Jamey Bennett's Brews, Beards, & Shipwrecks: Summer of the Cicadas

The Summer of the Cicadas: Music Videos

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:24:06 GMT

The Summer of the Cicadas: Music Videos

Seven videos from The Summer of the Cicadas, in album order. Each one is on our YouTube channel.

Listen to the full record: All services · Bandcamp · Apple Music · Spotify.

The Waitress Song

The opening track of Act I, The Life Cycle of Periodical Cicadas.

She’s Dangerous

The second track of Act I.

Wounded by Love

Track seven of Act I.

Rhymer’s Block

Track nine of Act I.

Coulda Swore I Saw You

Act I closes with Pigeon John.

These Things Remind

From Act II, Rebirth: The Lone Gunmen.

Lost Boys

From Act II, with Eligh of Living Legends and Cookbook of LA Symphony.

There are more videos on Royal Ruckus on YouTube.

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The Summer of the Cicadas: Thanks & Dedication

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:23:01 GMT

The Summer of the Cicadas: Thanks & Dedication

A record this size doesn’t happen with two people in a room. These are the people who helped make The Summer of the Cicadas possible, from the studio collaborators to the Kickstarter backers. Thank you.

A project of this size requires the help of many people, and after many years of being in and out of the music world, we would like to offer our thanks.

Thanks to our supportive fans, friends, family, and helpful employers. We dedicate this with love to you.

A very special thanks to Krum and DJ Sean P for taking us on with such enthusiasm and insight. This project sounds amazing, thanks to you dudes. Working with you in the studio was incredible, and we can’t imagine the album sounding so good without you guys. Thanks for risking your reps to hang with a couple of goofy rap guys.

We’d like to thank the following artists for their direct participation on this project: Eligh, Cookbook, Joey the Jerk, Max.One, Uncle Dan, Manchild, Absent Minded, kidDEAD, Spoken Nerd, Jeremiah Dirt, Kalvin Koolidge, Pigeon John, Chris Felix, Grizzly Beatz, Annex, Bonafide, Jeremiah Bonds, Willonious, Yoda, and David Mathewes. You guys are amazing, and we are honored to have worked with you.

To Heath McClure and John Behrens for the cicada facts voice overs. To Dan Mozgai of CicadaMania.com for lending insight on cicadas.

We would also like to thank our pals Luke Geraty, Kid Static, Motke Dapp, Flynn Adam, Uno Mas, DJ Allstar, MC Redcloud, Freddie Bruno, Sivion, Soup the Chemist, J-Remy, Ajax Starglider, Fred Lynch of PID, J-Qwess, Shawn Brown, and G-Rhymez. Thanks also to our friends who have recorded or performed with us in the past.

For help with artwork, thanks to Monique Kendickian-Sarkessian, Keelia Paulsen, Jeb Wilson, and Nick Walker; and for web assistance, Jared Frederick Hall and Jenny Melita. To Joshua Gibbs for the amazing essay embodying the vision of the record. To Karla Jean Davis for the amazing photography. To Kami Paulsen for watching the beagles while
the vocals were recorded: thank you, dear one.

Thanks to Monica Schultz, Jeremy and Mark Knysh, Chris Felix, and Stephanie Coco for consultation on “Boca Girls.” To Dan Sack for giving some amazing ideas for “Love Slave.”

Thanks to each of the women for the lessons learned that inspired the stories that make up this concept record. A few of you probably know who you are. She who has ears to hear, let her hear. Hugs and kisses.

Thanks to Tim Strem, Michael Dunkel, Vinyl Jones, and Josh and Joanna Babyar for believing in us all those years ago. To Cameron Strang for naming us one of “the 25 best bands you’ve never heard,” and getting us so much attention from Nashville labels. Thanks to Bob Herdman for really believing in us, and all the O.G. Audio Adrenaline fellas. You’re a bunch of gems, and we are forever grateful to you.

To Saltwater Brewery of Delray Beach, Funky Buddha of Boca Raton and Oakland Park, and the Tipperary of Deerfield Beach for providing the atmosphere where most of these lyrics were written. Thanks to the Chevron gas station guy in Delray Beach for selling Chunjay so many crappy sets of headphones when in a pinch, when he simply wanted to have a beer and write a rap song.

Thanks to the great tap room folks who poured the beers. Especially Cassie, Cassi, Jordan, Jessica, Benni, Laura, Laurie, Gina, Kalah, Brittney, Kandace, and Julia. We should also give a shout to Clay, the Chads, Matthew, Jason, Harrison, Cameron, Morgan, and Will. The girls are cuter, but you guys are great, too. Many other servers and managers have gone unspoken, and for that we ask forgiveness.

To the admins of Ask an Orthodox Hipster. Thanks for being a digital shoulder to cry on and encouragement in the midst of everything. Kinda weird to thank admins of a Facebook group, but you guys are the real deal.

To the Samson Society members, both past and present, for your investment in authentic brotherhood.

Thanks to our Kickstarter backers: Peter Dimmick, Peter G. Winsky, Emily Sherman, Jordan Terrell, Lyndsey McClure, David McGee, Alex, Gary Sarkessian, Robert “Bob Went Crazy” Mahoney, Matt, Landsman, Patrick Blair, James Gardipee, Joel, David Bean, Darlene, Tera Holmes, Christina Ervin, Jeff Holton, Stephanie Coco, Marcos Ruiz, Jonathan Eaton, HunterAnderson.com, Andrea Keith, Nathan Clark, Stephen, Robert Pelfrey, Shaun Hall, Daniel Larkin, Sheldon Gibbs, Genevieve Brough, Kathy Sweo, Matthew and Sarah, Robert Novak, Tra Jones, Joel Thomas, Assface, Katie Cowsar, Austin T. Storm, Hamre Family, Jeff, Sebastian Corriere, Kevin Basil, Sara Moyers, Nick Walker, Elissa Bjeletich, Zachary Bennett, Cory Bennett, and John Locurto.

Thanks also to Tyler Gomez, Fr. Mark Leondis, Ryan Gibson, Low-Carb Brian, Rou Villis, Nora Johnson, Joseph E. Pearce, Kami Rice, Kory, Mark, Larry C., and Melissa.

And thanks to you for reading this. You bought us a hamburger when you bought our record.

The record is here: All services · Bandcamp · Apple Music · Spotify. The music videos are on Royal Ruckus on YouTube.

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Royal Ruckus: The Story Behind Cicadas

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:21:54 GMT

Royal Ruckus: The Story Behind Cicadas

The idea came while I was driving around Miami, visiting clients and listening to NPR’s All Songs Considered. The hosts were talking about bands that hadn’t released anything in a while. One of them made a joke about a “musical cicada summer,” or something close to it. A long time underground, then a sudden ruckus. I brought the metaphor to Mike, and he was in.

We started with the metaphor, not a plot. As the songs took shape, their order began to tell the story of Jimmy and Sally Cicada. It drew on real experiences without turning every line into a confession. Some of my experiences came out of Mike’s mouth; some of his came out of mine. No detective work required.

Meanwhile, I was making a solo record about the tension between being an individual and being part of a community. Naturally, I loaded the solo record with guests. Eventually, that record felt like the aftermath of the first one. Two records became The Summer of the Cicadas.

Mike Walker—Flatline—and I have been making this music together since 1998. My rap name is Chunjay. Below is a little of how we got here, followed by our attempt to interview each other. That part took a while.

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How Royal Ruckus came together

Mike Walker—Flatline—and I started Royal Ruckus in Bakersfield, California, in 1998. At first, the whole thing was a bit of a joke. Then people responded to the humor and the unconventional hip-hop, and we started taking it more seriously. Several people have been members, but Mike and I have been the two constants.

By 2006 or so, we were living in Nashville. We’d released a number of projects, been picked up—and dropped off—by Flicker Records, and played across the U.S., coast to coast and out to Hawaii. Somehow Mexico and Ukraine even got involved.

Cicadas brought the two of us back to a full record of new material together. The solo project I was making at the same time became its second act.

