BATTLE SCARS Cover of Lupe Fiascos Battle Scars

homeless edit 2

Produced, recorded, and edited by "Mama Jan" Smith & Jesse Owen Astin, Jan Smith Studios, Atlanta, GA

Vocals Produced by "Mama Jan" Smith with Jesse Owen Astin

Engineered and Mixed by Jesse Owen Astin

All music creation, programming, and arrangement by Jan Smith & Jesse Owen Astin with Jacob Schlanger. 

Additional guitars and editing by Jesse Owen Astin

Lead Vocal written and performed by Jacob Schlanger

Background vocals by Jacob Schlanger and Jesse Owen Astin

Mastered by Steve Rawls, Real-2-Real Studios, Jonesboro, GA

People Change (prod. by "Mama Jan" Smith & Jesse Owen Astin)

Dedicated to my Grandmother, in memory of my lost muse.

Out My Pockets

QUALIFICATION OF ART:
To quote Post Malone, "at the end of everything, I just want you to know who I was." 

This EP represents the spectrum of emotions we all feel as humans and as sentients. Overall art concept is an homage and relation to the classic, "Goosebumps" franchise and the vantage point of life that its books, movies, and series reflect.

There are 8 tracks. So 8 emotions. A grab-bag of a project. Some similar, most different, but all rightly formed from their [emotions'] own perspective and frame of mind within the moment of expression. 

I want to thank HitWay Recordings as well as Heartbreak for all their help and hospitality with this project. Really amazing what this initial recording process opened up for me.

And truly, most importantly, my buddy Lucas for mixing, mastering, and doing everything to make these tracks sound as good as they do — knowing I developed my process for creating music with one of my closest friends is and will be a great insight to look back on. 

My goal throughout my music will forever be to express emotion in as an authentic manner as I'm capable of emoting throughout my life's journey. And as such. This music should be imperfectly perfect and preached with heart, just as life is. So, here are some frames of mind and emotions encapsulated through some agro juvenile punk rap. 

Tracks:

1. Eb Neo: Remorse. Acceptance of self and faults through past actions and current habits. An admittance of wrong actions, but a perpetual recollection of a desire to do better and uphold a more redeemable self  (Beat by UrBan Nerd)

2. Koolaid Kop (KAK): Contempt. A hyper-emoted variation of Rage. Emulated through very raw and unhinged wordplay - a means to express self-unfiltered while antagonizing a lot of modern rappers lack of substance. Lyrics are never lost (Beat by Clipped)

3. Coleridge: Anticipation. An expectancy of fate. The storm cloud that changes with the seasons, leading as much as you follow. Coleridge because of the Poe references. And just as I use my musical influences to find a footing in my own language. Poe did the same with Coleridge (Beat by BeatJoven)

4. Let It Burn: Indignation. The nasty brother of Anticipation, in my mind. You know what's expected of you and have a desire to follow through, but is that of your own wants or something instilled in your core? Regardless, it's a reality of self and life that not everything we are meant to experience needs to have meaning, in order to teach us just that. Life is a sacrifice of selves as you walk (Beat by [svn x])

5. Let It Go: Rage. A small step back as far as the emotional cycle goes, but a natural step in human reaction from one emotion to the next. Simple Rage. No thought. No reason. A venomous exigence of feeling so that the individual doesn't harbor such feelings while walking daily. A weapon in its own right condensed into a song (Beat by Jasper)

6. Interlude: Reflection/Meditation. A more time permitting variation of remorse. The more time that separates you from the experience, the more time you have to digest the perceptions of different emotions from the same moment. Gives you a more grounded and wholesome view of self and others. Everyone is a little less than human

7. 6th Cents: Love. My favorite song. All I can hope to be is content with the man I am. The person I represent and all that acts as my foundation of self. But people are not and will never be perfect. And no matter how much intuition or self-perception you have. Fuck ups are going to happen  (Beat by Lucid Soundz)

8. KFP Remix *shouts to Mac*: High Spirits. No fucks rip off of a beat Mac Miller got sued for once upon a time (at least to my knowledge). Take his intro line and make it Slange's from there on. Leave you bumping listening to something almost random (Beat by Lord Finesse)

Dedicated my muses and Mommy Ferne. 
Enjoy I love you F.Y.E until I D.I.E
Soundcloud made me edit this

Let It Go (Rage) ****post spam plays

QUALIFICATION OF ART:
To quote Post Malone, "at the end of everything, I just want you to know who I was." 

This EP represents the spectrum of emotions we all feel as humans and as sentients. Overall art concept is an homage and relation to the classic, "Goosebumps" franchise and the vantage point of life that its books, movies, and series reflect.

