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.

"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 - Andre 3000

Sleepy Brown feat. Outkast
I Can't Wait - 















"That just lets me know your a human being 
And being humans hard, on the boulevard..."

"VALUE, is what I'm talkin bout..." - Andre 3000

My Grandaddy Car by Scotty is a nice laid back, drive 15 MPH around the neighborhood song. But that's not all it is.

It's a statement of deference to a different period of time. Scotty simultaneously salutes his grandfather, while paying homage to classic American craftsmanship in automobiles. His measured flow does not temper his passionate delivery on both topics.

Nice song. Solid video. Wonderful concept.

"I prayed so much about it need some knee, pads..." - Andre 3000

Those that consider themselves hip-hop music purists tend to embrace songs and artists that are not mainstream and underground. Conversely we tend to prematurely dismiss songs or artists that are thought to be, or become to "pop". Sometimes it's done unintentional, the sheer number you hear a song played on a radio you either fall in love with it and don't know why, or you summarily dismiss it due to sheer overkill.

There are times however when a deft lyrical joust gets overlooked because of the popularity a song attains, and that is definite the case with Andre 3000 verse on Ms Jackson.

Kast takes on the topic of fatherless children on this 2001 hit. However they provide a frequently ignored, and often marginalized fathers point of view. Both these lyrical swordsman cut the track up as usual, however Dre's verse stood out a bit more, which is also pretty typical. The song is supposed to be about Erykah Badu's mom however he does address other issues that can be applied more broadly.

Me and you daughter

Got a special thing going on

You say it's puppy love

We say it's full grown

Hope that we feel this

Feel this way forever

You can plan a pretty picnic

But you can't predict the weather, Ms. Jackson

Ten times out of nine, now if I'm blind fine

The quickest muzzle throw it on my mouth and I'll decline

King meets queen, then the puppy love thing, together dream

Bout that crib with the Goodyear swing

On the oak tree, I hope we feel like this forever

Forever, forever, ever, forever, ever?

Forever never seems that long until your grown

And notice that the day by day rule can't be too long

Ms. Jackson my intentions were good I wish I could

Become a magician to abracadabra off to Sata

Thoughts of me, thoughts of she, thoughts of he

Askin what happened to the feelin that her and me

Had, I pray so much about it need some knee, pads

It happened for a reason one can't be, mad

So just know that everything is cool

Yes I will be present on the first day of school, and graduation

"...My uncles doin' life inside prison he wasn't wrapped to tight he told me 'rap about life not rap niggas'" - Kendrick Lamar

Simply put, Andre Benjamin is one of the best to ever do it. The upcoming illustrates how easily can can flip vocab, concepts, and content. All on top of an a plus delivery. Not many rappers can rap dialogue between characters quite like Dre.

So I'm watchin' her fine ass
Walk to my bedroom, and thought to myself
That's the shape of things to come

 Double meaning on the come? Perhaps, but regardless Dre is always nuanced with his raps about "relations"

She said, Why you in the club, you don't make it precipitate?
You know, make it rain when you can make it thunderstorm

This is like a softball pitch for him. Why, despite being in a position to do so, does he not celebrate his wealth by showing off...he goes on to explain why...in great depth

I'm like, Why?
The world needs sun
The hood needs funds
There's a war going on and half the battle is guns
How dare I throw it on the floor
When people are poor
So I write like Edgar Allen to restore

In order to further his point he illustrates the need for more uplifting writing than for more negativity.

got a cord-
Umbilical attached to a place that can't afford
No landscaping, Or window draping
This old lady told me,
If I ain't got nothin' good, say nathin
That's why I don't talk much
I swear it don't cost much, to pay attention to me
I tell like it is, and I tell it how it could be
 He freaks the track even further discussing the literal and figurative ties that he has to the hood and sees it as a waste of time to use the microphone in a careless manner. Even evoking the words of elders to support his position (If you don't have anything good to say, then don't say anything at all). He'd rather tell it how it is and tell it how it could be.