Royal Ruckus has shared the stage or recorded with Phantom Planet, Eligh of Living Legends, Kid Static, Pigeon John, Pillar, Superchic[k], Jeremiah Dirt, Shadow of the Locust, KJ-52, Plus One, Future Shock, The Rappin’ Duke, LA Symphony, John Reuben, Spoken Nerd, Newsong, Tait, Todd Agnew, The Swift, KRUM, DJ Sean P, Mars ILL, DeepSpace5, GRITS, Redcloud, Joy Electric, Starflyer 59, Violet Burning, Sackcloth Fashion, Burlap to Cashmere, Shaded Red, Fold Zandura, Craig’s Brother, and others.

During the making of Cicadas, Mike was in Austin, Texas, and I was in South Florida. Most of the record was recorded in Texas, with the assistance of Krum and DJ Sean P.

Jamey has been variously known as Chunjay, Cleva MC, Sooperman, Afanasy, Athanasios, JustJamey, and other such names. Mike has been known as Flatline, MPWalker, Mr. Blonde, and other names we won’t mention at this point. Why do rappers complicate things, so?

Mike and Jamey interview each other (sort of…)

In June 2016, Mike and I tried interviewing each other about the record. By August, I was still waiting for an answer. Here is the conversation.

Jamey (6/11/16): Hello, Michael. Let’s start the interview. How dare you?

Mike (6/14/16): Well, after hardly any thought or deliberation I thought it best to go with my gut and do all the dares. Usually I settle for “truth” but the timing was just right.

Jamey (6/15/16): Good, but you have to ask me a question back. Otherwise I’m just interviewing you!

Jamey (6/21/16): I’ve been waiting for a question for six days! Admittedly, that was your birthday, but I worked on my birthday!

Mike (6/22/16): restart:

Hello, Michael. Let’s start the interview. How dare you?

Well, after hardly any thought or deliberation I thought it best to go with my gut and do all the dares. Usually I settle for “truth” but the timing was just right. Such as with our new album. The timing is right. It’s been 5 years since Rumors of Our Demise and we’re both in a position to pump out more music after all we’ve been through since that release.

So speaking of Rumors, what would you say is the thread that is tying this new album with the last one?

Jamey (6/26/16): That’s a really great question, Mike. And we have both done a lot of living, both painful and amazing in the five years since that release. Wooooo boy. I agree man, the time is right.

For one thing, Rumors was our first attempt at really making a thematic-type project, but since many of those songs were already written, the theme was maybe not as clear. In this case, we pretty much wrote the record from scratch in the last year and a half (with the exception of a few songs originating with you, but we chose songs that fit the story).

Rumors was the first time we every really seriously dealt with the topic of death and our own individual mortality. I mean, Rumors has us dead in coffins on the cover. That’s a big leap for a group that used to rap about chickens and whether or not to wear shampoo at the zoo. How metal is that?

We also dealt with the death of relationships in Rumors. I think The Summer of the Cicadas double album is the next logical progression of Ruckus from Rumors to now. This same theme runs throughout the album, honing in on life and death, joy and sorrow, fresh relationship and dead relationship.

Oh, and on Rumors I think we broke new ground musically, and Summer is going to blow that out of the water.

So speaking of music…why are you the way you are? I mean, why are you?

Jamey (7/20/16): So speaking of music…why are you the way you are? I mean, why are you? 🙂

Jamey (7/24/16) (interviewer): So, Jamey, Mike is not responding to your interview questions. So I’ll interview you for a minute.

Jamey: That dingus! I thought he was a hunk.

Jamey (interviewer): It’s okay. He has kids, and apparently all you do is work on this album and your other job. I’m not even sure you sleep.

Jamey: I don’t really.

Jamey (interviewer): So how’d you get the idea for The Summer of the Cicadas?

Jamey: That’s a great question, Jamey. A couple years ago I was driving around Miami visiting clients and listening to NPR’s All Songs Considered. They were featuring several tracks from bands that hadn’t released anything in a while, and one of the hosts joked that it was a “musical cicada summer” or something and that all these bands came out and made a ruckus at the same time after such a long time of being dormant. Dormant. Make a major ruckus. Fall back to earth. I knew it was the perfect metaphor for the long absence and sudden emergence of Royal Ruckus we were planning. On top of that, we had been discussing delving into heavier topics, discussing failed relationships, that sort of thing. Once I threw it out to Mike, he was absolutely down for it. It took us a couple years to flesh out exactly how it was going to go, and some of the finalities only took shape a few months ago.

Jamey (interviewer): So how does the metaphor apply to the album?

Jamey: Well, we used it as an underlying principle when writing each song, and particularly as it relates to the brevity of life and relationships. We actually didn’t start with a narrative, we started with the metaphor as a guiding theme. Over time, however, it became clear that if we put the songs in a particular order, we could tell a story. That was when I started referring to the lead character of the story as “Jimmy Cicada,” and his love interest as “Sally Cicada.” It’s kinda like Eminem’s character Rabbit in 8Mile—Rabbit is Eminem, and it’s fairly autobiographical, but many components have been embellished or obscured. By putting these various songs in the order we did, we tell a heart-breaking love story, that is true, but not exactly.

Jamey (interviewer): And what’s up with Rebirth: The Lone Gunmen? Cicadas don’t have no dramn guns.

Jamey: True. And part of the reason that title is there is because it was meant initially to be a different album and a different metaphor. I was going to put out a solo album. The metaphor for that is meant to capture the tension in life between being an individual and living in community and relationship with others. To capture that tension, I wanted to load the solo record with a ton of guest spots, so that it would be both solo and community.

But back to the subject matter and of writing two albums at the same time? Yeah, kinda the same sorts of things were on my mind. And the more I wrote for that one, the more I felt like the Ruckus album was Act I and the solo album was Act II, essentially the aftermath of the first act.

Jamey (interviewer): So how personal is this project?

Jamey: Oh, man, deeply personal. And some songs hit closer to home than others. People who know us are likely to read all sorts of things into the albums, based on our life histories, play guessing games about what situations are being discussed. But to do that is sort of to miss the point. This isn’t Taylor Swift; no need to pin the tabloid tail on the song. There are many situations that inspired these songs. Some of them are my experiences coming out of Mike’s mouth, or Mike’s experiences coming out of mine.

Jamey (interviewer): This is far too self-indulgent. It’s time to look back over at Mike. Mike, if you don’t want to answer why you are the way that you are, maybe you can comment on my above self-indulgence.

Jamey (8/18/16): Forwards to Mike again…Jamey (8/22/16): Hi, Mike! Are you quitting the interview?

Jamey sends a number of text messages to Mike, all ignored. Time passes. Mike agrees to do an interview with PurpleBars.com. That is to be accepted as the completion of this interview.

After the record

In a 2022 artist Q&A, I looked back on Cicadas as a chance to revive live performances, which I’d taken on solo or with a guest DJ. Take a look at the shows from 2016–2019, dig into the album guide and credits, or explore more music in the Royal Ruckus section.

Watch the music videos on Royal Ruckus on YouTube.

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Inside the Artwork: Monique Sarkessian and The Summer of the Cicadas

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:20:41 GMT

Inside the Artwork: Monique Sarkessian and The Summer of the Cicadas

Monique Sarkessian made the paintings for The Summer of the Cicadas. The two panels are a diptych, and she didn’t want them to pin the songs to one literal explanation. There’s room for the listener in there.

Monique and I talked about her work, the cicada-woman and the materials behind the paintings. Here is the conversation.

The two panels

Chunjay’s Q&A with Monique Sarkessian

Tell us a little bit about your background and notable biographical notes.

I knew I wanted to be a painter when I was 4 years old. I’m not sure where that self-knowledge originated except from divine inspiration. I sold my first painting when I was 16. I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tyler School of Art, a renowned art school in Philadelphia in 1987 and I’ve been painting, selling and exhibiting since then, with some awards in between.

How would you describe what you do?

I love art and making art. I believe God is—among many other wonderful attributes—absolutely creative. I believe God’s desire for all humans is to be like Him and that includes creating things. Everyone can create something whether it be culinary, or song, building, etc. Making things makes me happy. I describe myself as an expressionist. My work is less about reproducing in a photorealist fashion and about emotional connection to my subjects. I am a colorist. Color and emotional connection set off a reaction in me and I strive to recreate that for my viewers. An example would be walking in a forest and coming to a clearing where your get startled by a streak of light that illumines a bright reddish flower. That feeling that the sudden awareness brings especially in nature. That gasping moment where all your attention has been summoned in awe. That’s the moment I present to the viewer. I most often create plein air paintings in oils outdoors, or studio works in encaustic wax. I also do a bit of repurposed metal sculpture. That sounds a bit simple—I create over 100 works per year.

