Male Emotions.

Men generally aren't in touch with their feelings. This is in part due to growing up in a society that soft vulnerable. Giving credit to or praising another man seldom happens.
genderizes everything...including emotions. Rap is dominated by men, where refrains like "we don't love them h***" and money over b******" are commonplace. Most avoid anything that is has any possibility of coming across as "soft". The Drake-hate, and subsequent "hardcore"Drake bars are further evidence of this.
Kendrick Lamarr and J. Cole both went there on two different songs.

"Turn writers block to a block party..." -Radimiz

I came across this video around the same time I watched the first "2011 Best of Brooklyn" cypher. I watched this joint like multiple times smiling ear to ear the whole while. Somewhere under a random bridge in Brooklyn, these cats are the living spirit of Hip-Hop culture and music. The setting. The vibe. The rhymes. Everything.

"F@!% it, go stupid, get zooted do coon sh!t..."

"...we losing anyway might as well go out shootin."

Black Opera
Koon Sh!t

I was on my bike when this song came on my headphones and I had to stop for a sec because I didn't know what to make of it.  Koon Sh!t by Black Opera is a satire in the spirit of classic movie CB4. Based on the little bits of their other work Ive heard, this seems more of an experiment.

A really interesting one.

"Competition is none!" -Rakim

Competition has been long been part of Hip-Hop culture. The music of that culture is no different. From Rakim's No Competition, to I'm Still #1 by KRS-One, cats that felt like they were that deal, said so on the mic. Hell, even Nelly attempted to have his say on whose the best. That's why I was happy after hearing the Big Sean song, Control that featured Jay Electronica and Kendrick Lamar.

Vomitspit - Homeboy Sandman

Homeboy Sandman
I Do Whatever I Want
Chimera

"I don't bla bla on your bandwidth....
I ain't blathering what I brandish
I get the notion that these bastards
Type to be like 'put the lotion in the basket'

Angel from Elmhurst on his suspicion of the true nature of said blathering bla bla-ers.

On a separate note. How cool would a new CB4 right about now.

Come Back Like Jordan Wearin the 4-5 -Billy Woods

Billy Woods 
The Foreigner
History Will Absolve Me

"Eyes blank like plain clothes po-lice
Tell them to pick their own cotton!
This is professional football we don't run the option
Barry Sanders, who gives a fuck if niggas is blockin
Top of the key white as John Stockton"

Triple play with this sports reference. Despite the emergence of of athletic quarterbacks in the NFL over the last 5 years, the option play is rarely used. Quarterbacks are the most important players on the field, and defensive players in the NFL are just too big and to fast to risk getting your QB killed.

Though I was more of a Emmett guy,  Barry Sanders did more with less than any other running back I have ever seen. His offensive line was awful.

Thats what makes these sports metaphors work. They are based in an actual understanding of said sports.

The Stockton on the other hand pales in comparison to the other two.

"And since when we get so lenient?"

"...dudes got whole LPs of freein'
I Paid ten bucks for this CD 
And I better get something worth repeatin" 
-8THW1

Authentic Hip-Hop music is not played in the mainstream media.  Songs that are promoted and played are used as a tools by corporations and rappers to influence the minds of young people. Many listeners, old and young think that whats being played is the best the genre has to offer. This is problematic because the public gets a lesser product, and their is no diversity of the content. Not to mention it makes the music and culture look bad to the casual listener or viewer.

"But beef for what?"

Homeboy Sandman
Peace & Love
Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent

I just can't get enough of Homeboy Sandman these days. On Sunday, he's bringing his talents to the Bean. Can't wait!

Off his most recent album this track, Peace & Love, stands out for so many reasons.

"Off the Record" -Ka

I'm back on the record....

"I was donned with baggage...
All these psalms calmed my savage...
How I live was often hectic...
All this was off the record"

"I don't need her to do my dishes, I need her to do my stitches." -Homeboy Sandman

I'm not going to argue the artistic merits of a line about drugging and raping women. Rick Ross's song lyrics have been in the news lately, but bars like these aren't new news. Many rappers have penned similar lines. Art is art...I get it. 

This is different though. If this line was merely one among a wide range of Mr. Ross's pieces, which touched on a variety of topics and themes, then I'd possibly buy the art argument. Or if it were simply one intentionally used scene from a longer complex movie. However his catalog is not that varied -though he is talented enough for it to be. So I ain't buying it. 

Though the current climate of commerical Hip Hop music makes it difficult, I try to focus my energies on the good. Quality writing and flow are the most important thing. I'd prefer to allow the lyrics of his peers to serve as a counter narrative to the one that dominates the public's ear.

This will become a reoccurring post. Like all of the others, this title is also a nod to a line from a particular artist. This one is named after a Homeboy Sandman line from  The Rain from First of a Living Breed. The bars at the end of the first verse stand up well against the sea of sexist bars that flood the air waves. 

"Don't run with a dame cause a dame's fetching
We run with a dame cause her pro-fession is playing her po-sition  
Not talking about hoes or staying home in the kitchen
I'm talking about queens, homey those different, they roll for the whole mission
...My Mrs ain't sub-missive
A leader
I don't need her to do my dishes I need her to do my stitches"

Boy Sand taking bout' going all in here. Talking partnership in the truest sense. Comrades in the fight for social change in a crazy world. One that can leave you wounded. 

