Bum Rush The Boards

I once jotted down two lines for a song without any idea what to do with them. The lines were: “It was quite the strangest sight ever seen / one Knight, he tried to mate with the Queen!”. Many moons later I was sitting at my computer and my man Nick (Community League President, amongst other things) popped up on Gchat:

“Can you write me a song about chess?”
“Sure, what for? When do you need it?”
“asap”
“er…ok”

Nick is the senior editor of Hip-Hop journal Words, Beats & Life WBL is an organisation that is working to transform individual lives and communities through Hip-Hop and they were gearing up for their 2nd annual Hip-Hop Chess Tournament - Bum Rush The Boards.

The competition aims to show children how the worlds of Hip-Hop and chess are linked and to show them how the principles of chess can be applied in life.

It was time to water the seed that had been planeted and grow the two lines into a song.

I retreated to a secluded courtyard where I battled my sister. I reflected on the many bouts with my sparring partner Susie, getting whipped by my cousin, being defeated in the League by Special Opps and scores of trans-Atlantic games with Cheddar Ted

I returned to The Shire with an epic story of Kings, Queens and Castles. I put the finishing touches to the song in Cat’s Lair whilst Thundercat spent the afternoon creating the perfect beat. We came to a sticking point and had the inspiration to fuse the two beats we’d been working on together, and the beat was completed as I penned my last word.

The rhymes had split and divided into 64 lines, one for each square, and by sundown “War & Piece: Wise’s Gambit” was born.

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Washington D.C. 19th May 2007

The guys at the journal loved the song and rather than just having it on the mixtape they decided to make it the official song of the event.

As it happened there was another Hip-Hop Chess event happening that very same day, the inaugral competition of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation. This event was being organised by Adisa Banjoko and was being attended by The RZA.

The Wu-Tang Manual was a huge influence on me and inspired me to start studying the game of chess I contacted Adisa and he was all for the song and he put it up on the myspace in the hope that RZA would hear it. This connection has led to 2 or 3 remixes being made and possible involvement with a chess themed album featuring some prominent members of the Hip-Hop community (many of whom are involved with HHCF).

In the ensuing year I have visited the WBL office in D.C. and had a good discussion with 2Tone about new ideas for this year’s event, about how we could come with different themes and perspectives to demonstrate the many facets of the game.

Washington D.C. 17th May 2008

The day was a great success and I really hope I will be able to attend the next one.

What’s even more exciting is the fact that we have a video for the song in the works which is being created by youngsters in the WBL programme.

From a spark of inspiration manifested in rhyme, through a golden opportunity taken, the song has travelled all around the world and, in turn, it has sparked creativity in other minds.

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