And what sorts of things inspire you artistically?

I am very romantic. Creation, nature, I love observing people, flowers and trees, anything French, landscape, anything with great color. My work has a nostalgia to it. I like things that are transcendent.

Who are your artistic inspirations?

I’m Armenian, and Armenian Apostolic/Eastern Orthodox—a believer in Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. My biggest inspiration is the Lord. He totally rocks creation and His Divine love is essential to creating compassionate works that can help people. I’m from a near eastern culture and that influences my color and love of pattern.

As far as other human artists, I love Armenian manuscripts, most notably, Toros Roslin’s work, Arshile Gorky who is a definitive modern Armenian master and loads of European painters: Cezanne, Egon Schiele, Vermeer, Rembrandt, the Van Eyck brothers, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, early Kandinsky, Picasso sculpture, Matisse, so many.

How has your style changed over the years?

Good question. It has… and then it hasn’t. I’ve grown a lot artistically. I’ve observed and studied, mulled over my work and painted slightly less than 2,000 works. I’ve learned so much by painting over and over again. I’ve put so many miles on my brushes. I have learned many mediums, watercolor, gouache, printmaking, casein, silverpoint, egg tempera and icons, oils, encaustic wax, welded sculpture, silk screen, pastel. It’s so pleasurable to explore a medium and see what it can do. I am still continuing to explore new media. My message is clearer to me now than when I was a young adult but I still have some of my core issues that I explored then still coming out in my work. My work is way more lush and expressive than ever but I return to previous subject matter with a more seasoned comprehension.

As I am becoming more like God’s intention for me, His handiwork shows in my work. That’s the best part.

Why did you choose oils and encaustic wax as your primary media?

Oils I have always loved. I love their fragrance, the gorgeous colors, the buttery textures and the way they can be moved around. I love color and texture so encaustic wax is also one of my favorites. It is a very difficult medium but has huge payoffs if you work in a manner that will allow the wax to be its best. Encaustic wax is an ancient medium—beeswax with pigment and damar resin added. You heat it and apply with a brush to wood. It’s very immediate. Then you can scrape it, smooth it, shape it when its cooled. The wax gives an ethereal quality which is unique. Also oils can be taken outside to do plein air painting. I love plein air as when I observe God’s colors and God’s creations, it really creates humility and awe in me which makes me a much better painter. Encaustic wax need a heat source and that’s a bit complicated to do outdoors. I love many other media, but these are my top two.

What is the best part about working them?

Their unbeatable color, strength and boldness.

What do you believe is a key element in creating a good composition?

A good painting needs a great structure, a great abstract design as a foundation, I like contrast, a compelling subject matter. A story that has something important to say.

Now for the big questions… Would you give us an overview of the symbolism? How did you come up with the concept for the artwork for the album? I seem to remember you had the concept of the cicada-woman before I even explained the overview of the album. But how?

Again that was the Holy Spirit, Divine Inspiration. I am not ashamed of the work that God does in and through me.

I read some of the brief notes that you sent me of the themes but what I saw was like an Edward Munch drawing of a female figure that is specific yet like a slightly fading memory. She’s a haunting and visible influence but not the central figure. Sometimes she is visible and sometimes she retreats. Very nostalgic. Seasonally, spring and summer of human experience is young and optimistic. Untried and hopeful. The end of that season brings the loss of the idealistic love, new directions and a more seasoned experience as well as the remembrance of the past.

It was toward the end of summer and the cicadas were creating presence. They’re such commanding looking and sounding creatures. They are so beautiful and very underappreciated just for being who they were created to be I felt the summer activity and heat, calmness of the evening and the knowing that things are changing despite the desire to hold more tightly.

Some of the texture may be lost digitally or on the printed copies.

Will you describe the techniques you used to create this diptych?

I decided to go wild somewhat and work as intuitively as possible. I had the freedom to not be literal. The songs were written and sung by others. I didn’t want to have my work be illustration and have the start and stop be one step away from each other. I don’t like when album artwork or videos define the meanings and then the viewer can’t bring their own experience in anymore.

After I made that decision, I jumped into the process. I used two yellow oil paint toned panels. Later I used some white and black gesso and black ink sprays to create an unpredictable and weathered background areas. I made some of the gesso very thick and went back while it was wet and drew cicadas into the thicker areas with wood sticks and ink again to create depth and interest. After that was dry I worked as hard to not make everything neat and clean because life is messy and it seemed like that was also a theme of the album. I worked in and rubbed down oil pastels, mixed media crayons, inks, etc. over and over until it had the hazy feeling of remembrance, passion, faith, and loss that makes up human experience. The gold is heightening and relates to blessing and my manuscript and icon works.

How did we become friends?

We met through my husband Garabed—and I believe you two met because of your deep rooted Orthodox Christian faith. My husband has a deep respect and appreciation for you. Because of this I have the pleasure of knowing you through shared experiences, such as visiting weeping holy icons, the intensive Bulgarian icon writing class we took, and you also mentored me in my journey of art marketing via social media.

The Royal Ruckus logo was originally designed by Vinyl Jones. The current version is a redo by Nick Walker.

Listen to the record alongside the paintings: All services · Bandcamp · Apple Music · Spotify. The videos are on Royal Ruckus on YouTube.

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The Summer of the Cicadas: Album Guide & Credits

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:15:09 GMT

The Summer of the Cicadas: Album Guide & Credits

Thirty tracks, two acts. The Summer of the Cicadas brings together the record Mike Walker—Flatline—and I were making as Royal Ruckus and the solo record I was making as Chunjay. Eventually, it made more sense to put them together.

Act I, The Life Cycle of Periodical Cicadas, follows a relationship through its brief, noisy season. Act II, Rebirth: The Lone Gunmen, takes up the aftermath with friends. The characters are Jimmy and Sally Cicada. The songs draw on our lives, but they aren’t a key to somebody else’s private business.

The double LP came out February 10, 2017, on Invisible Library Records. Start at the beginning, or pick a song below.

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Track-by-track

Each song has its own page for the full lyrics, credits and listening links. Here are the people behind the record.

Flatline and Chunjay in Act I—The Life Cycle of Periodical Cicadas

The Waitress Song
She’s Dangerous
Never Known a Love Like This
Coconuts
We Are the Music Makers
Girl, We Got a Good Thing Going
Wounded by Love
This Should Be Enough
Rhymer’s Block
Resolution
Summer’s Last Call
Moment of Zen
Time for Us
Additional Lyrics and Vocals: Bonafide of GRITS
Additional Vocals: Maddy Montes
Making Nice
Coulda Swore I Saw You
Additional Lyrics and Vocals: Pigeon John

Music: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay and Flatline
Narrator: Heath McClure

Chunjay and Friends in Act II—Rebirth: The Lone Gunmen

The Pressure is On (Showdown)
Music: Annex, Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Spoken Nerd, Max.One of Sackcloth Fashion
Additional Vocals: Flatline
Burn It to the Ground
Music: Krum
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Krum, Joey the Jerk of LA Symphony
Still… (Reflections, Part 1)
Music: Grizzly Beatz
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Jeremiah Dirt of Shadow of the Locust, Absent Minded
These Things Remind
Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay
Boca Girls
Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Willonious (a.k.a. Young Dick)
The Lone Gunmen
Music and Vocals: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Uncle Dan, Spoken Nerd, Max.One, Kalvin Koolidge
Rap Is Not Music, Son
Music, Scratches: Grizzly Beatz
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Flatline
Hype Cameo: Yoda
Love Slave
Music: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & kidDEAD
Lost Boys
Music: Chris Felix
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Eligh of Living Legends, & Cookbook of LA Symphony
How Does It Feel?
Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay
When Soundwaves Play
Music: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Jeremiah Dirt
Never… (Reflections, Part 2)
Music: Grizzly Beatz
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, ManChild of Mars Ill, & Jeremiah Dirt
Jacked up on These Girls
Music: Krum
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay
Departures
Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Jeremiah Bonds, & Kalvin Koolidge
More of the Same (Epilogue)
Music: David Mathewes & Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & David Mathewes

Additional Credits
Production: Flatline, Chunjay
Mixing, Engineering, Co-Production, Mastering, Additional Scratches, Everything but the Kitchen Sink: DJ Sean P at TWLVS in Fort Worth, Texas
Vocal Production/Consultation: Krum
Pre-Mixing: Flatline, Chunjay, Krum, Shedlyn/Chris Felix, Annex, Grizzly Beatz, David Mathewes
Background Vocals: Flatline, DJ Sean P, Chunjay, and Friends
Executive Producer: Chunjay

More of the record

The Life Cycle of Man and Cicada—the essay Josh Gibbs and I wrote.
The artwork—Monique Sarkessian on the paintings.
The story behind Cicadas—how two records became one, plus the conversation Mike and I kept trying to finish.
Thanks and dedication—the people who helped us make it.
Music videos.
On the road, 2016–2019—coffee shops, festivals and tour stops.

