Dear Innovare...The Souls of Ignored Pioneers Shall Be Renowned

by Ospreyshire

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1.	As Mediocrity Pays to Greatness 01:14	lyrics	buy track
Innovations have risen Millennia after millennia Of aesthetics, functionality, and even life saving measures Become norms to our present day The Originator blessed those to improve fields large and small However, the unscrupulous get fame As they steal and don't create That or the good become obscured Its why demons incarnate Can only imitate what they see or hear This larceny rarely gets checked These are the stories of those wronged for their nature for daring to craft archetypes Since imitation was backhanded
2.	Ishango 01:57	lyrics	buy track
Intro: [Lingala] Tosalaki eloko ya sika (Eloko ya sika) Mokuwa oyo ekosunga bato pona koyekola mitango (Koyekola mitango) Tozali basali ya eloko ya sika (Eloko ya sika) Over 20,000 years ago, we crafted something still being taught to future generations. We made a calculator and calendar from a baboon's bone. What a prime way for instructions from a primate. We solved problems and tallied up solutions. Nzambe bless our methods. Counting lunar cycles, adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying notch by notch. We made generations smarter and efficient. We know other civilizations wouldn't be born in millennia. Our technology shall not be fractured, only modernized in future ages. Ishango=Innovation (repeat) [Repeat intro]
3.	Onesimus the Unsung Hero 01:05	lyrics	buy track
Bodies kept dropping in Boston In the century of their so-called Lord in the 18th century While I wasn't the same as the saint of the Byzantium, We were both in bondage My master begged me to save him and the city With my memory from the motherland before I was chained Once I was useful like my enforced foreign namesake, more kept breathing All I want is credit and freedom, doctors I don't know about their originator, but I had stubbornness to accept the faith of those who captured me Shame on me Boston would've been a ghost town without my medical services
4.	About A Benjamin I: Banneker 01:11	lyrics	buy track
Hours upon hours were spent reverse engineering and solving boring math problems given to me to kill time I didn't want to kill it I wanted to keep it watch after watch I took them apart and reconstructed them at will I wanted something bigger, so I stretched my hands Every minute and hour of my life These faces grew as did my ambitions The majority of this country were confounded that someone they oppressed made something America, I am the grandfather of your clocks You can count on that.
5.	Incandescent Electric Freeman 01:20	lyrics	buy track
I was the son of runaways, yet I would soon be the ignored father of electricity Draft after draft, I would progress in my innovations despite the lack of praise Gardens of inventions would be under my watch They would certainly bloom Trains would look like outhouses on wheels without me I even drew up the first phone designs Ask Alexander about that Then came my electric lamp Carbon would be king to shine brighter and longer How well was a paper filament, Thomas? I was an originator The bigger One knows who I am when others give blank stares This incandescent electric freeman lives whenever you turn a light on
6.	Lebombo 01:42	lyrics	buy track
Intro: [Zulu] Sisungule ithuluzi elisha Leli thambo lizosiza abantu ukutui bafunde izinombolo Singabaqambi bethuluzi elisha In ancient times at the continent's Southern points in the mountain range We told time, counted the days, and tracked the moon All it took was a baboon fibula tally by tally We taught our people from the highest to lowest veldts At least 44,000 years ago This wasn't decoration This was for education as the Originator blessed us and those up north for our tools [Repeat intro]
7.	Lifeblood: Monologue 02:13	lyrics	buy track
A World War and racial segregation Wasn't going to stop me from saving lives Soldiers were dying I knew how to innovate in times like these And even my enemies at home had to bank on it Every type was given to me to save lives I chilled the sources and stored them for emergencies Next, came the samples as cargo on the go To hospitals and beyond 15,000 in the UK alone Better thank my inventions for saving their lives Too bad my employer threw racist pseudoscience As to who got transfusions or not I would be cut off from this world But my method of saving lives continues
8.	Closed Circuits, Open Mind 00:46	lyrics	buy track
More watchful eyes had to be manufactured Whether hidden or overt, security had to be in order All it took was the technological genius Cameras became placed Ruffians would think twice before invading Under those watchful cybernetic eyes The Originator blessed this woman to utilize these cameras Protecting others Those eyes will live on Closed circuits, open mind
9.	Restoring Sight While Laser Focused 01:34	lyrics	buy track
