“Roshni” is a dedication to the power of connections formed by people from vastly different life experiences and a reminder that the most important conspiracy today is still the one forged by unexpected neighbors working together to build a shared future.

The song “Roshni” comes from a performance for an organization of the same name. Roshni (Hindi for “Light”) is an Aurora-based arts organization founded by Deepali Lindblom. In the summer of 2020, Roshni invited Flobots’ Jonny 5 (Jamie Laurie) to perform as part of their New American Arts Festival.

Jonny 5 took the opportunity to create an “audio-
tapestry” dedicated to the East Colfax neighborhood, composed entirely of voices of people who live and work there. In addition to sounds made by Roshni youth, the collage featured the voices of other friends, all asked to express “Together We Rise” in their native tongues, revisiting a phrase that's been at the heart of their message since the beginning.

This piece went on to become the basis of the studio version of the song.

Roshni Track Credits:
Written by:
James Laurie, Stephen Brackett, Andy Guerrero, Kenneth Ortiz, Joseph Shull, Billy Joe Marino

Produced by: Joseph Shull & Flobots

Mixed by Andrew Berlin @ The Blasting Room Studios, Fort Collins CO
Mastered by Jason Livermore @ The Blasting Room Studios, Fort Collins CO

Roshni

Roshni (single)

The political landscape of the last year was defined by mass mobilization, polarization,  and uncertainty. Visions of final confrontation seemed to be projected everywhere. Just around the corner, on the tip of the tongue, was a culminating conflict between us and them, with the power to pit neighbor against neighbor and destroy families from the inside.  A question loomed: How bad could it get? 

This song was our response, a trip into the psyche to face the terrifying reality that peace and safety are always tenuous, often conditional,  and never guaranteed. The evidence is everywhere: demonizing enemies quickly leads to dehumanizing ourselves. 

But no matter how bad it gets, no matter how far down that path we walk, we still hold the power to change any situation. Even when it all falls and chaos and confusion reign, if I listen to the truest voice inside me, nothing will stop me from saving your life.

When it all Falls

When It All Falls

"Rattle the Cage" 
from the unreleased forthcoming album NOENEMIES

LYRICS
I can’t get my computer to boot cancel everything
there’s an active shooter on a new campus everyday
what’s that hafta do with me my movement would never take
anybody’s life
what I hafta do to prove it to you whatever say
we are not alike
we are not alike
look at me look at you
I can see what you do from the evil I separate
look at you look at me I maneuver and flee from you people I segregate
get it straight
we are not alike I don’t peddle hate
I just go to the booth and I meditate
and I breathe and I eat and I puke and I defecate

don't rattle the cage if you wanna come out 

fire in the sky
masses at the border
shadows in the night
faces of disorder
rivers made of blood
skeletons in closets
bodies in the mud
torturers on crosses
wretched of the earth
undeserved sentence
reckoning of curses
long awaited vengence
executed messengers piled up upon the entrance
clamor of the stenches threaten overwhelm the senses

don't rattle the cage if you wanna come out

there’s an active shooter on the news and I speculate
that it has to do with something you bastards said today
see your attitudes and backwards views they miseducate
it is not all right
all the chatter you decide to spew when you agitate
til they slaughter life
it is not all right
you’re not speaking the truth I can see what you do to the people make them afraid
look at you look at me
see your movement is evil we need to eradicate
get away
it is not all right that you peddle hate
you’re the reason I rally and rattle cage
cuz you’re leavin the people not breathing and dead afraid

In the war against fear we are on the same side

we rattle the cage cause we wanna come out 

Featuring vocals from Spirit of Grace. 
www.facebook.com/spiritofgracemusic

www.flobots.com
#NOENEMIES

Rattle The Cage

"Pray” (Extended) by Flobots

Single Release 1.20.17 from the forthcoming spring 2017 album release NOENEMIES

Purchase:
iTunes | bit.ly/PrayiTunes
Spotify | bit.ly/PraySpotify
Apple Music | bit.ly/PrayAppleMusic

www.flobots.com
www.facebook.com/theflobots
www.twitter.com/flobots
www.instagram.com/flobotsmusic
www.youtube.com/flobotsmusic