The videos are also on Royal Ruckus on YouTube.

Why cicadas?

Periodical cicadas spend most of their lives underground, feeding on tree roots. After 13 or 17 years, they emerge together for a brief, noisy season. A swarm can reach 120 decibels—comparable to a chainsaw.

Royal Ruckus spent a long stretch underground, too. The metaphor fits. A ruckus is a disturbance or commotion; a royal ruckus is a large-scale commotion, fuss, or noise. Subtlety isn’t the point.

The Summer of the Cicadas is our two-part hip-hop record with friends, released in 2017. If you’re meeting Royal Ruckus for the first time, start with the music. If you’ve been here a while, welcome back.

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More of the Same (Epilogue)

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:20 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 30

Intro

David Mathewes had written a song about wanting more out of life, then asking to keep the life he had. I wanted to make something with him. We decided to do that song together.

I wrote the rap parts for “More of the Same,” and David and Mike made the music. David starts by wanting to get away from the plain and see the mountains. Before long, he’s asking the Lord for another ordinary day.

My verses find some joy in work and in a sleepless night with a baby. Those are things you can spend a long time wishing away.

We end the album with some peace in ordinary life. Please give me more of the same.

Videos

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Lyrics

David Mathewes:
Remember when I rode to the mountains saying
I’m sick of lookin at this plain
Mile after mile of nothin at all
And every day is more of the same
Only brings more of the same

Lord don’t let me lose my way again
Or forget where I stake my claim
And when the rooster crows in the morning
Please give me more of the same, O Lord
Just a little more of the same

Chunjay:
Life is hard but it’s good
Even when not living the way we should
Put that axe to wood like St. Boniface
Cut Thor’s oak at the base…
Superfluous,
Ridiculous, the things I miss
Distracted from delight cause I missed some kiss
What is this? it’s not what I planned
But I wouldn’t trade my life for five hundred grand
I’m grateful to think that there is no shame
To simply ask the Lord for more of the same

David Mathewes:
Unpin your hair in the kitchen
As pretty as a picture in a picture frame
Look at the fields and the plowing to do and think,
Please give me more of the same, O Lord
Please give me more of the same

I got a cough I can’t seem to shake
Aand a colt I can’t seem to tame
Laying down praying don’t take me yet, Lord
Please give me more of the same
Lord just a little more of the same

Chunjay:
It’s that hard work you didn’t know was joy
It’s that sleepless night from that baby boy
It’s that needless attention you did just cause
It’s that thoughtful mention gave her a buzz
That mournful retention of what was great
It’s that peaceful forgiveness that once was hate
It’s embracing ordinary days, ways of life
It’s facing challenges, takin it in stride
It’s knowing you were wronged but not making a claim
It’s embracing grace, and asking for the same

David Mathewes:
By and by when we meet at the throne
Singin praises to your Holy name
Forever after bathed in the light singin
Please give me more of the same, O Lord
Please give me more of the same

Lord don’t let me lose my way again
Or forget where I stake my claim
And when the sun climbs over the fence
Please give me more of the same O Lord
Please give me more of the same

Credits

Music: David Mathewes & Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & David Mathewes

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: David Mathewes & Flatline Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & David Mathewes These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Departures

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:59:58 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 29

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Intro

When my verse reaches Philadelphia, I put the flip-flops away. Too chilly. Florida is still ahead.

Near the end of Act II, “Departures” follows the moves that change your life and the people you don’t get to take along. Jeremiah Bonds takes the first verse, I take the second, and Kalvin Koolidge closes it, over music by Shedlyn.

My route has its mistakes in it. Friends helped when I needed them, and some lessons took longer than a change of address. I end the verse admitting there’s more to learn.

Kalvin leaves us with a less demanding plan than the next big move. We’ll see each other when we can, grab a beer, and catch up.

Videos

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify

Lyrics

Jeremiah Bonds, Verse 1:
It took a lot to get here, a lot of long nights
Striving to survive and writing with dull lights
It’s like a long flight, the destination is hard, just warning ya
Thinking how did I get here when I was just in California
It’s especially hard to afford this life of wanderlust
Or moving, ripped from your roots, proving it’s hard to trust
This life that starts from dust, wishing on stars for love
Thinking we’re too far from dusk to spend tonight here
From Waikiki, to Tennessee, to the Isle of Capri
You’ve got to agree that it’s awesome seeing the seven seas
But hey, enough of me, coffee or tea? It’s from Hawaii
Tell me how you’re doing, with jubilee, idiosyncracy
It’s hard to keep in touch, an email here, a text there
Searching for the next air-line ticket fare
Sorry, I gotta go, up early to catch the redeye
‘Cause I have shows in Dubai, Shanghai and Versailles

Chunjay, Verse 2:
(Hey!) I was born in California in the Golden State
I stayed for a couple decades and I loved to skate
Played around with hip-hop, lived in a big house
Put loved ones in the ground when they took life’s bow
You never know how until it comes to you
I moved to Tennessee when I was only 22
Made some mistakes, grew up a whole lot
Friends filled up my soul when life had knocked
Me to the ground, and then this teacher got taught
Biggest pain of my life changed up my whole thought
Got me Orthodox, on the beaches of Hawaii
Can’t let roadblocks get me cryin’ out, “Why me?”
Hit the east coast chased my dreams to Philly
Put my flip-flops on the shelf that place was too chilly
Really meant only the best, but I didn’t do great
The whole event got me growin but I still dropped the plate
Cleared the slate in that sunny state called Pascua Florida
Re-evaluatin’ things, changing up the formula
All of these departures have taught me many things
More lessons ahead, more than ever I am listening

Kalvin Koolidge, Verse 3:
Life gets strange when things get rearranged
People change, the song remains the same
In the back of my brain I hear you saying
That you and me, we would never break the chain
So much older, not much wiser
Still on my grind, still got that fire
Still out in Nashville, still a little crazy
Still tryna figure out how Jesus gonna save me
From town to city, gutter to high sidity
It goes so quickly, and sometimes it really hits me
I’m left behind with mine, a sign nobody gets me
I’m droppin’ dimes in my prime and I’ll be just fine
So many people, things, and places
Spaces in between, the things I seen, I know what grace is
So I be seeing you when I be seeing you my friend
We’ll grab a brew or two and then we do it all again

Credits

Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Jeremiah Bonds, & Kalvin Koolidge

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Shedlyn Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Jeremiah Bonds, & Kalvin Koolidge These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Jacked up on These Girls

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:59:36 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 28

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Intro

“That’s it, I quit! just one last love note!” Jimmy’s resignation has a small condition attached.

Sally Cicada has him losing sleep in the first verse of “Jacked up on These Girls.” By the second, he’s on a dating app. After the breakup, moving on is giving him a whole new set of people to misunderstand.

Krum made the music. I let the verses keep piling up the hopeful introductions and unanswered texts. Jimmy can find a reason to try almost anywhere, even after he’s announced he’s finished.

At the brewery, he gets a friend to find out whether a woman is interested. She has a boyfriend.

Videos

No Behind the Cicada Ruckus commentary video found for this track on the Royal Ruckus channel.