No one ever believed the blind could be restored to see Those were saved for fairy tales Science had to be called into change reality and several lives It took a woman's touch to make it happen There would be an innovative way to wash the blindness away Under medical watch and an array of lasers This medical maven would shape reality First was oblivion Then came walking trees Next was technicolor sight No spit was involved But technology and pure scientific grit The eyes have it now (X3)
10.	Keep On Building, Otis! 02:10	lyrics	buy track
His mom's heart stopped beating Those tears were enabling To ensure every heart can keep Beating at healthy paces Keep on building So many robberies and extortion Plagued many businesses The front end would take the Brunt of it until he improved On those registers Keep on building Monitors, keyboards, and programming Would craft into a high-tech archetype For an eventual household and office item Games, research, and work can be done Nothing personal, just a computer Keep on building
11.	T. Jennings: Cleaning Up the Patent Competition 01:12	lyrics	buy track
America, you needed to be cleaned up in so many ways I was only one man, but I had to make things right on a twofold account I started with your laundry There would be a new kind of care for your clothes and I id it in a dry fashion like you've never seen before Millions of businesses would be created because of me Next came real freedom fighters The bread I got from my invention Went towards those who wanted every man, woman, and child To be free and equal Its more than what a piece of paper could say I hope they keep on fighting How does it feel seeing a man like me being the first of his community to own a patent?
12.	Boyd Bedsteads 02:03	lyrics	buy track
An unmarked grave is where my mortal frame rests, yet my inventions let people sleep in style Wooden frames and canopies were built for luxury and durability where commoners can sleep like kings and queens even to this day While Ohio and Kentucky weren't always kind to me, I knew I had to have a twin set of endurance My ethic, diligence, and carpentry had to see me through and spring into action Brothers, sister, your freedom was paid for from my classy beds patent or not They saw my name on every frame I wish my company would've withstood the flames of envious arsonists I would free those who were like me My life has been used for the greater good Let me rest
13.	Sincerest Form of Laziness 01:12	lyrics	buy track
Falling from the empyrean They managed to ascend on the earth Their names were in lights with infintismal points The innovators pushed to the side from the emulations with their ways and mores of supine larceny Denials echo as earworm choruses worldwide with tunes, moving pictures, and museums The masses become allured now knowing or caring that these were imitations Originator, suffer not the true catalysts of Innovare Penniless and undermined The descendants want to demand restitution Some emulations were honest, yet it was worse with excuses for the trendiest prints of ignored canvases
14.	A Chasened Futurist From Smiljan 02:28	lyrics	buy track
I alternated from nation to nation like the currents I created Eventually, I became a Serbian in New York An infantry of patents would be my brainchildren Of course, its a shame that Thomas would steal my originator title He smeared my name when he shocked the elephant The nerve of his bullying Electricity still became my forte and I wouldn't coil under pressure I wish things would've been better than feeding pigeons and being alone My body would be sent to Belgrade (Beograd) where I would be a hero Thomas, you may have won the popularity contest, but you'd be nothing without me Wouldn't it be funny if someone drove something with my name on it?
15.	Art Theft: Benin 00:54	lyrics	buy track
[Yoruba] O ti ja aworan wa Mase paro ki o so pe o se awon ohun-oso wonti Awon ile iso re je awon ewon Je ki a je ki eyi se alaye si o [French] Rends-nous notre art maintenant!
16.	About A Benjamin II: Montgomery 01:43	lyrics	buy track
Born into chains and auction blocks I was under the eyes of the Davis family I vowed not to be chattel and kept myself learned Those steamboats in the South enraptured me Yet they could only do so much One bad turn and a famine or shortage can occur No need to steer people wrong and I would figure the right angles for this problem Enter the propeller! (X4) My design made these steamboats faster, more efficient, and had better navigation Shame how my patent was denied (X4) My former captors including the president of the South tried and failed to credit themselves for what I made I dreamed of more despite my heartbreak Isaiah, the rest is up to you.
17.	Scraping for Blanched Crops 00:45	lyrics	buy track
There was always a lie That someone of my complexion never invented anything They surely never met me I was known only as Ned I created the cotton scraper Much like how my master took humans like me, he took my invention So, Stewart. How did you come up with my scraper again? Even the patent office rejected you again and again You're so typical in your laziness When I cried, sweated, and bled more than you could imagine
