they've seen a couple of videos. Yes they're tired of their teen age daughter playing "In Da Club" over and over. But they aint never heard Ghetto Quaran'. They aint never heard Power of The Dollar. They can't name a rapper with more flow than Fiddy shows on As The World Turns. They don't understand 50's Baltimore Love Thing any more than they understand James Joyce's Ulysses.The fact is they are rap Has beens. They "used to like rap", "back in the day". Now they're older. They've moved on. They have detached from the music, and appropriately so. They are paying bills now. Raising children. Looking forward to voting for Obama. However, no one wants to admit they aren't keeping pace with the music. Couldn't be that.
Fact is most Hip Hop Apologists understand 50 about as well as their parents understood NWA.
I was in a club in Panama City when "Just A Lil Bit" came on the stereo. Women went bananas. They couldn't even speak English and they completely lost their minds when they heard the flow. Where I come from, say what you want, but what women feel, is what counts. 11 Mil world wide (during the era of downloads) means a lot of women. Hate rap? Caught up in the "Bitch & Ho" hype? That's your business. But don't front on what 50, Nas, Jay, Lil Wayne - and dozens of other super talented brothers are producing. Now that's not taking anything away from Tribe, and The Roots. It just is what it is.
This is 50, comin' out your stereo
hard to tell though coz i switch the flow
eyez i lil low coz i twist the dro
pockets on swell coz i move the o's
My neck, my wrist, my ears is froze
Come get ya bitch, she on me dawg
She musta heard about the dough
Now captain come on and save a hoe
I get it crunk in the club, I'm off the chain
Number one on the chart, all the time mayn
When the kid in the house, I turn it out
Keep the dance floor packed, that's without a doubt
And shorty shake that thang like a pro mayn
She back it up on me I'm like oh mayn
I get close enough to her so I know she can hear
System thumpin', party jumpin', I said loud and clear
hard to tell though coz i switch the flow
eyez i lil low coz i twist the dro
pockets on swell coz i move the o's
My neck, my wrist, my ears is froze
Come get ya bitch, she on me dawg
She musta heard about the dough
Now captain come on and save a hoe
I get it crunk in the club, I'm off the chain
Number one on the chart, all the time mayn
When the kid in the house, I turn it out
Keep the dance floor packed, that's without a doubt
And shorty shake that thang like a pro mayn
She back it up on me I'm like oh mayn
I get close enough to her so I know she can hear
System thumpin', party jumpin', I said loud and clear
3 comments:
DV, 50 is cool, but if you want to peep lyrics of the rapper as a drug metaphor 6 years before Baltimore Love Thing peep Heroin by Ali Vegas.
Man you are really on one. 50 is accesible and marketable, not a lyrical talent. Don't get me wrong he can rap circle around a lot of other people from the golden era (kid n play?), but i don't think he is a lyrical wonder. he is just good at hitting the center of american taste which is good business sense, but its not trailblazing artistry.
anyway, if you want to hear a truly revolutionary hip hop album without one lyric check out marc mac's "its right to be civil".
and by the way, "ski mask way" was the true gem of the massacre, and if you don't feel me on that...you sir, are lost.
-kc
50 is an avg rapper at best. His product has been laden with simple lyrics and catchy hooks that satisfy todays multi-unaculturated consumer. What I commend him on the most is his ear for beats.
In what is now a shameful and backwards industry, 50 by far had the best artist launch marketing/PR plan (and timing) I have ever seen in my 30+ yrs. Cosigned by dre and em, beef with established artists from a dominant label, Pac-esque shootout survivor... he also had a little luck b/c some rappers (wu for ex.) gave him free publicity by responding to "How to Rob" in skits and songs well before his debut.
I know and love hip hop. I yawn at 50 and its not b/c of his content. There is a skill set to rap that includes vocab, wit, "riding a track", clever metaphors etc. Artists with similar content that I would mention way before 50 are T.I., The Clipse and Lil Wayne.
I nod to undeniable beats like anyone else but by no means is he worthy of the kind of praise I'm reading here.
He's great in the new age of respect for hip hop as a profit generator and unit mover instead of a constantly evolving and diverse art form.
KP
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