Death Grips is an industrial/experimental hip-hop group from Sacramento, California. The group consists of vocalist MC Ride, drummer Zach Hill, and producer Andy Morin. Death Grips is well known for their absurd take on not only rap music, but music in general, with loud abrasive synths and screams littered throughout their songs. Although it seems like nonsense at first glance, Death Grips offers a unique take on the modern American capitalist system, and how it often ignores the struggles of minorities and the mentally ill. Furthermore the instrumentals help to add to this by adding a dystopian and futuristic tone to all of their songs.
“Up My Sleeves” is a song the band released on their album “The Powers That B” that features a heavily
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The song starts off with a speech from deranged cult leader Charles Manson on the topic of the modern workspace. Manson states “I went to the studio! I went to Vox Studios. I had it all, and I looked at it and said: 'This is a bigger jail than I just got out of.'” which the band includes to show how many feel like they're trapped in their job or social class with no ability to escape. They later include Manson stating “I make the money, man, I roll the nickels, the game is mine! I deal the cards” showing how the only way to truly succeed in modern American capitalist society is via corrupt or immoral means. Manson was also included as he was a false prophet to those who followed him, and led them to their deaths or imprisonment, allowing Ride to look into other religious themes later throughout the song. MC Ride starts his verse off with the mantra “I close my eyes and seize it (Seize it) I clench my fists and beat it (Beat it) I light my torch and burn it (Burn it) I am the beast I worship” displaying how he began to disassociate with society, instead turning to a life of isolation and drug-abuse to escape the perceived jail that capitalism placed him in. The phrase “I am a beast I worship” exemplifies this idea, by showing how Ride rejects religion along with any other form of societal structure by saying that he is his own god, and could do anything he needs to do himself. Ride expands