"Pray" (Extended) Lyrics

any dream can become a nightmare 
if we never wake from it  
any person can seem like a devil 
when their story and history are lost to lies
we are blinded by falsehoods and weak mythology
we are called to wake
we are called to rise
the opposite of oppression is liberation
together we can confront the bloodstained chapters of our stories
and write with new ink
pages of reconciliation and forgiveness
it is time for an exorcism
to expel the demons which have separated us
to purge our souls from the toxic claims of whiteness
to walk gloriously into that great truth we have always known
we are family

when my father handed me the lash
taught me false tradition
separate my family white from black
consecrate division
i was young and ignorant of grace
lived as they had taught me
down in the river
i claim my sins
cast the devil off me
 
pray the pale white devil back to hell
blessed be my witness
pray the pale white devil back to hell
cry for my forgiveness
 
when the demons beckoned me to come
why did i believe them
named my brother as three fifths a man
left his body bleeding
claimed my sister as their property
used her for their pleasure
pray the pale white devil back to hell
cleanse my sins forever
 
look at me and what do you see
see somebody up in a tree
saying don't lie to us
at the worst of times
i see nursery rhymes 
too anonymous to believe
i'd rewrite them posthumously
but we can't wipe the blood from these leaves
it's inside of us
like a demon spawn
conceived deep beyond
pray to god for us to be free
i first caught him in the valley where the water was tainted
followed on the map and saw the spot where it was painted
the bottle was ancient
fiddle with the folds of a riddle made sacred
7 million dollars out of only one sl------p
from the mystery run
screaming oh my god it's begun
now we read prophecies of our progeny
and the monsters they have become
what the hell have we done
 
pray the pale white devil back to hell
make my soul unbroken
pray the pale white devil back to hell
let my eyes be opened
 
hip hop is transphobic
i speak the statement seeking its irrelevance
when it’s said the further from hell it gets
so why call blm some terrorists
we did the same with martin
and worse with the suffragettes
first resistance
forgiveness is coming next
before the wing is the cell of the chrysalis
the catalyst to something else
they'd pay attention
if i eliminated a mona lisa
when god’s masterpieces are
killed with increasing frequency
imitate immortals just to get someone to listen
we are building up a world that changes shame into contrition
we have named our mission
praying not condemning
blood relations are craving witness
liberation from this nation’s sickness  
we will win with no malice and no militias
 
speak truth to your neighbor
for we are all members of one body
be angry and sin not
do not let the sun go down on your wrath
nor give place to the devil
our weapon will not be righteousness
our tool will be humanity
 
pray the pale white devil back to hell
shout him from the heavens
usher in the souls long cast aside
beg for resurrection
turn and face your savior eye to eye
stand for your conviction
pray the pale white devil back to hell
til the lord is risen

Pray
(S. Brackett, J. Laurie, K. Ortiz, G. Otto, S. Sanchez)

Guitar- Tad Lusk
Additional vocals- Chris "#2" Barker
Opening vocals- Denver Glenarm Singers

Produced by Gabriel Otto
Recorded and engineered by Xandy Whitsel at Mighty Fine Studios, Denver CO
Mixed and mastered by Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room, Fort Collins CO

www.flobots.com/pray

Pray (Extended)

NOENEMIES

Carousel

Flobots’ emcees Brer Rabbit and Jonny 5 have decided they are doing a podcast, but that’s pretty much all they’ve figured out. Join them as they embark upon an auditory adventure.

Music: Sleeping Giant (Flobots) 

Visit flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus material & more!

Teaser - What's Your Podcast About?

At The Opportunity Agenda’s “Creative Change” retreat at Sundance, Jonny & Brer turn to three stand-up comedians for podcast advice. Things take a scandalous turn right away, as the hosts become the guests and the comedians begin probing into the Flobots’ teenage years.

@Zahracomedy co-host of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim
www.zahracomedy.com

@Johancomedy
www.johanmiranda.com

@jennyyangtv comedian, writer, actor, host
jennyyang.tv 
disorientedcomedy.com
comedycomedyfest.com

Music: Quarantine - Flobots

Visit flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus material & more!

Episode 0.0 - Double Dipping (w. Jenny Yang, Zahra Noorbakhsh & Johan Miranda)

Jonny & Brer aren’t ready to leave their new comedian friends. And so the conversation marches on, clumsily tiptoeing deeper into the minefields of PC culture and further down memory lane. Through relentless probing of Jonny and Brer’s distant past, Johan, Jenny and Zahra uncover the customs and rituals of a previously unknown band of nerds who once roamed Denver in the late 1900s. 

@Zahracomedy co-host of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim
www.zahracomedy.com

@Johancomedy
www.johanmiranda.com

@jennyyangtv comedian, writer, actor, host
http://jennyyang.tv 
http://disorientedcomedy.com
http://comedycomedyfest.com 

Music: Defend Atlantis (Flobots)
Visit www.flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus materials & more.

Episode 0.1 - Gals Before Pals (w. Jenny Yang, Zahra Noorbakhsh, and Johan Miranda)

Jonny and Brer reflect on Charlottesville, the power of music, and just how real to keep it. 

Meanwhile, Lady Larea (Spirit of Grace vocalist extraordinaire and NOENEMIES album co-conspirator) recounts the time she tried to join the Ku Klux Klan.

@LadyLarea

Music: Run (Run run run) - Flobots

This podcast not brought to you by RC Cola.
Visit www.flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus materials & more.

