Educating the masses

Shadow government, media-induced paranoia, UFO coverups – Hed PE’s free speech activist/frontman Jahred Shane has a lot of questions, but he’s sure of one thing: He’s not alone.

“Forget about me and people like me who watch thousands of hours of this stuff on the Internet. What about the guys who make this stuff about the 911 lies and UFOs?” Shane said during a telephone interview.

“These are lectures from dudes who have Ph.D.s, if that’s what you’re into.”

With roots in mindless sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll punk-rap, the lyrical content of Hed PE’s music has followed Shane’s growing fascination with secret society and a new-found mission to use his music to wake up the zombified masses.

Hed PE maintained respectable chart positions throughout three major label releases followed by three independent albums. Its latest album is another chapter in Shane’s “truth movement” to expose government conspiracies.

Released Tuesday, “New World Orphans” is a rally call to the politically minded youth of America to look beneath the surface at what’s on television and in the news.

“The government has access to media manipulation,” Shane said. “They are using images on TV to get you to react the way they want you to. And fear tactics. Even if it’s real terrorism, you don’t give up your rights to feel safe.”

The new album deviates from that heavier subject matter from time to time with the help of energy exchanges with the usual suspects. Guest credits include cohorts Kottonmouth Kings, underground warlord Tech N9ne, and Oregon’s rapid-fire rhymer The Dirtball, who shows up for a battle-rap beatdown.

Those moments are only brief reliefs from the tracks about sex perceptions on camera, Machiavellian concepts and government warmongers.

“This is the hidden story of reality that you’ll never hear from public schools or on TV,” Shane said. “What we believe, millions of people are waking up to because of the Internet.

“It’s offering a whole lot of truth we’ve never had access to, and these are books people don’t want to get to the public.”

Between the current political climate and growing technology, he believes America is on the cusp of change.

“Obama is up against a corrupt system. He can’t do it on his own, and he’s been the first to say that,” Shane said. “There’s a sign that people want change, but he’s in a den of snakes.

“The system is crumbling, but something has to take its place. And like they say, ‘We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.’ ”

Shane said he is doing his part with his music. Hed PE’s sound is an underground crucible that mixes punk and metal with hip-hop – a combination the band calls “G-punk.”

“We combat dumb music,” said Shane. “Our music is for brainiacs. To even try to explain it in words is inadequate.

“It’s an oversimplification, just like Obama. His dad is black and his mom is white, but they say Obama is black to avoid complexity.”