There are 8 tracks. So 8 emotions. A grab-bag of a project. Some similar, most different, but all rightly formed from their [emotions'] own perspective and frame of mind within the moment of expression. 

I want to thank HitWay Recordings as well as Heartbreak for all their help and hospitality with this project. Really amazing what this initial recording process opened up for me.

And truly, most importantly, my buddy Lucas for mixing, mastering, and doing everything to make these tracks sound as good as they do — knowing I developed my process for creating music with one of my closest friends is and will be a great insight to look back on. 

My goal throughout my music will forever be to express emotion in as an authentic manner as I'm capable of emoting throughout my life's journey. And as such. This music should be imperfectly perfect and preached with heart, just as life is. So, here are some frames of mind and emotions encapsulated through some agro juvenile punk rap. 

Tracks:

1. Eb Neo: Remorse. Acceptance of self and faults through past actions and current habits. An admittance of wrong actions, but a perpetual recollection of a desire to do better and uphold a more redeemable self  (Beat by UrBan Nerd)

2. Koolaid Kop (KAK): Contempt. A hyper-emoted variation of Rage. Emulated through very raw and unhinged wordplay - a means to express self-unfiltered while antagonizing a lot of modern rappers lack of substance. Lyrics are never lost (Beat by Clipped)

3. Coleridge: Anticipation. An expectancy of fate. The storm cloud that changes with the seasons, leading as much as you follow. Coleridge because of the Poe references. And just as I use my musical influences to find a footing in my own language. Poe did the same with Coleridge (Beat by BeatJoven)

4. Let It Burn: Indignation. The nasty brother of Anticipation, in my mind. You know what's expected of you and have a desire to follow through, but is that of your own wants or something instilled in your core? Regardless, it's a reality of self and life that not everything we are meant to experience needs to have meaning, in order to teach us just that. Life is a sacrifice of selves as you walk (Beat by [svn x])

5. Let It Go: Rage. A small step back as far as the emotional cycle goes, but a natural step in human reaction from one emotion to the next. Simple Rage. No thought. No reason. A venomous exigence of feeling so that the individual doesn't harbor such feelings while walking daily. A weapon in its own right condensed into a song (Beat by Jasper)

6. Interlude: Reflection/Meditation. A more time permitting variation of remorse. The more time that separates you from the experience, the more time you have to digest the perceptions of different emotions from the same moment. Gives you a more grounded and wholesome view of self and others. Everyone is a little less than human

7. KFP Remix *shouts to Mac*: High Spirits. No fucks rip off of a beat Mac Miller got sued for once upon a time (at least to my knowledge). Take his intro line and make it Slange's from there on. Leave you bumping listening to something almost random (Beat by Lord Finesse)

8. 6th Cents: Love. My favorite song. All I can hope to be is content with the man I am. The person I represent and all that acts as my foundation of self. But people are not and will never be perfect. And no matter how much intuition or self-perception you have. Fuck ups are going to happen  (Beat by Lucid Soundz)

Dedicated my muses and Mommy Ferne. 
Enjoy I love you F.Y.E until I D.I.E
Soundcloud made me edit this

Interlude (Meditation Reflection) ****post spam plays

Let It Burn (Indignation) ****post spam plays

KAK (Contempt) ****post spam plays

Eb Neo (Remorse) ****post spam plays

For context. Lots of people are making Peep tracks for the wrong reasons, trying to bite his sound or lyrics postmortem to get more attention for themselves...this is NOT that. Lots of people are talking out of turn about him and his death, acting like they were closer or more connected than they were. This is also NOT that. I, myself, was not personally close with him -- in my short time here in LA I did spend one night in the studio with him, but more importantly a large portion of the people I work and associate with were directly affected -- so this is in response to the loss of his life and the weight that's been overhead and around the music scene here in LA since -- empathy. Pure and simple.

The first time I had ever heard of Lil Peep was in a headline titled, "Lil Peep: Kurt Cobain of Modern Rap." Just like that he had my attention; and the second I played a "Crybaby" he had me hooked. Somewhere along his 21 years, Gus (Peep) figured out a way to produce the sound, that I truly, truly believe every kid in this mid-90s generation is helpless but to attribute emotional value to. That Blink-182, Fallout Boy, Emo-phased Rock/Ska distorted guitar and dirtied drums combined with a moaning and grimey modern style of mumble-rap. He DEFINED an era of music single-handedly that simply cant be replicated AND that is why this loss is so dumbfounding...aside from his age and condition. His potential and impact was immense. International GQ model and all.

