Augmented is a song about cybernetic enhancements, reproductive rights, and a really weird doctor’s appointment.
I believe that Augmented is the first track, aside from Party Hop, that I wrote for the second album. I vividly recall starting on it almost immediately after I released Raging Ego. At the time Raging Ego was released, I was on vacation in New York and collecting ideas and inspiration for the new project. At the time I was particularly inspired by the modern art, augmented reality, and virtual reality exhibits I visited, and developed an early working idea of an album about cyborgification. I envisioned it as a human’s transitional journey from organic to synthetic, with Augmented being one of the first steps the human takes to augment their physical body. So I began working on the song over a gritty, industrial beat by the artist Damn Selene.
Needless to say, this album concept eventually went out the window, replaced by what you now know as Alter Ego. However, I decided to finish the song anyway, as I had always wanted to write about the personal experience I share in this song. When the topic comes up, which is almost never, I have always asserted that my experience of getting fitted with an IUD is the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. Despite that, it’s also one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. When something has such a profound effect on your memory and your entire existence, you really have no choice but to write about it, even if it’s super personal, way too overshary, and incredibly fucking weird.
And thus Augmented was brought into the world. The song describes the first step a fully organic human takes to control and augment their biological functions, by acquiring a mechanical implant. As a fan of futuristic sci-fi series like Psycho-Pass and Black Mirror, I decided to frame your average OB-GYN visit as a precarious underground mission set against the backdrop of a Handmaid’s Tale-esque dystopian regime, where the ruling government has taken away all reproductive rights. It’s a worst-case scenario imagination of a Trump administration and its conservative judge appointments, taken to its logical extreme. This was a fear I actually had around the time I first got my IUD, in November 2016, right after Trump was elected. Worried about what they would do to the availability of reproductive health services, I decided to get a long-term solution that would last me a while. And turns out that while Roe v Wade remains intact for now, the government really did fuck up on something related to public health, putting the nation’s lives in danger. Who would’ve thought?
The Redesign shares some narrative similarities with Augmented. It couldn’t be a more different-sounding song, but it also uses a deceptive metaphorical framing device and a late reveal. We think the song is about a relationship, but turns out it’s about a phone. We think Augmented is about a dangerous quest, but it’s about a doctor’s appointment. Like The Redesign, Augmented doesn’t exactly let on what it’s about until at least the second verse, if you’re paying attention. But by the time you reach the end of the song, you know what it’s really about, and it subverts your expectations.
Obviously I can’t end this commentary without talking about the most important line, the central thesis of the song, its raison d’etre: “I U Deez Nuts”. While I’m not going to explain what it really means, because that would ruin its mystique, I can tell you that it isn’t an action, but a state of being. One must ascend to a higher plane to achieve its true form and then one will be content and want for nothing more. This song is a rallying cry for a world where all may freely I U Deez Nuts. And don’t forget. This was the first line I wrote for this song. This is where it begins and where it ends.
And thus concludes this I U Deez Nuts - I mean, Alter Ego Explained.
LEX the Lexicon Artist combines Internet culture, fandom, punk ethos, and shock humor (not the mean kind) to create an over-the-top explosion of nerdy, dirty, funny raps.
Soul-searching hip-hop from this Florida rapper, with lyrics that dig deep and take an unflinching look at life’s questions. Bandcamp New & Notable May 1, 2023
I needed to be delighted by something this year. Maybe you did too? Mr. Darklord stepped up to the plate to create a little sparkle in the stream of the world's sludge. STD is a very, very bad man. NOT! Most definitely not. escapementdog
