Sunday, March 29, 2009

Shad: I Heard You Had A Voice Like An Angel/Psalm 137

I can't believe I haven't posted this song yet. I heard it about a year ago and had to instantly go buy the cd. The song has one of the most gripping beats you'll hear these days. To me this song is about having true talent but getting caught up in the fame and the money and having it ruin your music . "Had a voice like an angel, now you score the drama scenes, the comedy's the fact, we enact what you want to be", a great line that i believe to be about rappers becoming movie stars and how it's somewhat ironic. "Had some old songs still stuck in your memory, distorted though, so you sort of re-assembled melodies and fine-tune and turned em into single after single, in this industry you built so sinfully simple for, you to write cuz, a song is what your life was, the destiny of stars is their light must, fight dusk, with sparks of brilliance to ignite us, and of all the billions of stars, you were by far the brightest, I heard you had a voice like an angel, now it's just a light hush...", basically commenting on how artists take other peoples music and change it and turn it into theirs for the money and fame. "They want vessels void and dark as space, fools wanna make stars instead of music that's smart or special, because art at a level that's real can be harder to peddle", sad but true that the music industry makes more money when people talk about cars, money, and all that is cliche in the rap world instead of making music thats meaningfull and beautiful. Anyways be sure to check out Shad, an up and coming rapper out of canada.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Eminem: Infinite

So I'm not a huge Eminem fan but there was a point and time when I digged his music. Being 14 or so when he released The Slim Shady LP it was the perfect "rebellion" type sound that I wanted to hear. After getting older and having my ear lobs mature I thought that his "shock and awe" lyrics where a little too much for me and overall distracting to his true talent. Recently hearing some of his older stuff I remembered why I liked his sound in the first place. I would def recommend to check out the Infinite album and the single from that album titled the same.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Art Of Storytelling

To me the best songs are the songs that actually have a story and meaning. I'm so tired of turning on the radio and hearing songs about guns, cars, money and women. Weather it's a song about a real life story or a song involving fictional characters, it's always enjoyable to be able to drift off and follow the lyricist wherever they may take you. Here's a list of some of my favorites.


















Geto Boys: Mind Playing Tricks On Me
I always figured this song was about a guy being paranoid because of drugs but I heard it could possibly symbolize their need to feel hard and seeing a threat in every situation. Gotta love Bushwick Bill and his verse in this song. I was definitely saying "wow" after the first time I heard this song. "Then he disappeared and my boys disappeared too, Then I felt just like a fiend, It wasnt even close to Halloween, It was dark as fu*k on the streets, My hands were all bloody from punching on the concrete."

Common: I Used To Love H.E.R.
I like this song for the simple fact of it being so metaphorical. In this song Common uses a girl as a metaphor for hip hop. It's rumored H.E.R. stands for, hearing every rhyme. Common basically states that he misses what used to be and criticizes the direction hip hop was going back in the mid 90's. Also referring to "mainstream" rap, "I might've failed to mention that this chick was creative, But once the man got you well he altered her native."

Tupac: Me And My Girlfriend
Another great metaphorical song. Tupac's "girlfriend" in this song is a metaphor for his gun (much like Nas' "I Gave You Power"). "I love you black or chrome, Turn this house into a happy home, me and my girlfriend."

Atmosphere: Always Coming Back To You
Every time I hear this song it's like I'm on a journey. Slug always does such a good job of describing things so well and so subtle at the same time. I think this song is about temptation. "He held the register open, while he counted her change, I was next in line, which meant I was invisible, From where I stood, I could see that the till was full, He didn't look the type to play super-hero." Everything here suggests that he could have easily robbed the store. "Another manic Monday night, it's gonna be a long walk, A car pulled up a fixed up Cutlass, A woman and a child climbed out, and left it runnin." Slug talks about having a long walk ahead of him and then a car is left unattended with the keys in the ignition. Later a kid gives him a gun and Slug puts it in a mailbox to get rid of it. That's my take, Who knows though, Slug is so complex!

Outkast: Da Art Of Storytellin (part 1)
Had to put this song on for the title alone. It's really a great song though. I'm not exactly sure what it's about though. The first verse Big Boi sings about getting with a girl named Suzy Skrew. "I gave her a Lil' Will CD, and a fuckin poster, It's like that now." That line makes me believe the song is about groupies. Big Boi seems to take it for what it is while Andre 3000 seems to fall in love with Suzy Skrew's friend, Sasha Thumper. "Talkin bout what we gonna be when we grow up, I said what you wanna be, she said, "Alive". Def the songs best line.

The Lost Boyz: Renee
The song describes a man who meets a girl and a relationship soon blossoms. Renee later gets shot and dies. "Ghetto love is the law that we live by", referring to inevitable tragedy and loss for those who live in the "ghetto".

CunninLynguists: Seasons feat. Masta Ace
Another song that uses metaphors to describe hip hop. The lyrical content in this song compares the four periods of hip hop to the four seasons of weather. Masta Ace compares Old school hip hop to spring, Deacon The Villain compares the Golden age of hip hop to summer, the third verse handled by DJ Kno compares late 90's hip hop to autumn and in the last verse Mr. SOS compares the bling era to winter, referring to it as the "ice age". Basically pointing out the decline in hip hop. My favorite line in this song is, "Jolly, fat, white men get paid when rap hits the shelves, And artists themselves get treated like Elves, Matter of fact, Santa's gotten so greedy when a rapper sells, You even need clearance to sample Jingle Bells, What the hell?"

Friday, March 6, 2009

2Pac Out On Bail (Live 1994)

So obviously 2Pac is far from underground. Basically this site is about good music and 2Pac definitely provided that. These days you see performances on tv at various music awards and Grammy's and they disappoint 9 times out of 10. Don't get me wrong, Kanye's "Hey Mama" at the Grammy's last year was one of the better perfromances I've seen in a while but overall rappers of today have lack luster stage presence at best. 2Pac always put in so much energy and passion into his music and you can definetly see that in this perfromance at the Source awards.