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify

Lyrics

Chunjay, Chorus:
Jacked up on these girls got me kinda messed up
Packed up in the hills and trying to find what’s next but
I’m stacked up on the thrills so I’m joining the perplexed club
Cracked up from these girls and it got my mind so stressed up

Chunjay, Verse 1:
So I’ve been seeing this girl, let’s call her Sally Cicada
Cause she’s bugging, got my brain vibrating like a theta
Not just something that I made up, strug city for real
Chugging beers with pills simply trying to chill
Losing lots of sleep always tossing and turning
Boozing it cheap, and then always returning
Melatonin for days, in my dreams it’s a haze
Need to boost that serotonin giving her my love gaze
She’s so beautiful from her smile down to her cuticles
Hotter than a crucible! and downright delusional
Always crying, trying to get me to hear
The second that I care she just straight disappears
I start losing weight, and talking like a pirate
I could probably write a book called The Grief Dude Diet
It’d really be a riot with all these anecdotes
That’s it, I quit! just one last love note!

Chunjay, Verse 2:
Back out on the scene so I got a dating app
Got a knack for conversation but swiping like a maniac
Confirmation it’s a match she looks like quite a catch
Two drinks in—and she’s already attached?
No thanks no how looking for a fire escape
Not hitting home plate on the very first date
Always trying to wait but this beard draws them in
It’s like a lady’s tractor beam, I’m guessing it’s Darwinian
I met this South Carolinian out in my parking lot
Wasn’t weird cause we’re neighbors figured it was worth a shot
Introduced myself to her and my homeboy monastic
Got the digits sent a text, feeling fantastic
Then I saw some guy with her the very next week
Shoulda put a ring, dude, cause Chunjay is unique
Firing texts back and forth, made her LOL
And then she super dropped my texts on the carousel

Chunjay, Verse 3:
Figured I’d try dating someone closer to my home
So i started daily texting this client on her phone
Invited her to the pub but she was way too busy
Soon she joined the club of girls making jamey dizzy
Started going to the brewery an talking to bartenders
Girls without ring jewelry were obvious contenders
This slender girl named Julie started messing with my mind
Then Benni oh so cooly did reconnaissance to find
If she was interested, it turned out that she wasn’t
“She has a boyfriend, she thinks you’re great but she doesn’t
Want to sent a message like she has that Jamey interest”
Maybe I’d have better luck with crafty girls on Pinterest
I knew this blonde kid and she went and done grew up
I took her out to hang, we got that red wine solo cup
My homie j-Qwess thought that we might hook up
Then she insta-posted ultrasounds from her last checkup (doh)

Credits

Music: Krum
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Krum Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Never… (Reflections, Part 2)

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:59:15 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 27

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Intro

“I have my integrity and I have my mistakes.” Moving forward on the second disc means owning both.

This is the second half of the *Reflections* pair, with music by Grizzly Beatz. Jeremiah Dirt returns, and ManChild joins us. I run through the things I’ve done and the things I haven’t, without arriving at a particularly tidy account of myself.

Dirt’s verse has its own distance between belief and behavior. ManChild keeps turning “never” over until the word starts sounding less dependable.

The chorus brings the responsibility back to the person in the mirror. ManChild leaves us with a question: “Never say never, are you sure now?”

Videos

No Behind the Cicada Ruckus commentary video found for this track on the Royal Ruckus channel.

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify

Lyrics

Chunjay, Chorus:
I got my mistakes I don’t know about you
I have one set of eyes and my own point of view
I hold onto integrity now that I see
There’s only one person, can take this from me

I got my mistakes I don’t know about you
I have one set of eyes and my own point of view
I hold onto integrity now that its clear
The only one can take it from me, is in the mirror

Chunjay, Verse 1:
A lot of things I am and a lot of things I’m not
A lot of things I planned out never carried out the plot
Never smacked a woman, never been an abuser
Never used smack or meth never been a drug pusher
Never hired a hooker never been an accuser
I’ve written dope raps but was a wack beat producer
Never cussed in my songs but I cuss every day
Never been an agnostic but I struggle to pray
Not one to play, but I’ve been divorced
A couple failed relationships but marriage endorsed
I’m a mixed bag of things, successfully broken
A failure and a champion, always in motion
I live by the ocean, once jumped off a cliff
Taken back words spoken, I can’t roll a spliff
I have my integrity and I have my mistakes
But of those two things, they’re each mine to make

Dirt, Verse 2:
I was arrested, convicted, thrown in jail
But remained free, my soul prevailed
God visits the prisons with his face unveiled
Throws the Gospel into hard hearts like molotov cocktails
I never knew Christ’s love like that
Even though I consider myself a believer from way back
My intelligence reigns supreme
But never seems smart enough to evade Devil schemes
I read the Word like it’s God’s freestyle
But never remember the verses while in the world’s Wild Style
I’m alive but never not dying
Seeking the Truth but never far away from lying
I’m holy, set apart
While never seeming to stop stumbling in the dark
As my misgivings always running amok
I’m not many things but one I am is never giving up!

Manchild, Verse 3:
Never never would I ever pen a letter to the ledger
With a less than better effort like whatever man it’s clever
Never sipped a drop of water after trekking cross the desert
Check the method this is pleasure pain connected on the record
Never…Never would I mother may I ask permission
Man I’m on a mission you can keep the terms and the conditions
Never counted costs I ain’t a statistician
Never called my style free anytime I’m pad and penning
Sometimes I lack the vision never see it all
Trouble climbing on me never see the need to keep it off
Never held the notion life is easy ya’ll
Never knew the loudest voice around was mine and he can talk
Never mind the never mind and checkered past
Saw it slip away and never figured we could get it back
Never would I claim to know the point to you and yours now
Never say never, are you sure now?

Credits

Music: Grizzly Beatz
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, ManChild of Mars Ill, & Jeremiah Dirt

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Grizzly Beatz Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, ManChild of Mars Ill, & Jeremiah Dirt These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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When Soundwaves Play

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:58:54 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 26

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Intro

I wrote my verse and emailed it to Jeremiah Dirt. He wrote back and told me I was the silliest rapper he knew. He didn’t like my hook, either—too silly—so he wrote his own chorus.

We used his. “When the soundwaves play, y’all get hype … This is healing music to make everything alright!” On the half of this album about putting a life back together after a breakup, that’s a pretty good job description for a song.

Dirt’s verse sends the sound through your brain and down to your heart. Mine covers mangoes, avocados and collecting likes every time I post a taco. So, yes. Silly.

My hook didn’t disappear, though. We tucked it into the fade-out at the very end: a quick lesson in how to write a rap song. Start with a boom and a bap.

Videos

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify

Lyrics

Dirt, Verse 1:
We-a drown punks in the flows with no raft or rowboat
Uplift the saint with encouragement embedded in the high notes
Over the drum break, we got what it takes
So we record the lyrics and let the bass carry it away
Carry it by soundwaves into your brain plate
Let your central nervous process it down to your heartwaves
That’s how hip-hop should really be sent and received
But some of y’all snakes come to bend and deceieve
But I keep enigmas coming like wind in trees
And Royal Ruckus keep the engine running like antifreeze
No guarantees you’ll escape these infectious emcees
Who rhyme like chemical warfare, communicable disease
Holy Hercules, look at these beasts
Droppin’ heat lyrics onto hot tracks like fries in grease
Hip-hop has become dull from y’all smokin blunts
We come to sharpen the angles, and devils confront

Dirt, Chorus:
When the soundwaves play, y’all get hype
When the beat drop, the time is right
For hip-hop to spread its light
This is healing music to make everything alright!

Chunjay, Verse 2:
I graduated high school in 1998
That was the same year my girlfriend finished up the first grade
Got a girl in my bed and one in the war
Got a girl that I’m in love with but she’s on the tennis court
Serving other dudes with style, text me on the side
Messing up with nudes, thinking of her smile with a sigh
Just gettin by sometimes, then strivin to thrive
Other rappers derive, I’m cutting mangoes with a knife
Got the ripest avocados, El Pollo on Alvarado
Los Angeles, Annapolis, rockin shows in Colorado
On insta adding hotties like salsa with serrano
Collecting likes from the ladies every time I post a taco
Nacho average emcees, you fools smothered in cheese
Allergic to wack rappers, radio makes me sneeze
You need Rosetta Stone to understand rappers like Drake
Ha! maybe level one for simplicity’s sake

These rappers on some Kim Kardashian stuff…

Chunjay, Outro:
Yo its Dirt and Chunjay make the sound waves play
California in the house he reps the San Diego bay
And I still rep San Jaoquin trying to right all my wrongs
Just a little example how to write a rap song

How to write a rap? start with a boom and a bap
Try to find the words that rhyme and make the people clap
Have a special nick name, make the beat and rhyme strong
Just a little explanation how to write a rap song

Credits

Music: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Jeremiah Dirt

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Flatline Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Jeremiah Dirt These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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How Does It Feel

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:58:26 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 25

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Intro

I was standing in a dark kitchen with my laptop when I wrote the first verse. I thought other people would write the rest.

