1) Paris, a hip-hop artist… Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name:
1) Paris, a hip-hop artist from San Francisco
2) Paris, now known as Paris Shadows, a hip-hop artist from Redding, CA.
3) Paris, an alternative rock band from Lowell, Massachusetts - PVRIS
4) Paris, a band from Sweden
5) Paris, the original name of Poison
6) Paris, a band from the U.K.
7) Paris, a US 70s rock band
8) Paris, a singer/songwriter from Norway
9) Paris, a sleazerock band from Australia
10) Paris, a band from... Paris with Nicolas Ker (RIP)
1) Paris (real name Oscar Jackson, Jr.; born October 29, 1967 in California) is a hip hop artist from San Francisco known for his militantly confrontational rapping, and especially the controversial track "Bush Killa." After earning a degree in economics from University of California-Davis, Paris founded Scarface Records but released his first single with Tommy Boy Records. "The Devil Made Me Do It" was his critically acclaimed debut 1990 LP; the title track was banned by MTV.
Paris' 1992 follow-up, "Sleeping With the Enemy", was not released due to the anti-George H. W. Bush track "Bush Killa" and the album's insert, featuring the artist waiting behind a tree, holding an assault rifle, as the president is waving to the crowd. Unable to find a distributor, Paris released it on Scarface Records and the album was a critical success though sales were slim (but successful by independent standards, at about 400,000 units). "Guerrilla Funk" (1994, 1994 in music) sold roughly 300,000 units, but his follow-up, "Unleashed" drew cries of selling out with its G funk sound, though the message still was one of unity and struggle against racial discrimination.
In 2003 he resurfaced with a new label, Guerrilla Funk Recordings. His most recent album is "Sonic Jihad" and continues his record of controversial album covers: it depicts a plane flying into the White House, and speaks on many topics, including the War on Terror, the war in Iraq, police brutality, black-on-black violence and conditions in inner-city communities. Included on the album are KAM, Dead Prez , and Public Enemy.
Most recently, Paris completed a project with Public Enemy, "Rebirth of a Nation" , a title taken from the 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, a racist portrayal of African Americans after the Civil War, glorifying the Ku Klux Klan. Although Chuck D is the primary vocal performer, Paris penned the bulk of the album which also features MC Ren, Immortal Technique, and the Conscious Daughters. This album is seen as a project separate from the discography of both Paris and Public Enemy.
3) Paris (born Paris Vasquez on February 17, 1994 in Redding, CA), named after the 1993 Cure album, released his debut album in 2018 and toured with Post Malone and 21 Savage the same year. He has been described as a "grittier Post Malone". Paris has changed his stage name to Paris Shadows.
3) Paris is...
Lynn Gunnulfsen - Guitar/vocals
Alex Babinski - Guitar
Brian MacDonald - Bass
Brad Griffin - Drums
Hailing from Lowell, Massachusetts, the four musicians that form the entity entitled Paris certainly have a fascinating story to share. Upon meeting in 2009 while partaking in a previous musical affair, vocalist and guitarist Lynn Gunnulfsen and drummer Brad Griffin soon met eye to eye on one thing: something didn’t feel quite right. Towards the end of their run together with their previous band, they met guitarist Alex Babinski. “When we met him and he and I were writing together it was just instant chemistry,” says Gunnulfsen. Soon after the band clicked with Babinski, they gracefully entered the studio to create the being in which rock n’ roll fans everywhere would soon begin to know as Paris.
5} Paris from Pennsylvania - Bret Michaels began his performing career with a basement band called Laser and, then, in 1979, joined longtime childhood friend Rikki Rockett to form a band called the Spectres. In 1980, Michaels and Rockett teamed up with Matt Smith and Bobby Dall to form the band Paris and the group started playing the club circuit, performing mostly rock cover songs in local bars. According to Vicky Hamilton, Poison's first manager, the band's sound at this time revolved around guitarist Smith, who was by far the best musician in the group. While Smith was responsible for music, Rockett and Michaels focused on the band's stage show and image. Paris formed a strong local following in Pennsylvania but saw little opportunity of larger success there, and the decision was made to move to Los Angeles. In March 1983, Paris changed their name to Poison and headed west to California
6) Paris In 1975, Bob Welch and Jimmy Robinson (recording engineer) formed the short-lived hard rock power trio Paris with ex Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick and ex drummer Thom Mooney. Paris released two albums; Paris (produced by Jimmy Robinson (recording engineer)), and after Hunt Sales replaced Mooney, Big Towne 2061, produced by Bob Hughes. Sales' brother Tony subsequently replaced Cornick before the group split. The first album to this day is still selling as it been released 4 times; the second album not so well.