18.	Art Theft: Nigeria 01:08	lyrics	buy track
[Igbo] I bu ihe nleda anya [Yoruba] Nitori ti o ji wa aworan [Hausa] Bidajen kayan tarihin ku ya sa aka kama su. I ghotara? You better return what's ours!
19.	About A Benjamin III: Boardley, Not Bradley 01:06	lyrics	buy track
I didn't care anymore how my last name was spelled after my time on earth Just know that I was an innovator people haven't heard of My family and I were in bondage in the Old Line State Whenever I could, I'd learn from the children of my captors That education would come to use Printer offices and the Naval Academy would see my intellect Too bad my captors got most of my pay My greatest achievement involved gun barrels, pewter, steel, and random junk With this mechanical trash came the first steam engine My patent was denied even when my brainchild bought my family's freedom Don't deny my innovations By the way, steampunks. You're ever so welcome.
20.	Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone: The Millionaire Cosmetologist from Metropolis, Illinois 01:06	lyrics	buy track
Madame CJ Walker, you weren't the first lady of that honor You were a former client of her From Metropolis, Illinois to St. Louis, then to the Second City was the first beauty expert of her time Hair, face, hands All became better with Malone's expertise for those with melanin She built a college just for cosmetology Despite $14 million in her prime, you stole those formulas Women of all colors benefited from the Poro Brand CJ...or is it Sarah? You'd be nothing without Annie She lost her business, but she won't be lost in history anymore No woman can be attractive Without a beautiful complexion and an innovative mind
21.	Art Theft: Senegal 01:06	lyrics	buy track
[Wolof] Luy sa tiis? Am nga tere xewoonu Afrig? Yeena ngi saacee yi [French] Comprends maintenant? Vous ne possedez pas notre histoire!
22.	Halstead's Trophy 03:12	lyrics	buy track
I no longer wanted to be down After you took my crown and cashed it in for millions of pounds So shamelessly I had to strengthen my heart To withstand all your darts that multiplied from the start Of your thievery Originator be my guide May justice be on my side Halstead will be filled with pride with the trophy that's rightfully mine You think you can do what you will I made you admit your guilt How does it make you feel that you're forced to know my name? Take a picture now (X6) To immortalize your shame
23.	I, Axum 01:02	lyrics	buy track
Were the invaders fascinated by my beauty? I stood tall in this living city My creators took care of me every step of the way Its a shame they never foretold of my destruction and abduction While my homeland was never colonized, I was taken defiled, and cloned I'm disgusted by my inferior leaning tall north of me My people...rescue and reconstruct me The world must know I exist May the originator give me renown despite my obscure state
24.	Jo Anderson and the Reaper 01:11	lyrics	buy track
I would never meet my captor's grandson, but I can only thank him from the beyond as he put my name on the record Shame on this country for not realizing my brainpower and physical endurance Robert, Cyrus, you know it's true The reaper wouldn't exist without me I guess people like me are used to doing all the heavy lifting 1834 saw the birth of this new tool However, the McCormick's names were on it Cyrus II, you did what you could to make things right I may have been a slave, but I was still an inventor
25.	GTW: Granville Tailer Woods 01:33	lyrics	buy track
I'm not an Edison clone The railroads were my domain The damage in those fields were staggering, so I started with the telegraphony Relayed messages ensured safety, wire by wire Then Edison wanted credit for my work How nice, I sued and beat him twice He was on his knees begging me to work for him. Nah, bruh I kept my head up and crafted overhead lines to clear road traffic of cable cars Automatic brakes, circuits, and egg incubators Would become part of my repertoire Although I would rest in an unmarked grave for sixty-five years My name would be on streets and schools I'm glad the afterlife wasn't the end of the line for me All aboard the originator's express!
26.	Ode to the Innovators 01:45	lyrics	buy track
Doctors, kings, educators, singers, and many more Who dare to be outside hellish boxes deserved the praise for their endeavors While history books may not have their names in stone, they shall be immortalized for future days No more theft No more exploitation No more ignoring This prayer shall extend to those daring to put dreams into practice The world is certainly too heinous for its own good And thieves will try to steal They cannot take the originators in them Dear Innovare...The souls of ignored pioneers shall be renowned These archetypes shall be remembered Forever and ever So shall it be written So shall it come to reality

