. Shakespeare focuses on the complicated aftermath of the regicide and I thought the modern interpretation of the story was prescient. Julius Caesar was the first Shakespeare [play] I remember reading in ninth grade and I remember loving Mark Antony's speech. Mega Ran said he'd be Brutus and our friend, Dan Bull, "KILLED it" as Casius."


8. "Books Are Tight" SKIT (Produced By: Theosyn)

MC Lars: "For months, we called the session for this song "Prince Paul" because Mega Ran and I are both fans of Paul's skits between songs on some of the best the albums he produced. Our producer friend Brad had a Casio RAP-1 Rapman keyboard, which we picked up and starting playing with. The demo beat had a funny melody that made us think of the "books are tight (I read a lot)" chorus, so we thought we'd make a skit about me pitching a horrible song concept to Mega Ran for the album; the "verse" is freestyled. This song was a fun change-of-pace for an album that was very meticulously recorded and produced."


9. "Bartleby, The Scrivener" Feat. Jaret Reddick, Kelly Ogden & Stacked Like Pancakes (Produced By: Eric Taft)

MC Lars: "Some of my most popular songs have been Ska collaborations; this track featured Stacked Like Pancakes, who I made friends with on Warped Tour 2015, when they walked around with a sign saying "SKA IS NOT DEAD!" I asked them and my friends, Jaret from Bowling for Soup and Kelly from The Dollyrots, to help us with this song. I remember loving Bartleby when I discovered the short story in high school because while Melville is known for his dense nautical allegories, he can also, be very funny. Mike Judge's Office Space is a funny, modern twist on the tale, so we wanted to update the story yet again. This song tells the story of two of Bartleby's colleagues at a start-up and how his refusal to do intricate tasks lands him in San Quentin. The twist at the end is hilarious—Mega Ran is a genius lyricist. This song will be fun live, with a full band one day!"


10. "Ozymandias" (Produced By: S.A.T. Beats)

MC Lars: "Years ago, Mega Ran toured with Eyedea collaborator Sadistik. His producer, Alex, had given Mega Ran some MP3's of beats he'd worked on and when we were listening to them in the van on tour, I got so excited about one of his instrumentals. It was, actually, one of the first ones we picked for the album! We tell this story of Shelley's political satire on this song, about a crumbled statue of a once-great ruler. Mega Ran plays the archeologist and I play the misguided deceased demigod, who, simply, wanted to "Make Egypt Great Again." Our video for this song drops next week." (EDITOR'S NOTE: it's out now!)


11. "The Masque of The Red Death" (Produced By: Rich Matthew)

MC Lars: "A few years ago, I did a TEDx Talk, where my students performed their version of this Poe piece. I was so enraptured with their track that I decided that Mega Ran and I should tackle the story, as well. Because Poe's story is set in a fancy ball, hosted by a rich man who wants to keep out the Bubonic Plague (The "Red Death,") we decided to write the song in a 3/4 Waltz tempo, to emphasize the ballroom origins. I tell the story from the host's perspective and Mega Ran becomes the jilted guest, who shows up and destroys everyone who disrespected him. The chorus is inspired by Ces Cru's "Klick Clack Bang," a 3/4 Waltz banger that I've always felt like was one of the best examples of lyricism of all time."


12. "Walden" (Produced By: Middle East Modern)

MC Lars: "This was the first track we recorded for the album and the first video. Mega Ran wrote the verses and I wrote the choruses and we filmed the video at [Henry David] Thoreau's cabin site at Walden Pond. The song is about unplugging and letting go of distractions and in this era of competitive streaming, proprietary YouTube algorithms, and Twitter rage, Thoreau could not be more relatable. Our higher Kickstarter backers, actually, received a signed copy of Walden (but Mega Ran and me, not Thoreau, unfortunately!) Although, we ended up re-recording both this song's music and lyrics, we ended up using the demo version for the album. The beginning of "Look, if you had one shot..." is a reference to [Eminem's] "Lose Yourself," as Thoreau lost himself in Walden. This is one of my favorite songs on the album."


13. "Watchmen" Feat. MC Frontalot, Schäffer The Darklord, Miss Eaves & Quelle Chris (Produced By: Rich Matthew)

MC Lars: "I originally, wanted to exclude graphic novels from this project, but Mega Ran made the point that Watchmen had helped diversify the literary canon to help legitimize "comics" as a literary art form. We knew we wanted a posse track, so we enlisted the help of our friends Quelle Chris, Schäffer The Darklord, Miss Eaves & MC Frontalot to tell the story of each of the main characters from this book. I've always loved [Alan] Moore's seminal classic because it plays with the idea of the moral absolutes of good vs. evil. The characters in this story are neither, so it was fun to bring them to life. Live, this song slaps!"


14. "Between The World & Me" (Produced By: G1)

MC Lars: "Friends of ours in Philadelphia gave me a copy of the Ta-Nehisi Coates classic. I read it on tour and when I got home, Mega Ran suggested that we write a song about the ideas in this book. We wrote it in the form of a podcast; a well-meaning, Liberal (but confused) interviewer asks Coates questions about the book, while trying not to seem ignorant. Some of the back-and-forth mirrored some of the conversations Mega Ran and I had about race and culture and the song gave us the ability to address some of these topics. My favorite line is Mega Ran's "we never owned y'all / For every Rachel Maddow, there's a Rachel Dolezal." It's one of the best, most insightful rhymes on the album."