"When I come back like Jordan wearing the four five...

it ain to play games witchu..." Jay-Z

Alright that quote is not related to the post in any way but M.J. is heading to the hall of fame and I am a little emotional about it.

Anyway, It is en vogue for a lot of rappers to brag about how easy spitting lyrics comes to them. The problem is, that for many of them, the only "easy" part is how simple it would be to write some of the half-baked garbage rhymes they spit.

But when I think about rappers whos flow seemed to fit into the easy category the first name I think about is Big Pun.

flow Pun's flow seemed almost effortless. Regardless of the beat, slow or fast, pop or gutter, Pun seemed to ride that shit with no problem. As evidenced by the countless number of imitators after him, many have attempted to replicate his exploits with limited success. Many of them simply seem to be trying to "force" their rapid flow into a small space.

This is a typical Pun rhyme in terms of content, however, in addition to his liquid flow, what stands out to me is the company he is keeping. Shining on a D.I.T.C track with these heavyweights is no small feat.

"...I got a story to tell" - the Notorious B.I.G.

This most recent entry of 'got a story' is unique in the sense that the entire narrative is set with the main character is not quite yet a full living and breathing being.

Back in 99' heads was anxiously waiting for the release of Nas’ third album, I Am. Rumor was that It was supposed to be a double album until most of songs leaked onto the web, consequently sending Nas back to the studio to record new songs so the now, single CD would have fresh material.

One of the stand out joints from those series of leaks was Fetus (Belly Button Window). This was later released on The Lost Tapes however it had a slightly different beat arrangement and a few of the bars from the first verse were different. The original was more raw and way better.

"...a Patriotic tomboy, like Mary-Ellen from The Waltons" - The Gza/Genius

Me and my man B Lee used to call the time between after the NBA playoffs end, and the NFL season begins, the "dead zone", cuz there wasn't shit to do or watch. Baseball is cool but it doesn't heat up till October, and lets face it, football is the greatest game ever invented. Of course by football I mean real, American football (no disambiguation).

With the triumphant return of the

Jesus i

n the flesh Tom Brady, I have been slowly getting into my gridiron mode.

This reminded me of a joint that the GZA did from the DJ Muggs vs GZA album. The album itself was crazy underrated and featured heat from both the producer as well as the lyricist. However the track I am speaking of is written in the mold of GZA's other "concept" tracks where he selects a topic and spits elements that fit under that topics umbrella (see Labels, Animal Planet, Publicity, etc). This song in particular however tapped into my primal love of the game of football.

"You don't even know your english, your verbs your nouns..." - Run DMC

As teacher I am a real stickler with my students about the structure of the stories they write. I try to impose upon them that you must first master the fundamentals and structures of writing before venturing off into free form. Master the rules, and then break them.

Hip-Hop lyrics are far from being locked-in by rules however there are times when rappers use some basic, elementary story structures when putting rhymes together.

While listening to newcomer J Cole's recent mixtape The Warm Up, I noticed some intentional use of such structures. The song Lights Please is an introspective look at the sexual dynamics in male/female relationships. The vehicle he uses for his imagery is two verse (scenes) where he is trying to put the girl up on some knowledge and all she wants to do is smash, then...

"All of that deep shit I was previously down for/ replaced by freak shit I am currently down for"

"If skills sold, truth be told..." - Jay-Z

Sean Carter was dope from the beginning. Further, he is dope regardless of what he is rhyming about. His how, is strong enough to overcome his what, most of the time. I feel like I need to state that so that my subsequent comments are not interpreted as as me insinuating anything to the contrary. But the reality is that Jay-Z spent several years providing listeners with less than his best and most creative effort lyrically. Picture Michael Jordan subbing himself out of an important basketball game to save energy. What would the response be if Derek Jeter didn't run out ground balls to first base? Exactly. I mean, its cool to mail it in if you are simply incapable of penning anything worth a damn, but this is Hov!

Eventually, Jay began to hear and respond to the criticisms with a line or two, here and there on mixtapes and albums:

"...I mean the average fan never heard of a Goodie Mob or a Cee-lo...

but they heard of Gnarls Barkley..." Joe Budden - Who Killed Hip-Hop

It's not everyday you hear Andre 3000 out shined on a track yet that is exactly what happened on Outkast's debut album back in 94'.

Wow, it seems just like yesterday, after picking up my man Dion we would drive around dropping off resumes and applications all over the place. Shortly there after we'd cop a bottle of bumpy face and stop by the Garcia Vega spot and, well...yeah.

After being blessed by the herbs essence, the real magic happened when we'd skip to track number 12, Git up, Get Out, featuring the Goodie Mob.

The first to bless the mic was this charismatic, high pitched, drawl filled, lyrical flame thrower by the name of Cee-Lo Green. While the entire crew did the hook, he stood out above the fray on the matter of fact lyrics.

"Nigga, you need to git up, git out and git somethin
Don't let the days of your life pass by
You need to git up, git out and git somethin
Don't spend all your time tryin to get high

You need git up, git out and git somethin
How will you make it if you never even try?

You need to git up, git out and git somethin
Cuz you and I got to do for you and I"

His vocal pitch, flow and delivery alone were enough to stop us in our tracks.

From a content standpoint, the rhyme spun a realistic tale of a struggling artist dealing with the various obstacles that come along with attempting to get his career jumped off. It also can be interpreted as the familiar tale of a young man cauaught up in the post high school malaise trying to find support and direction.

Make no mistake this is no, woah -is-me-I-can't catch-a-break type of track. Cee-lo is truly reflective and candid about the short coming of the character in the rhyme. Later in the verse he gets into a personal back-and-forth with the aunt he is living with and makes for some lively debate.

This verse, and Cee-Lo, will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was deep, honest and inspiring music. That motivated Dion and I too hand out more applications and make fewer trips to the Garica Vega spot.

"I want a girl when I want a girl...

...and when I don't want a girl I want a girl who understands that" - Phonte of Little Brother

So...It is no secret that I am a sucker for reflective and emotional music in general. I am also in the tank for MCs that show some level of introspection on their tracks. Which is on of several reasons why I am a big fan of Phone from (or formerly of?) North Carolina trio, Little Brother.

"uh, uh, uh, all over the track and, uh pardon me, uh, as I come back" - Busta Rhymes

So....I swore to myself that I would make it a point not to do music reviews on my blog. I and I will hold true to that. However I listen to a shit-ton of music throughout the week, some great, most mediocre, a lot of it trash.

Sometimes, I am scarred by the experience and quickly need to hear or watch something new to rid my memory of the experience.

That being said, I recently gave two, full, quality listens to Busta Rhymes' new album, Back on my BS, and.... yeah (sigh).

"You can find me in the club..." 50 Cent

So, I'm cool with songs about a night out in the club. I am equally okay with songs by men talking about all of the women that they "meet" at the club. Hell, you could write rhymes about buckets of piss for all I care, so long as you do it right. And by "right," of course, I mean with thought, effort and skill.

Lupe Fiasco did just that on his song Sunshine from his Food & Liquor album. The Chicagoan begins by fleshing out the awkward nature of approaching a woman "up in tha club" and how chasing chics is usually not his thing.

During the second verse they step outside, now less nervous, they chop it up a bit and he begins to spit game;