J DillaxCommon E=MC The Shining "Get up get up, and rock, and rock The hum the hum it knock it knock ...You out the atmosphere This rap here something that I felt in the moment ...Of truth, opponents in the booth Inspired, cuz what I write is fire like 'wooosh' "
I don't write about beats. But it's hard to ignore this one. The J Dilla track wages war with the rhyme in a 3:29 second long battle. I'd call it a draw. Common matches the spirit of his lyrics and his flow to that of the beat in his songs. The first eight bars sound like being in a freestyle cypher. It's reminiscent of the feigning that happens before leaping into the swinging ropes of double dutch. Bobing and timing the rhythm of the rope hitting the ground before committing to air.
After landing safely in between the ropes and onto the beat, he uses onomatopoeia to describe his writing. I love when emcees' use onomatopoeia, but I never know to spell it the way they intended. Liner notes please!
If not, what artists or genre of music is going to spark it? Lead it? I'm sure there are many underground and indie musicians doing good work in all genres. But I am talking about something, someone, that is going to appeal to the masses.
"Music is important in the struggle, every revolution has music." I'm paraphrasing here, but this is the spirit of what the legendary Grace Lee Boggs said during her opening speech at the North Dakota Study Group in Detroit, MI last weekend. Later a woman got up with her acoustic guitar, echoed her comments and then proceeded to lead the group in singing a protest song from the '60s. One hour later we were on a bus taking a tour of Detroit. As we passed the old "Hitsville USA" I began to come back to that idea of music and social change. Are we going to have another What's Going On by Marvin Gaye? War by Edwin Starr? Then again, the struggle was so different then, so visible, so tangible. This made it easier to be outraged. The enemies, the issues were clear. Despite more media, the struggle now is more elusive. Is a musical artist going to write a song railing against institutional racism? Develop a catchy chorus that shines a light on predatory loan practices? How do you describe those things? Do you write about the cause, or the results? That evening, performances included a Detroit rapper named Invincible who, along with a versatile flow and solid wordplay, carried with her a strong message of change and hope. This also made me return to the idea of change and music. I wonder what role rap music can have and will have. This is going to be the first of yet another series of posts that highlights lines, phrases and rhymes that are aimed at societal change. It is hard to do that topic well but I plan on holding a high standard. Important and prophetic words alone will not be good enough. Ultra-technical and "deep" artists may not always get posts. Flow and wordplay are going to be just as important content. It's rap after all, not spoken word poetry. It has to be musical. All of my reoccurring posts have a title that is drawn right from the topic itself. Vomitspit, Come Back Like Jordan..., 7MCs, and Camay are all representative of lyrics or song titles by particular artists
(DOOM, Jay-Z, Rakim and Ghostface Killah). "If Revolution Had a Movie..." is props to Common.
Common used "The Corner", from his album Be, to really flex his boom-bap ability. There is so much to say about this song from the structure, to the delivery, to the flow, and the wordplay. My focus will be on the first verse but I have to speak on the structure of the song a bit. Each verse is done primarily with an end rhyme and stresses particular syllables.
The first verse uses the "0" sound, the second employs the "ight" ending while the third utilizes an "i" sound. He also plays with his voice, dropping it on the end rhyme for each bar.
"Memories on corners with the Fours and the Moors
Walk to the store for the Rose talking straightforward to hoes"
He also uses "and" a lot to compare and contrast and provide imagery. It also kind of minimalist in some ways. By doing this Com gives the song a cypher kind of sound, a delivery you would hear with a bunch of heads out on a corner just reporting out the things going on around them. Hence the songs title. Adding the Last Poets furthers that feel.
And you could tell, by how her titties hung" - Common Sense
I'm on record with my love for all things Cool Kids and this song is no exception. While I personally never really warmed up to Asher Roth I always respected his skill set. Chuck Inglish's beats always make me wish I drove one of these.
Asher's free fall, zip line flow really works with his beat. The concept and video are both
It's kind of ironic that my last post about Murs was titled with a line from Common's iconic trackI used to love H.E.R and he recently released a remake of that same song. With the help of 9th Wonder Murs put together a strong remake with a decidedly more left coast swing to it. The beat aside, Murs took liberties with one of the more controversial sections of the song. Common spoke about the late 80's emergence of west coast hip-hop music in less than glowing terms...
Just having fun, not worried about anyone and you could tell, by how her titties hung" - Common Sense
That closing line in the second verse of the epic Common song is meant to harken back to time when Hip-Hop music was less concerned with image and more innocent.
There are a few rappers today who still have fun and keep the topics light and sometimes, comical.
One such rapper is Murs. IF you were trying to stereotype him you would call him an "everyday guy" rapper. He deals with topics such as pre mature ejaculation, falling in love with girls, girls breaking his heart, and walking through his neighborhood. He has much more of a range than I just gave him credit for however I like this song because I can really relate to it. It is about a perpetual screw-up who for whatever reason ends up "gang banging" and is still a clown...just a well protected one. Far too often tales from the hood project the image of stick-up kids, drug dealers, and bangers as naturals, when that is far from the case. I can think of a bunch of dudes from my youth who one day were being laughed off the ball court, or clowned for something else, a week or year later, they are ice grilling tough guys pumping on the block.
This particular joint is short, thoughtful, accurate and funny.
"Excuse me, Tiny T-Bone from the neighborhood gang Who if his head wasn't screwed on he would lose his brain"
Read while listening
Now there's one in hood off Pico or some shit Through the years its been the center for alotta dumb shit Lemme tell you about this one trip to the store On the early mornin' tip sometime 'round four I was standing by the magazines readin' a Maxim When I heard a familiar voice to the the counter dude and ask him To empty out the register (Naw that can't be Trevor) Excuse me, Tiny T-Bone from the neighborhood gang Who if his head wasn't screwed on would lose his brain He was with two other dudes, never knew their names I thought great, it was time for me to shake But as I headed for the door I heard a voice say (Wait) When I turned around, he recognized me and I knew it I was about to leave, that's when the nigga blew it He lifted up his mask and said (Hey Murs it's me Trevor) I said "You dumb motherfucker do you use your brain, ever?" Nevermind, I turned around gave the deuce walkin' to the car feelin like Q in Juice Remember when he went into the bar and ? let him loose? Anyway here comes this nigga running, big bag of money He hoped in ride, I said "You Goddamn dummy They Got Yo Ass on Tape" (But they didn't see my face) "Well they got my car and my fuckin license plate Man get the fuck on" (Murs why you gotta hate) "Hate nor love got shit to do with this You better run for the fives come through this bitch You know you got to strikes, you better use them new Nikes To dodge all them blue lights" He looked and said (You right) Then he bolted up the street once he left my slight I gave a sigh of relief But that was right before I peeped, this dumb motherfucker left the bag full of money sitting right there on my passenger seat
J DillaxCommon
Common matches the spirit of his lyrics and his flow to that of the beat in his songs. The first eight bars sound like being in a freestyle cypher. It's reminiscent of the feigning that happens before leaping into the swinging ropes of double dutch. Bobing and timing the rhythm of the rope hitting the ground before committing to air.