In a 1979 interview with People Magazine, Welch said that the two Paris albums were "ill-conceived." Because of the misfire of Paris, his finances had deteriorated until he had only $8,000 left. Mick Fleetwood and members of Fleetwood Mac would soon help him reinvigorate his career as a solo act.
Paris (with Nicolas Ker)
"Quinze ans … quinze ans qu’elle couve, cette maudite tempête … dans la tête de Nicolas Ker, enfant terrible et torturé qui écume les bas-fonds parisiens en quête de reconnaissance artistique. Le son escarpé et farouche de Paris se gorge de cette anxiété accumulée, une frustration renouvelée encore et toujours, celle de l’artiste convaincu à tort de ses imperfections, courant fiévreux sans fin après l’absolu sans jamais l’atteindre.
Rejoint dans son odyssée par Maxime Delpierre, Arnaud Roulin, et Michael Theis, enrichi des expériences Poni Hoax et Aladdin, ce digne héritier des romantiques noirs concrétise enfin son fracas intérieur. There is a storm est saturé de tension contenue sous la surface lisse des premiers morceaux conçus comme une entrée en matière calme traîtreusement. Le troisième morceau « My baby drove away » accélère la cadence alors que l’amour vient de s’enfuir
Ouf enfin la crise éclate, c’est qu’on se sent bien mieux en état de siège, dans l’urgence de la décomposition ! A partir de là l’album s’emballe comme un cheval au galop se précipitant vers le ravin dans la tourmente des éléments déchaînés. Lautréamont et Chateaubriand n’ont qu’à se bien tenir ! Le palpitant en bandoulière à la limite de la rupture, le quatuor Paris se métamorphose en chasse infernale, une chevauchée fantastique digne des chevaliers de l’Apocalypse.
« Up from a distance » et ses accents brisés d’Opéra de quat’sous, le caractère electro-funèbre de « The Cross-over », « The march of the wooden soldiers » très Rebotini dans ses envolées, … le Lp s’achève en apothéose sur les aveuglants « Serve me Lord » et « Wearing the mask », transes cathartiques propres à saisir les derviches tourneurs du monde entier. Le tout se lit comme une dramatisation complète de l’écriture musicale, une partition incendiaire dark au possible, qui se dévore comme un mets empoisonné, dans la chaleur du tonnerre."
Et plus si affinités
www.facebook.com/parissubways
So What
Paris Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the floor, ON THE FLOOR NOW
{On your stomach, get on your stomach, on your stomach!}
{ON YOUR STOMACH!} {*gunshots*}
Yo...
They got up out the squad car
Jaws hard, jarheads, they want us all dead
It's one local detective, the rest is all feds
Kick the do' down, ripped the whole house up
Grandmomma asked what's wrong and got her mouth cut
The lead fed grabbed her by the throat, threw her up against the wall
and told her they won't leave without drugs
With no just cause, just 'cause
Had her tied up in her own closet wearin just drawers
Pants down, standin 'round sweatin and laughin
and high-fivin each other like - that's what's up dawg!
Until a blizzard of bullets blew some nuts off
One by one they run but got gunned off
Her grandson was only five but he saw the whole thang from the stairs
and managed to make the gun cough
These streets can only see so much until they say SO WHAT
Let the police cars blow up, it won't be long 'til the ghetto
Can only take so much, of the blame gettin thrown on us
And politicians bodies go numb, from going dumb - SO WHAT?
Yeah, another visit from the social worker
She know her kids ain't supposed to know this dope and murder
He know her kids ain't supposed to notice dope and murder
So he let her keep 'em in exchange for some social service
And every week's the same, he gets so nervous
They snort coke, then she let him hit it 'til it hurt it
Typically, that's the end of the date
She swallows his pride, the kids can stay
She ain't mentioned he the reason why the baby in her stomach got her tummy out
When she did, he froze up and dummied out
Took her food stamps, put him in his book
Walked away then she screamed out 'Hey' and caught a left hook
That's when the hollow tip hot one let his chest cook
Shortened every breath took; her young son
mean muggin handcuffed as they took him away
Said "Momma you gon' be okay, so what?!"