about

Ospreyshire has been on a roll recording things in 2019 so far. Besides some compilation exclusives and a couple of singles made, and another EP, there was one thing missing in this discography…a full-length album. A long player was lacking and the solution involved poems and songs for a whole new concept album.

Dear Innovare…The Souls of Ignored Pioneers Shall Be Renowned is the first full-length album from Ospreyshire and it is nothing like any previous EPs or singles. While his trademark acousmatics, avant-garde leanings, and spoken word vocals do return, there are more great additions. There are more organic instruments used this time around and there are songs that incorporate some programmed elements. It’s also a genre roulette of sorts as elements of electronic, acoustic, blues, post-rock, digital hardcore, shoegaze, acapella, folk, and even rap show up in some forms. The production is all lo-fi and DIY, but the result only strengthens the truthful narrative in these stories.

This is a concept album much like previous EPs. Verses Vs. Anhedonia was an autobiography dealing with elements of depression. Pathos Formula Wave: One Score of Rage was a compilation of angry letters to those who hurt in him the past. Dear Innovare is a collage of stories and narratives about numerous creators. These stories involve inventors, doctors, engineers, musicians, business owners, and many more. Many of them have been overlooked for several reasons and some of those people were ripped off by those more famous than them. These tracks are homages to those who were forgotten and some of them simultaneously bash the rip-offs in question. Dear Innovare incorporates smaller song or poem cycles that are part of the larger concept. There’s the About A Benjamin trilogy which is about African-American inventors named Benjamin who has contributed to innovations still used to this day even though the history classes have been neglectful in talking about them. The Art Theft trilogy is about three specific African nations who’ve had their art and artifacts looted while being placed in European museums. Those nations (Benin, Senegal, and Nigeria) are trying to get what’s rightfully theirs.

Dear Innovare…The Souls of Ignored Pioneers Shall Be Renowned is an ambitious album and certainly the most creative one Ospreyshire has created thus far. Feel free to be enlightened by these poems and songs while also immersed in his experimental forms of audio art.

credits

released December 27, 2019

Curtis M.: Vocals, acousmatics, percussion, keyboards, mbira, panflute, Stylophone, lap dulcimer, steel drum, Omnichord, programming, ukulele, bass, marimba, xylophone

Written, recorded, and performed by Curtis M.

Lingala translation assistance on "Ishango" by Deogratias Bokonzi

Special thanks to my family, Dave Emmerson, Angela Grant, Dr. Y., Jeannette Jonic, Oscar Villalpando, Essence Tillery, Dave Hawkins from The Antidote, Josh Mozug, Gareth Sitz, Kreb, Ben Richardson, Peter Kruse, Zenas Hopson, Deogratias Bokonzi, Xena from We Hold All Truths to Be Self-Evident, Terrance Crow, Rodrovich, Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime, Scott from Mechanical Anime Reviews, K from K at the Movies and you.

Even greater thanks to those innovators I referenced in this album and those in the future...

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about

Ospreyshire Illinois

Spoken word verses coalesce with brief acousmatic and experimental noises in such urgent timing. This microcosm of experimentation is the M.O. of Curtis M. AKA Ospreyshire. Is he a poet who dabbles in the avant-garde or an abstract artist who uses free verse poems? Ospreyshire could care less and just release these crystalized moments in sonic form. ... more