Teaser - Not That Serious (w. Lady Larea)

Jonny 5 calls comedian and DACA recipient Johan Miranda for reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the program. They spoke on Sept 11th, just a week after the September 5th announcement.

Follow @JohanComedy on twitter and instagram.

To find out more about how you can help Defend DACA, go to weareheretostay.org

Visit flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus material & more.

Extra - What's More American? (w. Johan Miranda)

Flobots’ 2013 tourmates’ Kalyn & Gregg join Jonny & Brer to talk shop, shit and healthcare. Gregg tells stories about Kalyn she doesn’t remember while Kalyn explains why she peed in a US Senators office. 

Wheelchair Sports Camp
https://wheelchairsportscamp.co

Rubedo
https://www.rubedomusic.com

Download Wheelchair Sports Camp’s dis track to Cory Gardner.  
https://soundcloud.com/wheelchairsportscamp/speakinmymind

ADAPT statement on Sit-in and arrests at Cory Gardner’s office.
http://adapt.org/denver-adapt-members-in-police-custody-more-than-24-hours-following-a-59-hour-sit-in/

Contact your elected officials 
http://adapt.org/your-elected-officials/

Music- 
Mary Had A Little Band (Wheelchair Sports Camp)
Speakin My Mind (Wheelchair Sports Camp)

Episode 0.2 - Potty Mouth (w. Kalyn Heffernan and Gregg Ziemba of Wheelchair Sports Camp)

Backstage at the Vail Dance Festival, the women behind the rich layers of vocal and orchestral tapestries found on NOENEMIES train their voices on current controversies.

Visit flobots.com for new tour dates, podcast extras & more!

Extra - Seatbacks (w. Lady Larea, Mackenzie, Chrissy, Sarah, and PegaSean)

Today was both heartbreaking and infuriating. When trying to make sense of the agony, it's so easy to succumb to numbness. The true challenge is to allow ourselves to feel. In the war against fear, we are on the same side. We will remember the names.
----------------------------
Lyrics: 
"There are people in the world who are so sick or so angry that they sometimes hurt other people. And they’re usually the ones who end up in the news.
But when we get sad and angry, you and I, we know what to do with our feelings so we don’t have to hurt other people.
Some people wonder if Mister Rodgers every gets angry, of course I do. Especially when I hear about people hurting other people." - Mister Rogers

will we even remember the date no
Send em a tape
This is my enemies face shown
My enemies fate sewn
Wait there's been a mistake
I said it was Venomous hate
But at the end of the day it's me
I look in the mirror and enter the stage
Stage left 
stage right 
stage fight 
take breath 
take life
Legal weapon broad daylight
Terror terror terror stage fright
Page by page my day by day comes
I say my say
One way my way highway
Gun spray
FUCK
I can't get my computer to work there's a virus 
now the screen is all bloody and shattered 
and the keyboard is red like inside us 
and it's not black and white it's all tattered 
people scattered 
we all scatter 
you don't have to shoot at us to know that
Throw a rock in the lake watch it ripple
There's a desert storm 
there's the blowback
There's a metaphor 
there's a protest 
there's a war for your focus
There's a better door let us open
Let us set a better course 
let me process
When I wrote this so much that I didn't know yet 
was it a grudge or a Vietnam vet they're claiming this and we are claiming that 
it feels like we are at war 
but who's got a plan of attack?
Who's got a hand on a gat?
Who saw the camera flash? 
Who can remember the last time it happened a different location but similar stats?
We won't remember the date 
we will remember the names somebody's planet imploded today somebody's whole world changed

"When I was a boy and I would hear about something scary … I’d ask my parents or my grandparents about it, and they would usually tell me how they felt about it. In fact, my mother would try to find out who was helping the person who got hurt.
'Always look for the people who are helping,' she’d tell us. 'You’ll always find somebody who’s trying to help.
So even today when I read the newspaper and see the news on television, I look for the people who are trying to help. One of the most important parts of growing up is learning to talk and play about our feelings." - Mister Rogers

www.flobots.com

Rattled Pt. 1 (Rattle The Cage Remix) - Flobots

Stephen has to go early, Jamie can’t spell Mangoes, Jen’s voice is shot, and Adam is overwhelmed by microphones. During this impromptu conversation recorded in the wake of the horrendous mass killing in Las Vegas, we talk art, grace, failure, and forgiveness.

Listen / Watch Rattled Pt.1 (Rattle The Cage Remix) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXUI1pXaxmE

Check out Flobots Tourdates here - www.flobots.com
Adam Stone is Luci - http://www.screwtooth.com

Music
Failure Games - Flobots
Rattled Pt 1 (Rattle the Cage Remix) 
seven Signal seven Sons- Luci
Thief Weaver - Luci
Portal (sorta)- Luci

Episode 0.3 The Art of Failing (w. Adam Stone and Jen Wood-Brackett)

On the way to Paonia, CO, the band is horrified to discover the depths of it's own ignorance. 