So when he passed I began listening to his tracks to try and write him a send off, but when his memorial went live, and I saw Emma Harris speak I decided to write a song about their love...you know, since Kurt wouldnt be shit without the emotional struggle Kourtney Love put him through.

So This song is called "RIP" its a love ballad on behalf of the relationship shared between Emma and Peep. Love in Death and life beyond.

As far as people I dreamt of sharing the stage with, he was top of my list at the time he passed -- was really looking forward to sharing a fanbase and thanking him for his influence. So this is me doing that.

RIP (Prod. Heartbreak x Lu-Jo)

A Snake Shedding Skin: Schlanger(Snake Hunter)+Slange(Snake)=Forever chasing my own tail.

Style: Punk/Garage/90s Narrative/Therapy Rap

Content: There are 12 tracks on this project written over the course of about 3.5 yrs.

The oldest song on this project was written April ‘15 while staying at my Dad’s townhouse in Roswell. Shouts to Mom too. The rendition on this project is a ‘18 remix & betterment of what a younger self had posed.

The most recent track on this album was written two days after my 22 birthday, Jul 19 ‘17.

Recording started Jul 20 ‘17
Tracking finished Jan 21 ‘18
Mixing/Mastering finished Mar 3 ‘19

Themes & motifs: Transformation & evolution of self. I titled this project, A Snake Shedding Skin for a multitude of reasons.
1) Because my moniker is Slange, which means snake in German
2) Because I had so much material that I had written over the years without a way to drop it, this title did that for me
3) I thought it was a clever play on my alias & aptly described the content contained within each song
4) It represented the distance I needed from who I was when I wrote the majority of this, so that I could come back & record with a different intent in emotion & purpose. I liked the music & its sentiment, but I myself, was not the same person as when I wrote it, a misrepresentation of my artistry.

FUN FACTS: I recorded this entire project with walking pneumonia & ended it with a dislocated shoulder -- I broke my body doing this shit, willing & successfully.

1. Enigma In Utero: This is what happens when you listen to too much Trippie Redd in rapid succession while having a flashback from birthday's past, amidst simultaneously willing your proposed future status.
2. Sacrifices: A song based off the fact that I unexpectedly, but luckily, could afford cashing the large sums of money it took to continue to fund this project. I was a fulltime student during the majority of this, so the money I used came from savings, summer jobs, & the beautiful natured humans who gave me a break in return for my help with their business endeavors.
3. Homeless (-4): Oldest song. I explained this up top.
4. PIMP: 2nd oldest song. I wrote this drunk, alone at my lakehouse in GA sometime in the summer of ‘16. Possibly after a shroom trip, I’m not entirely sure. But I know I was drunk & freestyling while watching Buffy for the 20th time. 3rd eye was real open.
5. Godsent Like Hero: This was an unexpected song that came from God knows what energy, but I wrote it right before Thanksgiving, so I guess I'll give props to my late Grandpa’s Yherzite around that time.
6. An Homage to The Wedding Guest: The song that signified the last time I would ever write with such personal & emotional content of self.
7. H.O.M.D.: Shouts to J. Cole & his, "Everybody Dies" track & video. Im under 6'4" so he technically called me out & I decided to shoot back...with love in my clips of course.
8. Omen: ‘17 was the year of realizing that it’s not about when I die, but it’s about when my parents die & the disconnect that'll create. The people that seemingly created this world, the people that taught me life, will not be living it with me & that thought is so heavy to me that it literally makes me shake & throw up.
9. M(use)IA: My favorite track on the album. I wrote this after having a nice dramatic breakup with the same eyes for like the N-teenth time & went right into trying to snag a girl away from a dude she shouldn’t have been dating -- though I mad struck out with her & her friend who was like...top 3 most beautiful essence people I've ever laid eyes on...I got this track out of it.
10. Brimstone: An acapella. I don’t feel or want to further explicate this one because it truly is poetry & that's half the fun of listening/reading [poetry], the insinuations you make from the author's history. I give you enough through all the other descriptions to work out your own personal way to be wrong about my insights in this.

M(use)IA

Omen

H.O.M.D.

Homage To The Wedding Guest

Godsent Like Hero

P.I.M.P.

Homeless (-4)

Sacrifices

Enigma In Utero

The Intro

F*ck your expectations of my artistry with as much respect and love as possible

--- The point is to reintroduce authentic exigence of emotion in music ---

*Partial to: Gothic Literature, Romantic-ass-horse-shit, Megalithic societies, Psychonautic Counter-Culture, Childhood, tarot/crystals/spirituality, and gut-wrenching-honesty at all costs*

(DM if you got something to say)

SLANGE

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