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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
POPPIN' THEM THANGS
G-Unit
Beg For Mercy
Interscope : 2003
[Buy it]
THE PRIDE
Chuck D
Autobiography of Mistachuck
Polygram : 1996
[Buy it]
I AM I BE
De La Soul
Buhloone Mindstate
Rhino : 1993
[Buy it]
FLY GIRL
Queen Latifah
Nature of a Sista
Tommy Boy : 1991
[Buy it]
I was shuffling some rap tunes on the iPod yesterday and Chuck D's 'The Pride,' from his under-rated 1996 solo album, came up. It contains one of my favorite rap lyrics ever:
The Panther Party, before 'La-Di-Da-Di'
Put pride inside, plus taught karate Immediately afterward, G-Unit's 'Poppin' Them Thangs' - with its irresistible Dr. Dre beat - kicked in. It contains some of my favorite, laugh-out-loud-bad, rap lyrics ever:
Read the paper, look at the news
We on the front page
Yeah we in the Bahamas with AK's on the stage
The ice and the Jacob watch make a broke nigga take somethin'
So I gotta keep the four fifth with no safety button
G-Unit gettin' money
I know some artists is starvin'
But play the game like they rich to me this shit funny
I know you see me comin'
Cuz on the front of the Maybach
It say payback
for those who hated on me They are not bad in the clunker kind of way that, say, Queen Latifah's sloppy lines from 'Fly Girl' are:
But I'm not the type of girl that you think I am
I don't jump into the arms of every man
(But I'm paid) I don't need your money
(I love you) you must be mad
Easy lover is something that I ain't
Besides, I don't know you from a can of paint Or Mase's 'Can't Nobody Hold Me Down':
You name it, I could claim it
Young, black, and famous, with money hanging out the anus Rather, their cocksure and aggressive swag just seems so over the top that I am dumb struck by the supreme silliness of it all.
It made me think, if rap is a lyrical game, where are all the great lyricists? Or even the good ones? I'm hardly an authority on this, so happily correct me. And there are a handful a solid writers in the recent mainstream. Kanye West, Mos Def, The Roots and Eminem are the first that come to mind. But those guys are already AARP by rap standards.
But where are the Chuck D's, the Rakims?
Who writes a verse as fluid as De La Soul's 'I Am I Be'?
Product of a North Carolina cat
who scratched the back of a pretty woman named Hattie
Who departed life just a little too soon
and didn't see me grab the Plug Tune fame
As we go a little somethin' like this
look ma, no protection
Now I got a daughter named Ayana Monay
And I can play the cowboy to rustle in the dough
so the scenery is healthy where her eyes lay
I am an early bird but the feathers are black
so the apples that I catch are usually all worms and
I bring the element H with the 2
so ya owe me what's coming when I'm raining on your new parade I'll tell you who doesn't: Three 6 Mafia. Or Lil Flip. Or anyone called 'Young' or 'Lil' anything.
Some of the choice lines from Lil Flip's agonizing new tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, via his MySpace page:
So we pray for each one of y'all who lost a child
And for that brave man who escaped the Holocaust
....
Then later on they lettin' classmates talk about him
But his screenplays should have let you know he had a problem
....
Even with my album out, i can take the time to grieve
Cuz if i had a tragedy i hope you'd so the same for me So hop on the comments board and tell us:
The best and worst rap lyrics of all time.
Any all you young kids, if you're serious about becoming an MC, please do your self a favor and pick up your Flocabulary course now!
A reminder: if you find yourself in the loins of NYC this evening, pick up your tuxedo and head to the KGB Bar at 7pm for a moistworks reading. Details here.Labels: James, rap
posted by James
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