Music: American Dreams - Flobots

Visit flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus materials & more.

Extra - Where's New England (w. Sean, Sarah, Tad, Serafin, and Kenny O)

When activists in wheelchairs do direct action to protect our healthcare, should you yell “Get a job!!” at them? Jonny 5 catches up with members of ADAPT to find out.

ADAPT statement on Sit-in and arrests at Cory Gardner’s office.
adapt.org/denver-adapt-members…ng-a-59-hour-sit-in/

Contact your elected officials 
adapt.org/your-elected-officials/

Visit flobots.com/podcast for show notes, bonus materials & more.

Episode 0.4 - Get A Job (w. Josh Winkler, Jose Torres, and Sarah Metsch from Colorado ADAPT)

When the van rides get long, Flobots invent a game. And you can play along at home.

Visit flobots.com for upcoming tour dates, podcast extras & more.

Extra - Theme Song (w. Flobots)

In this long-awaited crossover w Bronx-based movement superheroes the Peace Poets, like minds nerd out about the true depths of the still-untapped power of collective song.

Follow the Peace Poets here!
http://thepeacepoets.com

For examples of how a song can take life that transcends authorship follow the  #icantbreathechallenge 

I Can’t Breathe (Peace Poets)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QganWg3WSQ&list=RD7QganWg3WSQ&t=2

I Can’t Breathe(Samuel L. Jackson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZUO4ZW_TvY&t=1s

I Can’t breathe (Krs One, Sticky Fingaz, Mad Lion, Talib Kweli & Brother J)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2SwBoEpizU

Episode 0.5 - Form Like Voltron (w. the Peace Poets)

► FLOBOTS RESPOND TO LOGAN PAUL “NO HANDLEBARS”
► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t0LX_Of33U
► Flobots Merch Holiday Sale stores.portmerch.com/flobots/

FIND FLOBOTS ON:
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/flobotsmusic
TWITTER: twitter.com/flobots
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/theflobots

Watch the Original Video for “Handlebars” 
► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA

Flobots - "Handle Your Bars"

Produced by Jonny 5. 
Performed by Jonny 5, Lady Larea, and Chrissy G
Written by F. Reece, A. Badger, D. Jaye, and J. Laurie

"Which side are you on?”  was written by Florence Reece during the 1931 Harlan County Coal strikes. Florence was a poet and activist. Her husband was a union organizer. Florence wrote the song on a night when anti-union gunmen employed by the coal companies raided their home. She angrily ripped off the back page of a calendar and wrote down the words that would carry on in protests for generations. 

“Which side are you on?” has been remixed by many social movements over many decades. This version was written by Austin Badger, Jonny 5, and Dyanna Jaye in preparation for Heat Week, a call to action to address the climate crisis. 

To find out ho to raise your voice, go to
https://www.sunrisemovement.org/heatweek2018

Which Side Are You On? (Heat Week Remix)- Jonny 5 feat. Spirit of Grace

This is a remix of our song Quarantine of our album "NO ENEMIES".

Journal entry from Jonny 5 rap diary 3/25/20 (Quarantine day 8)

Even under lockdown, it's vital we stay connected. 
Even amidst isolation and uncertainty, there are so many tools at our disposal.
We believe in the power of self-expression.

2020 has been a humbling reminder of how much is beyond our control. But also a reminder to hold close to what's most important, a call to solidify ties based on common values, shared vision, and a commitment to building up a new world together. 

Even when we are still, we must not remain silent. This year, especially, there is much to say, and even more to do. We must support each other more than ever. 

Now is a time to heal our wounds, focus our energy, and gather our strength. It is a time to re-engage with friends old and new. 

So please, stay compassionate, stay tuned, and spread the word.

You are needed.

CREDITS:
Mixed and Mastered by Brandon Whalen

Quarantine Remix Part 1

We’ve been hard at work writing and recording some new songs. Due to the covid pandemic we had to approach making music in some different ways and it’s actually been pretty fun to experiment with different sounds and work with different producers.

We wrote a song called “We Win The Day”, and although it is still not in it’s completed form we thought we would put it up on a couple of our platforms to celebrate this small win in the ongoing fight for change in the world.

Sometimes making it to the end of the day can be a win.

Produced and written by: Joe Shull and Flobots

We Win The Day

Flobots are an alternative hip-hop band from Denver dedicated to creating, performing, and finding anthems for a better world. Since forming in 2005, they have released 3 full length albums, toured the US and Europe, and appeared on late night programs including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. They are internationally known for their 2008 platinum single “Handlebars” and widely recognized for using their music and career as vessels for social change.

Popular tracks by Flobots Official