The Summer of the Cicadas: Album Guide & Credits

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.

All services · Bandcamp · Apple Music · Spotify

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

1. The Waitress Song

2. She’s Dangerous

3. Never Known a Love Like This

4. Coconuts

5. We Are the Music Makers

6. Girl, We Got a Good Thing Going

7. Wounded by Love

8. This Should Be Enough

9. Rhymer’s Block

10. Resolution

11. Summer’s Last Call

12. Moment of Zen

13. Time for Us
    Additional Lyrics and Vocals: Bonafide of GRITS
    Additional Vocals: Maddy Montes

14. Making Nice

15. 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

1. The Pressure is On (Showdown)
   Music: Annex, Flatline
   Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Spoken Nerd, Max.One of Sackcloth Fashion
   Additional Vocals: Flatline

2. Burn It to the Ground
   Music: Krum
   Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Krum, Joey the Jerk of LA Symphony

3. Still… (Reflections, Part 1)
   Music: Grizzly Beatz
   Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Jeremiah Dirt of Shadow of the Locust, Absent Minded

4. These Things Remind
   Music: Shedlyn
   Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay

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

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

7. Rap Is Not Music, Son
   Music, Scratches: Grizzly Beatz
   Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Flatline
   Hype Cameo: Yoda

8. Love Slave
   Music: Flatline
   Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & kidDEAD

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

10. How Does It Feel?
    Music: Shedlyn
    Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay

11. When Soundwaves Play
    Music: Flatline
    Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & Jeremiah Dirt

12. Never… (Reflections, Part 2)
    Music: Grizzly Beatz
    Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, ManChild of Mars Ill, & Jeremiah Dirt

13. Jacked up on These Girls
    Music: Krum
    Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay

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

15. More of the Same (Epilogue)
    Music: David Mathewes & Flatline
    Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay & David Mathewes

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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

Lyrics and music copyright 2017 Neopolis Media in partnership with Invisible Library Records. All rights reserved. M. Walker & J. Bennett Artist rights (BMI).

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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