The third anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing arrives in a few short weeks, and many of the current headlines involving the now-trademarked rallying cry of “Boston Strong” have more to do with Mark Wahlberg’s upcoming Patriots’ Day movie. What was inspired by a city in recovery has now turned into a cash-cow. Faced with this, Lowell rapper and producer D-Tension took a bit of time out this week from recording his new album Violence of Zen to bust out a quick track called “Boston Wrong”.
The song, recorded with Peter O Peloquin and featuring a sample from Boston rock band Oldjack’s 2014 song “Miles Away”, serves two purposes: One, to address D-Tension’s geographical confusion of being from Lowell while still repping the Boston area, and to question just what exactly the bumper-sticker phrase means today. And it all was inspired from a Facebook post where someone simply asked what rhymed with “Boston Strong”.
D-Tension explains more via Facebook:
“When I travel people ask where I’m from. I say Lowell and they have no idea WTF that is. So I say ‘Boston’. But in hip-hop, where you from really matters. Some Boston hip hop cats don’t appreciate me saying I’m from Boston, so I stress that I live in Lowell.
The term ‘Boston Strong’ is a trademarked phrase with a trademarked logo. Some find that offensive. Maybe it is. There’s a Boston Strong movie being shot now. There’s a Boston Strong book that my friend Dave Wedge wrote. Is this cashing in or is it documenting? Is it right or is it wrong? The answer is yes.
So here you have it. Boston Wrong. I hope you don’t hate it. It’s all in good D-Tension style fun. Which can be a problem.”
Listen to “Boston Wrong” below, no matter where you live…
There are so many reasons for this quick track called “Boston Wrong". The other day Johnny Perna had a conversation going on on his Facebook page about what rhymes with “Boston Strong’”. It became a word game “Boston Thong, Boston Bong” etc. I said “this sounds like a rap song.” Johnny said “Do it!” so here it is. I recorded it with Peter O Peloquin, I sampled Oldjack and it’s up to you to decide if it’s cool. When I travel people ask where I’m from. I say Lowel and they have no idea WTF that is. So I say “Boston”. But in hip hop, where you from really matters. Some Boston hip hop cats don’t appreciate me saying I’m from Boston, so I stress that I live in Lowell. The term “Boston Strong” is a trademarked phrase with a trademarked logo. Some find that offensive. Maybe it is. There’s a Boston Strong movie being shot now. There’s a Boston Strong book that my friend Dave Wedge wrote. Is this cashing in or is it documenting? Is it right or is it wrong? The answer is yes. So here you have it. Boston Wrong. I hope you don’t hate it. It’s all in good D-Tension style fun. Which can be a problem.
Posted by Dee Tension on Tuesday, March 29, 2016