She was a proud mom, a G.I. Joe mom
Couldn't see they lied for war, she was all for it
Wavin flags, sportin tags with the yellow ribbons
And when she said he was a hero know she really meant it
'Til somebody showed her proof of the ruse
Took her to GuerrillaFunk dot com for the hard truth
Showed the motive and the profiteering from the mission
She got mad and wrote her congressman but he ain't listen
So she prayed everyday that they
would pull the troops out the fray and they would be okay
All she had was her faith 'til the day the news
Came talkin 'bout that roadside bomb in Fallujah
And even though she thought she'd been through the worst
Mama walked into the closet, put the strap in her purse
And went first to the door of her congressman's home
Took his life 'fore takin her own, shoulda known
- repeat 2X
The song "So What" by Paris is a powerful commentary on police brutality, corruption, and the cyclical nature of violence in urban communities. In the first verse, Paris paints a vivid and disturbing picture of police officers abusing their power and terrorizing innocent people. He describes how they barged into a home without cause, tearing it apart, and physically assaulting an elderly woman, all in the pursuit of drugs. The violent scene is contrasted with the second verse, which tells the story of a mother who turns to drugs and prostitution to support her family, unable to escape the cycle of poverty and desperation.
Throughout the song, Paris emphasizes the idea that these problems are systemic and cannot be attributed solely to individual bad actors or flaws in the system. He uses the repeated phrase "so what?" to suggest that although people may be outraged by these injustices, they may feel powerless to do anything about them. The song ends on a devastating note, as Paris describes a mother driven to commit a murder-suicide after her faith in the political process is shattered by the death of her son in combat.
Overall, "So What" is a searing indictment of the broken promises and systemic failures that have left so many people in marginalized communities vulnerable to violence, abuse, and hopelessness. The powerful lyrics and intense imagery make it a deeply moving and thought-provoking work of art.
Line by Line Meaning
FREEZE, POLICE!! (What are you doing?!)
The police arrive with force and instill fear in the person they are approaching.
On the floor, ON THE FLOOR NOW
The person is being commanded to lie down on the floor.
{On your stomach, get on your stomach, on your stomach!}
The person is commanded to lie on their stomach.
{ON YOUR STOMACH!} {*gunshots*}
The police use force to make the person comply with their orders.
Yo...
The artist starts the song with a casual greeting.
They got up out the squad car
The police arrive at the scene.
Jaws hard, jarheads, they want us all dead
The police are intimidating and appear to be on a mission to harm others.
Walkin up to the door, they all saw red
The police approach the door with anger and hostility.
It's one local detective, the rest is all feds
Only one officer is from the local force, the others are federal agents.
Kick the do' down, ripped the whole house up
The police break into the house and destroy everything.
Grandmomma asked what's wrong and got her mouth cut
The grandmother tries to intervene and is silenced by the police.
The lead fed grabbed her by the throat, threw her up against the wall
One of the officers assaults the grandmother by choking her and throwing her against the wall.
and told her they won't leave without drugs
The police threaten the grandmother to find drugs or they won't be satisfied with the search.
With no just cause, just 'cause
The police have no legitimate reason for their actions and are simply doing it because they can.
Had her tied up in her own closet wearin just drawers
The grandmother is humiliated by the police and left to be found tied up in her closet in her undergarments.
Pants down, standin 'round sweatin and laughin
The police are making fun of the situation and seem to be enjoying the power they have over the people in the house.
and high-fivin each other like - that's what's up dawg!
The police celebrate their cruel actions towards the family.
Until a blizzard of bullets blew some nuts off
The family fights back against the police and tries to protect themselves and their home.
One by one they run but got gunned off
The family members try to escape but are killed by the police.
Her grandson was only five but he saw the whole thang from the stairs
A young child is traumatized by witnessing the horrific actions of the police against their family.
and managed to make the gun cough
The child attempts to fight back against the police but is unsuccessful.
These streets can only see so much until they say SO WHAT
The people in the neighborhood become desensitized to the violence and injustice inflicted upon them.
Let the police cars blow up, it won't be long 'til the ghetto
The people feel hopeless and powerless against the police and the system that perpetuates their abuse.
Can only take so much, of the blame gettin thrown on us
The people in the neighborhood feel blamed for the societal issues that are affecting them, even though they are not the root cause.
And politicians bodies go numb, from going dumb - SO WHAT?
The politicians who are supposed to be protecting the people are apathetic and not listening to their concerns.