The hood be

Requesting my services, Oh don't get nervous it's

Step yo game up time, These ain't them same old rhymes

Designed to have you dancin' in some club

****** write to me

Woman be off up in they tub

 Exfoliating  with they pom poms

Yellin' GO 3000!

I'm in my whatever bumpin' Nwa (N.W.A.)

A 100 miles in

Runnin' Runnin' Runnin' Runnin'

Summon

Woman

Come in

Sit down, heard you need some plumbing

Done in

I'm in

A swell mood

A rather swoll mood

Until she told me that she told dude

That she'll be back, she's going to the store

I didn't know she had a boyfriend, so the door

I pointed her to

I said, Call me when ya'll break up

I don't f**k nobody *****

And never on the Jacob, know what time it is

 Even when he is doing classic braggadocio and sexual prowess rap, Dre always seems to take a moral high ground. Here he criticizes a girl for attempting to seduce him despite having a partner at home.

[Andre 3000:]

So I'm watchin' her fine ass
Walk to my bedroom, and thought to myself
That's the shape of things to come
She said, Why you in the club, you don't make it precipitate?
You know, make it rain when you can make it thunderstorm
I'm like, Why?
The world needs sun
The hood needs funds
There's a war going on and half the battle is guns
How dare I throw it on the floor
When people are poor
So I write like Edgar Allen to restore, got a cord-
Umbilical attached to a place that can't afford
No landscaping, Or window draping
This old lady told me,
If I ain't got nothin' good, say nathin
That's why I don't talk much
I swear it don't cost much, to pay attention to me
I tell like it is, and I tell it how it could be
The hood be
Requesting my services, Oh don't get nervous it's
Step yo game up time, These ain't them same old rhymes
Designed to have you dancin' in some club
****** write to me
Woman be off up in they tub
Exfoliating with they pom poms

Yellin' GO 3000!
I'm in my whatever bumpin' Nwa (N.W.A.)
A 100 miles in
Runnin' Runnin' Runnin' Runnin'
Summon
Woman
Come in
Sit down, heard you need some plumbing
Done in
I'm in
A swell mood
A rather swoll mood
Until she told me that she told dude
That she'll be back, she's going to the store
I didn't know she had a boyfriend, so the door
I pointed her to
I said, Call me when ya'll break up
I don't f**k nobody *****
And never on the Jacob, know what time it is
***** just tryin' to live
Like a ***** supposed to live
If I still drank that malt liquor
I pour the beer
On the ground for ****** not around
I started off starvin'
Now they got me out here Brett Farve'n
Trynna see if I still got it... (got it...)
I guess it's like a fight think about it...
(oh oh oh no no)
..bout it...bout it... (oh oh oh no no)
oh oh oh....

So, I typed a text to this girl that I used to see... - Andre 3000

I am no stranger to wedding songs of all type. Having been the musical "go-to-guy" for a number of friends wedding needs I feel that I have a nice balnace of joints to go with.

International Players is not a wedding song (at least UGK didn't intend it to be) however after being bookended by one of the greatest hip-hop duos ever, it quickly became one.

Big Boi brings in the last leg of this lyrical relay with his typical cautionary tale of men who fail to pull out,  and i'll intentioned women...

"Better prepare you for the C-Support 

She supposed to spend it on that baby but we see she dont 

(Chopped & Screwed) 

Ask ask Paul McCartney the lawyers couldn't stop the 

Slaughter slaughter of them pockets, had to tie her to a rocket 

Send her into outer space, I know he wish he could 

Cause he payin 20K a day, that b****is eating good 

Like an infant on a double D titty just getting plump 

Cause he miscalculated the next to the last pump 

(Chopped & Screwed) 

Dump dump in the gut, raw from the giddy up 

Better chose the right one or pick pick the kiddies up"

Smack dab in the middle of this banger you have legends doing what they do, and at a very high level. Pimp C at his graphic best and Bun B with the narrative.

Bating leadoff was Andre 3000. Who by the way is likely the only MC on the planet who could spit a heartfelt, honest introspection about the nature of man, and marriage, type of verse work on a dope song about pimping hoe's and make it work.

