dälek's music is dark, noisy and atmospheric, equally inspired by industrial music like Einstürzende Neubauten, the layered noise of My Bloody Valentine and the dense sound collages of Public Enemy. Their sound is often constructed through sampling and a musical base atypical of most hip-hop, making it difficult for people to classify their sound. They have been described as trip hop, glitch-hop, and metal-shoegaze-hip-hop, as well as criticized for their broad range of sound.
MC dälek described the group's music to the Chicago Sun-Times:
“It's purely hiphop, in the purest sense. If you listen to what hiphop has historically been, it was all about digging in different crates and finding different sounds, and finding different influences to create. If Afrika Bambaataa wasn't influenced by Kraftwerk, we wouldn't have 'Planet Rock'. So, in that sense, what we do is strictly hiphop.”
“If there is a difference, it's that the palette of sounds we work with is more varied than what has been called hiphop in the last 10 years. Somehow, as hiphop grew, it's been put into this box. I think it's funny when people are like "That's not hiphop. It's this and this and this." You can try to rationalize it as whatever you want to rationalize it as."
Studio albums:
• Negro Necro Nekros (1998)
• From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (2002)
• Absence (2004)
• Abandoned Language (2007)
• Gutter Tactics (2009)
• Untitled (2010)
• Asphalt for Eden (2016)
• Endangered Philosophies (2017)
• Precipice (2022)
Collaborations, EPs and compilations:
• Megaton / Classic Homicide (2000) Split collaboration with Techno Animal.
• Ruin It (2002) In collaboration with Kid 606.
• Dälek vs. Velma (2002) Split collaboration with Velma.
• Derbe Respect, Alder (2004) In collaboration with Faust.
• Streets All Amped (2006)
• My Education vs. Dälek (2007) In collaboration with My Education.
• Deadverse Massive Vol. 1 (2007) Rarities 1999-2006.
• Griots and Gods - Les Eurockeennes Festival Belfort (2010) Live collaboration with The Young Gods.
Blessed Are They Who Bash Your Children's Heads Against A Rock
Dälek Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Children's heads against a rock
What Malcolm X said when he got silenced
By Elijah Muhammad was in fact true
America's chickens are coming home to roost
We took this country by terror
The Comanche, the Arapahoe, the Navajo
Terrorism
We took Africans from their country
To build our way of ease
And kept them enslaved and living in fear
Terrorism
We bombed Granada
And killed innocent civilians
Babies, non military personnel
We bombed the black civilian community of Panama
With stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenagers
And toddlers, pregnant mothers and hardworking fathers
We bombed Qaddafi's home and killed his child
Blessed are they
Who bash your children's head against a rock
We bombed Iraq
We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living
We bombed a plant in Sudan to payback
For the attack on our embassy
Killed hundreds of hardworking people
Mothers and fathers who left home
To go that day not knowing
That they would never get back home
We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki
And we nuked far more than the thousands
In New York and the Pentagon
And we never batted an eye
Rev. Wright
The lyrics to dälek's song "Blessed Are They Who Bash Your Children's Heads Against A Rock" are an indictment of the violence and terrorism committed throughout history by those in power. The repeated refrain of "Blessed are they who bash your children's heads against a rock" is a reference to a passage in the Bible (Psalms 137:9) that speaks of vengeance and retribution. The verse is often interpreted as a call for violence against one's enemies, and dälek uses it to highlight the brutality and inhumanity that has been carried out in the name of religion, politics, and power.
The lyrics reference specific instances of violence, such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the enslavement of Africans, and the displacement and mistreatment of Native American tribes. dälek also mentions more recent acts of aggression, such as the bombing of the civilian community in Panama and the killing of unarmed civilians in Iraq. By calling attention to these atrocities, the song asks us to consider the consequences of our actions and to recognize the harm that we can cause when we prioritize our own interests over the lives of others.
Overall, "Blessed Are They Who Bash Your Children's Heads Against A Rock" is a powerful and thought-provoking commentary on the cycles of violence and oppression that have plagued humanity throughout history. It is a reminder that, regardless of our differences, we are all connected and should work to build a more just and compassionate world.
Line by Line Meaning
Blessed are they who bash your
Those who harm the innocent are praised
Children's heads against a rock
Especially when it is violence against children
What Malcolm X said when he got silenced
Malcolm X was silenced in his criticism of Elijah Muhammad
By Elijah Muhammad was in fact true
His criticism of the chickens coming home to roost was accurate
America's chickens are coming home to roost
The violent actions by America will come back to haunt them
We took this country by terror
The United States stole this land through violent means
Away from the Sioux, the Apache, the Arowak
Native American communities were forcibly removed from their land
The Comanche, the Arapahoe, the Navajo
And numerous other tribes were violently displaced
Terrorism
These actions constitute terrorism
We took Africans from their country
African slaves were forcibly taken from their homes
To build our way of ease
Their labor was used to build the foundation of America
And kept them enslaved and living in fear
Slaves were kept in brutal conditions and lived in fear
We bombed Granada
The United States bombed the small Caribbean country of Granada
And killed innocent civilians
Many innocent people were killed as a result
Babies, non military personnel
Including babies and non-military personnel
We bombed the black civilian community of Panama
The US attacked the black community in Panama
With stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenagers
Using stealth bombers, unarmed teenagers were killed
And toddlers, pregnant mothers and hardworking fathers
This attack killed many innocent people, including toddlers, mothers, and fathers
We bombed Qaddafi's home and killed his child
The US bombed the home of Qaddafi and killed his child
We bombed Iraq
The United States bombed Iraq
We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living
Many innocent people lost their lives trying to provide for themselves and their families
We bombed a plant in Sudan to payback
The US attacked a plant in Sudan to get revenge
For the attack on our embassy
This was in response to a previous attack on a US embassy
Killed hundreds of hardworking people
Many innocent people were killed in this attack
Mothers and fathers who left home
Parents who left their homes never returned to their families
To go that day not knowing
They did not know they were going to be attacked that day
That they would never get back home
Their families never saw them again
We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki
The US dropped atomic bombs on these two cities
And we nuked far more than the thousands
The US has conducted nuclear tests in many places, affecting countless more people
In New York and the Pentagon
Referring to the 9/11 attacks
And we never batted an eye
The US never showed remorse for their actions
Rev. Wright
This phrase is likely a reference to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who gave a sermon in which he criticized the US government's actions and history of violent behavior
Contributed by Layla C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
charlie z
this still rocks, a standout, was so awesome live as well.
D
so fuckin underrated
Jason Loewenstein
This is a fucking masterpiece.
William Pine
Asphalt for Eden coming....