Double Dutch

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!

"What happened to the type of spit that used to help a fellow out?" -Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco
Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)  
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1

"....Manifested
Say that we should protest just to get arrested
That goes against all my hustling ethics
A bunch of jail niggas say its highly ineffective
Depart from Martin, connect on Malcolm X tip
Insert Baldwin the similar the separate..."

According to Mr Fiasco he sits squarely in between Civil Rights and Black Power. James Baldwin movement.

Vomitspit -Lego

Lego

Best of Brooklyn Cypher 2011

"I would encourage you to quit now, King, you wanna get crowned?

That'll never happen, like a 5th down

Mess with me you couldn't last into the 6th round

Feel the impact when you hit ground

And your girlfriend can get dicked down

I'm nastier than shit sound

(I apologize to the weak stomaches)

I'm risin up, you on a steep plummet

Look at the top from the bottom tryin reach from it screamin 'we commin'

There arent many things nastier than the sound of someone defecating. What a great line. It forces a image and sound into your mind. Quality emcees go to great depth to show or tell you how nasty/ill/dope their skills are.

Well done young man...well done.

These kind of rhymes are meant to be seen. Performed. Writing them does not do them justice.

He begins @ the :44 second mark.

Vomitspit - Billy Woods

Billy Woods
A Mis Enemigos
History Will Absolve Me

"When them other niggas jumped ship, we kept it Amistad
Still ended up in front of a white judge, praying to god"

Mr. Woods on the Middle Passage, African Diaspora, and what happened to those who couldn't... didn't jump ship. Well crafted.

"Come Back Like Jordan Wearin the 4-5" -Aaron Cohen

Aaron Cohen

Potential Fans

Aaron Cohen uses two strong sports references here.

"Girls backin down on D like...Gary Payton"

"Trying to get play from these twins like my name was Kirby Puckett

Wave a finger at you haters like Mutombo on the Nuggets"

Let's start with the first one.

The sexual reference not withstanding, it depends on what he means by "backing down" and "D".

Hall of Famer Gary Payton was one of the fiercest competitors in NBA history. He "backed down" to no one. Ask Mike.

A nine time defensive player of the year and the only point guard ever named Defensive Player of the year, The Glove would get into defensive position and lock down opposing players.

Additionally he was a skilled post player despite being a guard. He would often back down smaller and weaker guards into the post and score.

The Kirby Puckett/Twins part of the line was just, okay. Kirby did play for the Minnesota Twins. The Mutombo line is more nuanced however. Dikembe waved his finger at many 'haters" (offensive players) over his 18 year career. He is on record saying that he started in his last year as a Denver Nugget in 1996. Just three years later, while playing as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA banned him from wagging his finger at people as it was considered taunting. Deek continued to wag his finger after blocked shots, but this time he could only do so towards fans. This is why the who, and when in Mr Cohen's line are so important. Had he named any other of Dikembe's four NBA teams it would have been off. Unless of of course he said 'wag finger at fans' or something other than the opposition.

I love a good sports metaphor.

Fatt Father

After my recent post about Andre 3000 addressing fatherhood and my trip to Detroit, this post is a no brainier.

Just a blue collar, working dad trying to wear many hats.

Great rap name too.

Vomitspit - Blu

Blu

SpanishWinter

theGODleeBarnes

"So pardon if I'm coming off stealth

It's probably really hard for you to see me

Sea-weeds and we out floatin through the ocean no help

Puttin a genius in a bottle for a genie to read me

The President opened the message

It said don't push us, we close to the edges

...In red ink script to the edges

Thick from the blood that everyone of us shedded

And still aint none of us collected

Cuz niggas got their hands held to tight too accept it"

Blu on how dope he is, resilience of the people, and clinging on to prayer.

"...Anyway that's how I seen it...."

Unsettling. Disconcerting. I'm trying to find the words that describe how i felt after hearing I'm dead, by Scarface off of his debut solo album the Mr Scarface is Back.

Not sure what it us that made me have an emotional reaction to this track. Brad Jordan certainly was no stranger to dealing with morbid topics.

It may be the beat. It has a breezy vibe to it. Heavy D used it to brag about how attracted women were to him. And I'm certain The Meters didn't have death on their mind while crafting it. Other emcees might have chosen to use it as a backdrop for a more festive tale. Not Scarface.

"I’m sorry, just young and had to choose between you..."

"...and what the rest of the world might offer me, shit what would you do?" -Andre 3000

Single parents are universally celebrated for doing the work of two parents. The other parent, usually the father is ridiculed for being a "deadbeat". Many different factors lead to these situations. Most don't bother to think about the nuance of each situation. My mom used to tell the story of her dad going to the store for a bottle of milk one day and never returning home. Gone off for greener pastures perhaps. Could one really rationalize this decision?

Vomitspit - Willie The Kid

Willie The Kid 

Hickory Smoke

Never A Dull Moment

"Warfare like a Terracotta Soldier

Gun powder, Ticonderoga"

West Michigan's finest with an exquisite 'pencil-to-paper,words-as-a-weapon' simile. This kid has quite the skill set.  

Like I tell my students, Ticonderoga pencils get it done.