I sent the song out for guests. Nobody took it up. Months later, I came back to the Shedlyn beat with some new trouble of my own and wrote the remaining verses.

On the second disc, “How Does It Feel” stays in the unsettled days after the breakup. I could remember where I’d been when I started, then hear how much had changed by the time I finished. The later verses keep replaying a breakup, down to rereading the old texts.

At the end, I call it my audio rap journal. That’s how it came together.

Videos

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify

Lyrics

Chunjay, Verse 1:
It’s that deep space that dark space that pain
It’s that place where you find the comfort in rain
It’s that pace where your joy fails to maintain
And escapes you devise only nudge toward regain

How does it feel to be real with your spit
How does it feel to be really legit
How does it feel to be chill when you’re hit
And life doesn’t give you a break for a bit

I’ve had a taste, I’ve tried a few times
I’ve eaten in haste and I’ve bitten the rind
Disgraced displaced, and plain run out of time
Some things I’ve faced gave birth to these rhymes

How does it feel to run wild and free
How does it feel to be a child and three
How does it feel to be styled a freak
And when you’re reviled does it change what you seek

Chunjay, Verse 2:
Another transition so it’s time to clock out
Uncomfortable positions bring up your old doubts
Life is intermissions, there’s no use for a pout
Nighttime emissions no respect to your drought

It feels like hell but I must keep going
Some bid farewell but I can’t start showing
Gotta keep my face glowing, an’ inside start growing
Pushing through this spell to that realm past all knowing

Feel it in your gut, feel it in your chest
Feel it in the cuts that created all the stress
How’s it feel? It feels no good
How’s it feel? I feel misunderstood

Unrest expressed when I last confessed
Lay it out for my priest about how we transgressed
I’d like to get this over I’d like to get myself dressed
Together we’re alone until they lay us to rest

Chunjay, Verse 3:
I woke up that morning, she was still in my head
Broke up two days before, I was glued to my bed
Playing tapes over and over of things we both said
And I return to all the places where she and I tread

Finding traces of our memories cute faces and her energy
Carved spaces in breweries muse of the century
Remember nearly every single text and love note
Questions perplexed at sweet things she wrote

How’s it feel? it’s unpleasantly reality
How’s it feel? like my present personality
Is about to crack I want a jumping trains knapsack
Reviewed a year of texts like it was an almanac

Just want a comeback to fix up all the things
Plot to exchange the pain for the joy her face brings
Hope springs eternal but it’s more like a funeral
My heart is in this song it’s my audio rap journal

Credits

Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Shedlyn Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Lost Boys

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:58:05 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 24

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Intro

“My dad left this world at age 37.” That’s where my verse on “Lost Boys” begins.

The grief on the second disc reaches beyond the breakup. Cookbook opens the song with a father’s death too. Between our verses, Eligh follows a relationship through the damage of leaving things unsaid. He keeps assuming time will sort it out, until it has made things worse.

Chris Felix made the music. Cookbook went back and recorded his verse a line or two at a time, freestyling it. I wrote about my biological dad and the missing years I couldn’t recover.

The chorus keeps calling for a way out of reality. My verse asks what you do with a lifetime of questions.

Videos

Music video

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify · Music video

Lyrics

Chorus (Vocal Sample):
“Run, run, lost boy,” they say to me, “Away from all of reality.”

Cookbook, Verse 1:
Yo, right before 2005 my father up and died
Never knew what’s up inside, said he was cool but he musta lied
Mustered up the strength because “I must survive,” muscles aching, so much pain I see inside my mother’s eyes
Mother why? Why did he die? Why did he leave us?
Ain’t we some good believers? We always put our faith in Jesus
He heals diseases, man, I take it back
He took a wonderful life and made it wack, fade to black
In my father’s house we stayin at, we facin’ lack
She start to disrespect my mother, I ain’t taking that, take it back
We made a pact but girl I’m gonna break it
I do what’s best for Jason, she started doing some investigation
You turned my friends against me, you had my father’s blessing
He even lent you money, man I’m bout to learn a lesson
And I’m gonna have to learn it on my own, I’m all alone
My daddy’s gone, and my family’s torn, 2005 and I felt the scorn

Eligh, Verse 2:
We fought about it one evening late
Then I brushed it aside, like nothing
Debate within my brain, between the
Grains of sand…
Time will pass, and she’ll forgive, and
I’ll forget, its nothing big, nothing to
Be concerned about, love is bigger
Than the both of us, I doubt it will
Linger past the fight
But nights and days passed, and she’s depressed
I broke the plain of trust and now it’s dead
Inside her chest, I can’t resuscitate the heart
The part is played
I slayed us both
By letting too much time pass
Laziness, and avoidance killed the dove
And filled the void with doubt, and now
It rots…the consequence of
Abandonment, speak up, or lose her
That’s accurate…

Eligh, Bridge:
Me and you can work this out
If you can find inside
Me and you can work this out
Don’t forget, or abandon me…

Chunjay, Verse 3:
My dad left this world at age 37
Didn’t expect to leave a lifetime of questions
Thought I got my lessons, they’ve all come in sessions
I make my confessions, each one is getting deeper
Tried to be a teacher looking for a leader
Siblings my seniors, mom the cheerleader
Mom got remarried, Mark tried to carry
The burden left behind from the father we buried
No way to understand the weight of a missing man
Or calculate missed time on a second hand
No chance to plan, no way to say goodbye
A lifetime of why and an occasional cry
Too many goodbyes in this life add up
Dips and ties things end abrupt
My soul erupts with a proper corrective
I’m trying to bring myself a fresh perspective

Credits

Music: Chris Felix
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Eligh of Living Legends, & Cookbook of LA Symphony

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Chris Felix Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Eligh of Living Legends, & Cookbook of LA Symphony These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares. Source explicitly labels the chorus a vocal sample; the sample source/owner is not identified there.

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Love Slave

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:57:42 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 23

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Intro

kidDEAD sent back a recorded verse and hook a few hours after I gave him the beat. I’d been sitting on it, fresh out of material.

This was the last song for the album. Mike had made the music, and I told kidDEAD he could decide what it was about. I’d write to whatever he chose.

“Love Slave” came back, one of the second disc’s returns to the hurt. His verse knows the relationship is wrecking him and still answers the text. I followed with my own verse, including a story I’d been told about breakup gifts ending up in the trash.

The sweater beside the banana peels is a nasty little image. It earned its place.

Videos

All services · Bandcamp album · Apple Music · Spotify

Lyrics

kidDEAD, Verse 1:
What does this feelin’ mean?
I’m chained and walked to the guillotine
Been a week or so
And every time I walk out the door
I’m tryin’ to escape your face
But I text you back and say “okay”
Anything you want from me you can have it
I’m bleedin’ and starving and need a bad habit
So I can forget about everything that happened
I’m seein’ the pattern
The pieces are scattered
This sick love just feels so savage
So painful and so tragic
But we still seem to want it back
And this week is wrong
And I don’t feel like a person
Just an emotional slave
I might be broke to the core
But I want that feelin more and more
So I can know that I’m alive
Cause when you’re gone I feel I’ve died
And I don’t believe we go to the sky
There is no heaven for a heartbroken rapper
Just more high maintenance disasters
And hard roads to the casket
Lonely crowds and misguided passion
That leaves you so sad you’re laughing

kidDEAD, Chorus:
All those memories
You got from me
All those broken dreams
You got from me
All those fancy clothes
You got from me
You brought me to my knees with possibly
All those new friends
You got from me
The feeling when it ends
You got from me
The smile you pretend
You got from me
Yet love is not free
And neither are we!

