We’ll admit that we’re huge fans of Scientology hip-hop going way back, and although Chill EB is the unrivaled king of the genre, we can’t help having a special appreciation for the Aussie-flavored rap that comes out of the church.
One of our biggest disappointments was losing track of a copy of the Melbourne Day Rap Battle Team’s epic video that was apparently taken down from YouTube after we brought it a lot of attention. Oh well. But now, our man Rod Keller has discovered a new source of that sweet Down Under sound, and we’re going to let him tell you about it. But first, here’s Rod explaining why rap is so perfect for Scientology’s wacky lingo…
In his groundbreaking 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China, Robert Jay Lifton describes a series of interviews he conducted with American service members who had been indoctrinated during their captivity during the Korean War. The book is best known for Lifton’s Eight Criteria for Thought Reform, a list of aspects shared by cults and brainwashing groups.
Lifton’s Criteria Eight — Loading the Language — is evident in “Scio Rap Music Video,” a song by Sydney Ideal Org staff member Luke Ayers.
Yeah, you know there are certain times in your life when you just feel like you gotta sing…
Yeah, I’m second generation
taking my place in
this new world religion
yeah, we’re Clearing our space in
this time frame is short I know
but let’s be bros, do this together
we’ll go free in droves
I was scared as shit
before I went up the BridgeAdvertisementchanged my whole bloody life
now I’m feeling rich
let’s do this properly
yeah we got a monopoly
on world Clearing, no shit
no, nothing’s on top of meso now I’m walking the beat
I’m talking no defeat
we’re going up the Bridge
it’s feeling clear & sweet
we’re gonna take the win
we’re gonna make em grin
we’re gonna turn this whole world round
yeah, and these times are changingAdvertisementit feels engaging
take that Standard Tech, bro
turn the page and audit them PCs
turn out releases, dunno about you
but this is feeling easy
coz we have the tools
train up the fools
make em tough as guts
as Auditors they rule!
read Policy letters get on staff
& better your fellow man
coz shit bro
he ain’t gettin it together
just don’t listen to the psychsAdvertisementthey’re drug-dealing spikes
there’s a very good reason
they operate in Treason
so let’s spread the word
don’t be middle class PTS
be epic Scientologists
and save the world
with your boys and girls
full of free theta, good times,
good people, sunshine
working together
together forever
we making it better
now let’s swing togetherso let’s set em free
with Scientology
follow RTC & COB
and respect the man
who made all of this possible
I love you LRH
now we’re totally unstoppable
Scientology publishes entire dictionaries that define a huge number of loaded language words and phrases, and this is a great example of packing as much as possible into one song. “Going up the bridge,” “Operate in Treason,” and “PTS,” or Potential Trouble Source all make for unusual lyrics and a non-member would probably find it incomprehensible. As Lifton describes Loaded Language:
The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis. Totalist language, then, is repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon, prematurely abstract, highly categorical, relentlessly judging, and to anyone but its most devoted advocate, deadly dull: in Lionel Trilling’s phrase, “the language of nonthought.”
Loaded language makes for dull rap lyrics, in the genre of rapper Chill EB’s anti-Psychiatry songs. Ayers and Chill EB join rapper Doug E. Fresh in recording Scientology-based music. Fresh, along with Slick Rick, recorded the classic rap songs “The Show” and “La Di Da Di” in 1985. He also performed Joy of Creating, the title song on a 2001 album by the Golden Era Musicians and Friends. It is based on a poem by L. Ron Hubbard.
— Rod Keller
Dull? We beg to differ, Rod. We think Ayers is the bomb, and now we just have to get a rap battle between Luke and Chill! Get on it, Golden Era!
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Make your plans now!
HOWDYCON UPDATE
Hey, we’re less than a month away from this year’s HowdyCon in Chicago, June 21-23. As in past years, we’re looking forward to meeting readers of the Bunker, culminating in Saturday night’s main event.
The biggest difference this year is that our Saturday night event is separate from that evening’s dinner. Chee Chalker is setting up an inexpensive pizza dinner that you don’t need to pay for ahead of time, after which we’ll walk over to the theater where our event, hosted by Chicago Fire star Christian Stolte, will take place. Because it’s a separate event, we’re asking that you pay $10 each to get into the Saturday night event, which will help us recoup what the Bunker paid for the venue. (We have never made a penny on our HowdyCon meetups, we only try to break even.)
Please email your proprietor (tonyo94 AT gmail) in order to reserve your spot for Saturday night’s main event. Seating is limited, and we’re going to have some really interesting people on stage and they may make a few announcements that you don’t want to miss.
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,127 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,730 days
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 273 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 161 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,336 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,110 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 2,884 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,230 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 10,796 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,464 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,724 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,764 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,476 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,002 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,091 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,231 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,551 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,526 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 882 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,184 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,290 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,693 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,565 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,147 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,652 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,896 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,005 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 27, 2018 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news