Yeah, another visit from the social worker
The government sends a social worker to intervene in the family's situation.
She know her kids ain't supposed to know this dope and murder
The mother is aware that her children should not be exposed to drugs and violence.
He know her kids ain't supposed to notice dope and murder
The social worker is aware that the children should not be exposed to dangerous situations.
So he let her keep 'em in exchange for some social service
The social worker makes a deal with the mother that goes against his responsibilities.
And every week's the same, he gets so nervous
The social worker is under pressure to maintain his deal with the mother.
They snort coke, then she let him hit it 'til it hurt it
The mother and social worker are engaging in drug use and sexual activity.
Typically, that's the end of the date
After their encounter, the social worker leaves the family alone.
She swallows his pride, the kids can stay
The mother must forfeit the social worker's pride in order to keep her children safe.
She ain't mentioned he the reason why the baby in her stomach got her tummy out
The social worker is responsible for the mother's pregnancy and lack of care for her health.
When she did, he froze up and dummied out
The social worker is unable to respond to the mother's revelation of his actions.
Took her food stamps, put him in his book
The social worker takes away the mother's benefits as punishment.
Walked away then she screamed out 'Hey' and caught a left hook
The mother tries to confront the social worker and is physically attacked by him.
That's when the hollow tip hot one let his chest cook
The family retaliates against the abusive social worker and shoot him.
Shortened every breath took; her young son mean muggin handcuffed as they took him away
The child who witnessed the police violence is arrested and taken away from his family.
Said "Momma you gon' be okay, so what?!"
The young child tries to comfort his mother in the midst of their family's turmoil.
She was a proud mom, a G.I. Joe mom
The mother is proud of her son's involvement in the military.
Couldn't see they lied for war, she was all for it
The mother believed in the government's justification for going to war.
Wavin flags, sportin tags with the yellow ribbons
The mother publicly displays her support for her son and the military.
And when she said he was a hero know she really meant it
The mother idolizes her son for his military service.
'Til somebody showed her proof of the ruse
The mother is confronted with the truth about the war and the government's deception.
Took her to GuerrillaFunk dot com for the hard truth
The mother seeks the truth through alternative media sources.
Showed the motive and the profiteering from the mission
The mother learns about the ulterior motives and financial interests behind the war.
She got mad and wrote her congressman but he ain't listen
The mother tries to take action by contacting her elected representative, but is ignored.
So she prayed everyday that they
The mother turns to faith for guidance.
would pull the troops out the fray and they would be okay
The mother hopes for a peaceful resolution to the war.
All she had was her faith 'til the day the news
The mother's only source of comfort is her faith until she receives devastating news.
Came talkin 'bout that roadside bomb in Fallujah
The mother learns that her son has been killed in action.
And even though she thought she'd been through the worst
The mother has experienced many hardships in her life, but this is the most devastating thing to happen to her.
Mama walked into the closet, put the strap in her purse
The mother decides to take matters into her own hands and seek revenge.
And went first to the door of her congressman's home
The mother seeks out her elected representative in order to seek justice.
Took his life 'fore takin her own, shoulda known
The mother kills the congressman and then herself as a final act of desperation and vengeance.
Contributed by Avery F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
GymnasticsKitties
Paris is by far one of the hardest and most conscious rappers that has existed
Most-Hated-Inc
Breathtaking - Every verse...
Green Machine
Where PAC left off this should have been our next progression 🔥🔥🔥
Lindsay Hobson
Now this is hip hop. POWER MUSIC
JEDI7ACEN
Yeah! Bring it back!
markmixxstreetjazz
dope!!
THE ONEZ WHO FIGHT BLK | Web 3.0
PARIS SPITTIN MO GUERRILLA FUNK TRUTH AND FIYAH
Lawrence Williams
so what is too real! Peace !L.A.W.
biackmeezy
MAN P TOOOO COLD REAL TALK !!!!!!
GuerrillaFunkRec
Wondering where strong voices of Truth are in Hip-Hop?
Visit Guerrilla Funk Recordings -- http://www.guerrillafunk.com/ -- home of material feat. Paris, Public Enemy, dead prez, Immortal Technique, The Coup, Jasiri X, T-K.A.S.H. & more.
"Night of the Long Knives" - first single from the new Paris album, Pistol Politics, coming Q1 2015: http://youtu.be/4uiB4I2-y9Y #guerrillafunk #pistolpolitics