Chunjay, Verse 2:
I thought I would hate my life away from you
Even if free from all your fetters
And debtors
One day I found my trash can full of gifts I gave you
And all our letters
That knit sweater beside banana peels and lint
From my efficiency dryer
Prior
I’d burn the whole trash can up
But I’ve got too much respect for fire
Higher
We could use a funeral pyre
But I’d probably stage my own execution
I got too much to live for
To remove myself from the gene pool of evolution
Here is a solution
Maybe quit treating me like I need to go back to school
Is that cool?
Got me wondering how someone so lovely and fair
Could be so painfully cruel
I guess that’s the way this goes down
Love can be the worst best thing ever
Never
Or the best worst thing, dag, whatever
What we had was simply not wo….rking…
Turning, bursting…
At the seams with kindness
Falling into misguided actions, passions
Catching landings, packing all the trappings
So sad you’re laughing…

Credits

Music: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & kidDEAD

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Flatline Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & kidDEAD These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Rap Is Not Music, Son

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:57:17 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 22

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Intro

A Yamaha PSR 520 gets Mike’s verse started. I’m complaining that hip-hop was better in the nineties. Yoda is encouraging both of us.

“Rap Is Not Music, Son” takes a shot at my dad’s opinion of rap, then catches me sounding a lot like him. I’ve grown attached to the version I grew up with. Newer rappers are apparently supposed to answer for that.

Grizzly Beatz made the music and handled the scratches. Mike’s verse goes back to the excitement of hearing *Hello Nasty* and making music on his computer. Moving forward on the second disc includes recovering some of that excitement under the complaints.

Videos

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Lyrics

Yoda:
Hey, yo man, this is Yoda One, bringing it way back, this is Royal Ruckus! I was down with this crew! We used to do stuff, when the music was real, the music was live. Bringing it back, yo. Chunjay, show ’em who’s alive, get it, boy!

Chunjay, Verse 1:
Up jump the boogie on the b-side rock
Looky like a wookie with my beard Juice like 2Pac
It’s me against the clock I’m not waiting any longer
Feel like several lifetimes, each one I’m getting stronger
Just turned 36, I feel like twenty-five
Been swinging kettlebells reading funny fails on Chive
Power snatches with barbells got me feeling like a god
Happy hour romances got me feeling kinda odd
Yeah that’s the joint, yeah that’s the jam
Got my beats and rhymes on point I’m not flunking the exam
I’m digging eggs and ham for cholesterol and fat
High saturated content, I’m a low carb diplomat
Take it back to the nineties: hip-hop was rightly done
I feel like my dad, complaining, “Rap is not music, Son!”

Yoda:
Eh, yo, man, that might have been too much! That might have been too much! Hey, yo, who’s next on the lineup? Ooooh, it’s my boy Flat, they call him Flatline for a reason, because he kills beats! We used to sit back in the garage, just hanging out, listening to this… Yo, Flat, man, show ’em what you made of, son, tell ’em what you got!

Flatline, Verse 2:
I got wrapped up in this crew in 1998
The Yamaha PSR 520 was great
Sequencing beats on the PC desktop
Stated up late, my escape became making hip-hop
Summer Jams over there, house parties over here
Hello Nasty on CD blew open my little ears
Can’t believe where it took me, made a home in Tennessee
Played shows ’round the country and bless’d the fam’ly tree
Tweedle dee, tweedle dum, rock the mics and the drums
Talent shows, how it goes, happy just to get some crumbs
I can’t work without some pressure but I always deliver
I plant my roots in Texas now and try to earn a little silver
We Ruckus’d Royal rightly under Bakersfield’s sun
While Chunjay’s dad was complaining,”Rap is not music, Son!”

Yoda:
Man, I don’t even know what to say anymore. Man, that was just too much, too much. Yo, we gotta bring him back one more time, ’cause this is his crown, this is his whole moment. Hey, yo man, Chunjay, show ’em what you got, bring back that 1990-no-daddy-like-sound! Uh! (Yeah!)

Chunjay, Verse 3:
I got a mani-pedi from an Asian girl named Betty
Said my name is Chunjay, I don’t eat no spaghetti
Felt a bit unsteady when I skipped any meals
So I dropped the carbs, upped the fat and dialed in the deal
Why be a sugar burner? burn fat like a beast
But I like to sip on IPAs when chowing down a feast
Throw down the gauntlet on this rap thing that we do
Mike and I thought Ruckus deserved a fresh reboot
Don’t dispute I’m not the best, but I’m learning every day
I studied a tape of Eminem and Dr. Dre
Hip-hop hooray, way beyond today’s wack rhymers
I guess I’m on the verge of earning “cranky old rap timer”
Take it back to the nineties! hip-hop was rightly done
I feel like my dad, complaining, “Rap is not music, Son!”

Yoda:
Hey, yo man, that’s it. The only thing I can say is, yo, just drop the mic, you done like James Brown, buddy. 1990-sumpin’, that was when we was in it, we out boy.

Credits

Music, Scratches: Grizzly Beatz
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Flatline
Hype Cameo: Yoda

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music, Scratches: Grizzly Beatz Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Flatline Hype Cameo: Yoda These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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The Lone Gunmen

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:57:02 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 21

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Intro

Uncle Dan raps about Scott Jurek. I ask him who that is. He wants to know why tacos count as hip-hop but running statistics don’t.

This is his first official verse, and he’s already arguing with me. He’s one of the guests on the title track of Act II. Mike made the music and sings the chorus.

I’d filled this solo project with other people on purpose. “The Lone Gunmen” puts us all in one song, interrupting and egging each other on.

Dan has an answer ready about Jurek, by the way. Seven consecutive Western States 100 wins. He did his homework.

Videos

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Lyrics

Uncle Dan: Aye, yo yo. We’re just doing this Boys II Men style, just no cussing, right?

Verse 1:
Chunjay:
Kickin’ down the doors we the crew bringing the Ruckus
Got that moral compass so I’m advocating justice
For the loveless and the loved, rich and poor the weak and toughest
We alone but we’re together and together we some rough necks

Spoken Nerd:
I’m less five-o, more type O-Negative
I’m DIY eating homemade potato chips
8 bit simplish. Quit the quick label it’s
Dripping on my riches like tip toes on a drainage ditch
You’re drenched with the fix
Click, click
The mouse on my computer is the new pistol whip
Attempted merger
My belief is firmer than my grip
On minced meat because the dream is murder

Chunjay:
I got that skin in the game not just talking fussing theory
Others bull with the claims and act so cussing cheery
Getting beery at the pub with my crew and all the rest
Watchin’ footy with a stout, hit up South by Southwest

[White people stuff about peeing and making kombucha]

Flatline, Chorus:
We are the lone gunmen, you should duck at the click
We’ll throw them bar stools, fisticuffs, mics, or a brick
Solidarity and clarity when opposition strikes
This is a lethal composition so I’m passin the mic

Verse 2:
Uncle Dan:
I’m a noobie, ain’t no shame, this is my first official verse
But as a rookie in this game, man, I’ve never been served
I said, “Chun, let’s have some fun, but let’s get it done right”
He said, “Dan, just make a plan, don’t bring a mic to a pun fight”

Chunjay:
Been writing raps since ’92, you better recognize
So I made a batch of songs with trend setter kinda guys
Blue skies be telling lies, letters are in disguise
I’ll be riding fledgling waves until the day of my demise

Max.One:
I literally believe that Adam and Eve were the first to be
To breathe to believe and be deceived
Call me simple-minded
But there’s nothing simple inside it
I complicate the most basic statement
Rearrange it, then erase
Solo: I’m okay
But with brethren: I’m blazing

[Uncle Dan and Chunjay dialogue where the latter figures out when he actually started writing raps]

Verse 3:
Uncle Dan:
There’s not a lot I won’t do for my brothers in arms
There’s not a thing I won’t brew to do our livers some harm
Sometimes the strength is in the few while many alarm
The higher ups in the pews watching over the farm

Chunjay:
I be that living paradox, I bless and I throw rocks
Eternal member in this mess but I’m counting down the clocks
I rocked suburb malls, the underground and into the boondocks
Freshest sound you found around, plus I’m ancient Orthodox

Kalvin Koolidge:
Too Kool to Kal, international
I rage on stage then take a bow
I’m from the Ville, don’t test my skill
Oh, you think I won’t, best believe I will
I gotta mean streak, a machine freak
Like a teen beat, I’m keeping knees weak
I can go all night, I can go all day
Only go one way, where you at, Chunjay?

Chunjay:
Rough necks on the mic & we shaking suckas down
Fools be catching wreck, we walk off with their crowns
Royal Ruckus rock it right and we did it with the clowns?
Hip-hop, kids, and puppies brought that music to your towns

Uncle Dan:
I’ve run the rat race and I’ve walked on my hands
Watched Chun eat tortillas while I hiked the Badlands
While you’re strolling on the trail daydreaming that you’re slick
My hustle’ll close the gap like my name was Scott Jurek

Uncle Dan and Chunjay:
Wait dude, who the heck is Scott Jurek?
Scott Jurek, man, he won the Western States 100 seven consecutive years. You told me to rap about what I know!
Ughh.
Dude, what? So tacos are hip-hop but running stats aren’t? Do you have any idea how hard it was to rhyme “Scott Jurek”?
Whatever, man. (Laughs)

Credits

Music and Vocals: Flatline
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Uncle Dan, Spoken Nerd, Max.One, Kalvin Koolidge

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music and Vocals: Flatline Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Uncle Dan, Spoken Nerd, Max.One, Kalvin Koolidge These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Boca Girls

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:56:34 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 20

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Intro

My broken iPhone gets the first verse started. By the third, two men are arranging to introduce their girlfriends.

After the breakup, the second disc makes room to laugh at dating again. “Boca Girls” is a South Florida dating story with an expensive beer tab. Shedlyn made the music. I wrote the first verse; Young Dick wrote the second. Then I wrote the third to bring our stories together.

Both guys think things are going well. They’ve got a plan to meet up in Mizner Park, and neither has asked quite enough questions.

I could tell you how the introduction goes. The song has already spent two verses getting these men pleased with themselves, and I’d rather let them finish.

Videos

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Lyrics

Willonious, Intro:
Yo, this is Yung Dick. Talkin’ bout Boca girls!

Chunjay, Verse 1:
I broke my iPhone so I went down to the mall
To the Apple Store that other stuff is not my call
I saw this full grown doll, introduced myself and all
Morgan was her name, lovely tan and tall
Spit some game, flirted, then I got the digits
Fell head over heels outside Abercrombie Fitches
Came down with the itches now my left eye twitches
Doctor said I have a fever for the Boca… (Shh…)
Girls—they are a very special type
But the crop tops and the cutoffs are something that I like
Those shorts! Those thighs!
Now I take out Boca girls like every other night
Take her out to Rocco’s, she says she don’t like nachos
Margaritas with the salt and big ole plate of tacos
See two Boca girls I dated sitting at the bar
I should prob’ly find a different place off the Boca radar

Chunjay, Chorus:
Boca girls breaking hearts, then they break your wallet
Shopping at the mall, Gucci bag she bought it (Boca girls!)
Drinking Frappuccinos parties at casinos
Black out drunk, toast the floor with all the dudes that she knows (Boca girls!)

Willonious, Verse 2:
Ridin’ on Glades I’m in the Escapade
You know I’m getting paid, your boy been on a wave
Saw a young babe, I said, “Hey, how are you?”
She had a pretty little smile, her chest say FAU
I’m like, d***, baby, I’m really tryina know ya
I’m really tryina show ya all the finer things
Take you to Town Center, buy all the bling bling
Mmm… even wedding rings
Tryin’ get married like right now!
Take ya to the the Funky Buddha smoke some hookah and vibe out
At Mizner Park after dark, we can talk about you
And what we do, yeah…
Boca boo, Boca boo…

Chunjay, Verse 3:
I got this call from my homie will, a.k.a. Yung Dick
He said he’s on this chick
Said he’s got this Boca boo who goes to FAU
With a booty of a magnitude obscures his view
I said me too, yo I got this girl
She rock my world she like a perfect pearl
She down at that college, gainin’ knowledge
She make me feel great like I still got that ballage
Set up a surprise meet up in Mizner Park
Thought our two Boca boos might friendship spark
We grabbed a brew at the Yard House where a friend was working
Had no idea a surprise was lurking
Ordered up pricey beers (cheers!)
I saw a vision of a woman hot and fierce
Will exclaimed with a grin, “her ring worth a fortune!”
And much to my chagrin it was lovely Morgan…

Chunjay, Bridge:
Can’t tell if I’m a hipster, can’t tell if I’m a jock
Can’t tell if I should golf or hit up the skate shop
Don’t know if I am hip-hop, yeah probably not
But to the girls of Boca will I ever have a shot?

Credits

Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Willonious (a.k.a. Young Dick)

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Shedlyn Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Willonious (a.k.a. Young Dick) These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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These Things Remind

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:56:12 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 19

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Intro

I gave her my heart when being together felt easy. Here, I’m trying to let go without pretending I’ve stopped loving her.

“Girl, We Got A Good Thing Going” caught the relationship while things were great. On the second disc, “These Things Remind” looks back from the other end. The good memories are still there. So are the reasons we’re apart.

Shedlyn made the music. I go back to “A Las Chicas” and question what my younger self understood about love. Good intentions hadn’t been enough to make a relationship work.

The refrain keeps trying to put that into words: “I love you with my whole heart but I’m letting go of you.”

Videos

Music video

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Lyrics

Chunjay, Verse 1:
Got you on my mind but I really probably shouldn’t
Spent too much time on you like a good student
Studying for a test like our life would be the best
The reality is that life with you would be a stress
It hurts me to say and I think that you are great
But cute shorts and fun drinks aren’t a lifetime exchange
Thinking things will change, definition of insanity
A gateway to embrace some kind of deep apathy
I chose chastity—you woulda let me hit it
I wish that we could kiss and I will not forget it when we did
I love you kid and that’s the truth
But you a mixed up girl, I gotta lay new roots
So I wish you all the best and I pray that you are blessed
Need to say these things can’t leave them unexpressed
Hope you figure out all the things you need to do
I love you with my whole heart but I’m letting go of you

Chunjay, Chorus:
(Hey!) She’s on my mind and she’s on my heart (Hey!)
These things remind me why we’re apart
The good things were way up off the charts
But I’m no longer blind so I must depart

Chunjay, Verse 2:
I wrote that “A Las Chicas” and I had the best intentions
But I was a young kid relationships have dimensions
Beyond just loving God it takes more than simple faith
Add works to the plate and kindness to what you pray
I tried never to stray, honored God with my body
Application of the teaching on occasion kinda spotty
Yielded messed up situations broken up by some hottie
But you, my dear, are leagues beyond everybody
I never met another girl who impacted me like that
Your time I enrolled and asked if perhaps
I could get a chance, just to be your shining star
I was whining for a glance to be back up on your radar
You should know the truth I never met a soul like you
I never been so broken up by getting knocked out of the queue
Hope you figure out all the things you need to do
I love you with my whole heart but im letting go of you

Chunjay, Verse 3:
We had a conversation ’bout us on that Sunday night
Amazing your explanations wrecked me without a fight
“That’s what I want too, that’s what I wanna do”
Reading old love letters and pledging to be true
Tried to walk away cried out to be estranged
But I bought your complaints and your pledge that things would change
Have a strange way of changin’ doing more of the same
Blame shifting over texts I saw right through your game
You see it’s quite easy no need for a co-coaster
Loved you freely and deeply, relax I came closer
Wrap my arms around your body and my heart around your soul
Disposition embodied one consistently enrolled
No need for stop and go, no need for ebb and flow
We should drop the show, love shouldn’t take that kind of toll
Hope you figure out all the things you need to do
I love you with my whole heart but im letting go of you

Credits

Music: Shedlyn
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay

Album-wide credits

Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Shedlyn Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.

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Still… (Reflections, Part 1)

Jamey Bennett — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 02:55:49 GMT

Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 18

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Intro

I asked Spoken Nerd who should take the third verse. He recommended Absent Minded. I put on his music and loved it.

That’s how he came to join Jeremiah Dirt and me on “Still…,” giving the second disc another voice for carrying on. Grizzly Beatz made the music. My verse checks on the things that have lasted. Mike and I are still friends. I still believe, and I still have doubts.

Dirt’s verse admits he’s still sinning and still forgiven. Then Absent Minded raps about burying people he loved and carrying on with his faith. By the time he gets there, the word “still” has a good deal more behind it than when I started.

Videos