He begins flexing his multimedia muscles with the integration of technology (I love the CC'd line..Carbon Copy email FTW!)

So, I typed a text to a girl I used to see 

Sayin that I chose this cutie pie with whom I wanna be 

And, I apologize if this message gets you down 

Then I CC'd every girl that I'd see see round town

He follows by staying that while he is taking the plunge into marriage, he is not exactly the only one to have made the decision to leave behind a lifestyle were he had access to lots of single women...

Wetness all around me, true, but I'm no island 

Peninsula maybe, makes no sense I know, crazy 

Give up all this pussy cat thats in my lap no lookin back 

Next he he makes it clear that he is not the type of guy to live with regrets and will not look back...

Spaceships dont come equipped with rearview mirrors 

They dip as quick as they can 

The atmosphere is now ripped 

After a slight Gladys Knight and the Pips line he continued with the launch into space theme with a nice a metaphor a bout child birth and an allusion to slave or African or Gypsy (depending on who you speak to wedding traditions...
When I shoot the moon high, jump the broom 

Like a premie out the womb 

He concludes with the words of a concerned friend who initialy urges him not to do it, then ausres him that he will be there for him should she run afoul. Lastly he leaves him with parting words about not getting too, too involved baecause women are dangerous.

My partner yellin "Too soon! Dont do it! Reconsider! 

Read some litera - ture on the subject 

You sure? F*** it 

You know we got your back like chiroprac - tic 

If that b**** do you dirty 

we'll wipe her a** out and send detergent 

Now hurry hurry, go on to the altar 

I know you aint a pimp but pimp remember what I taught ya 

Keep your heart 3 stacks, keep your heart 

Aye, keep your heart 3 stacks, keep your heart 

Man, these girls is smart, 3 stacks, these girls is smart 

Play your part 

Play your part" 


Great song...from beginning to end. UGK, Outkast compliment each other so well...some of the best to everdo it...just a perfect marriage on a track.


RIP Pimp C...

Read While listening.....!

(Andre 3000 with "I choose you babe!" in the back) 

So, I typed a text to a girl I used to see 

Sayin that I chose this cutie pie with whom I wanna be 

And, I apologize if this message gets you down 

Then I CC'd every girl that I'd see see round town and 

I hate to see y'all frown but I'd rather see her smiling 

Wetness all around me, true, but I'm no island 

Peninsula maybe, makes no sense I know, crazy 

Give up all this pussy cat thats in my lap no lookin back 

Spaceships dont come equipped with rearview mirrors 

They dip as quick as they can 

The atmosphere is now ripped 

Im so like a Pip, Im glad its night (Gladys Knight and the Pips)

So the light from the sun would not burn me on my bum 

When I shoot the moon high, jump the broom 

Like a premie out the womb 

My partner yellin "Too soon! Dont do it! Reconsider! 

Read some litera - ture on the subject 

You sure? F*** it 

You know we got your back like chiroprac - tic 

If that b**** do you dirty 

we'll wipe her a** out and send detergent 

Now hurry hurry, go on to the altar 

I know you aint a pimp but pimp remember what I taught ya 

Keep your heart 3 stacks, keep your heart 

Aye, keep your heart 3 stacks, keep your heart 

Man, these girls is smart, 3 stacks, these girls is smart 

Play your part 

Play your part" 

(Pimp C) 

Sweet jones 

My b**** a choosey lover, never f*** without a rubber 

Never in the sheets, like it on top of the cover 

Money on the dresser, drive a compressor 

Top notch hoes get the most, not the lesser 

Trash like to fuck for 40 dollars in the club 

f***** up the game, b**** you gets no love 

She be cross country givin all that she got 

A thousand a pop, Im pullin Bentleys off the lot 

I smashed up the grey one, bought me a red 

Every time we hit the parking lot we turn heads 

Some hoes wanna choose but them b****es too scary 

Your b**** chose me, you aint a pimp you a fairy 

Ooooooohhh Ooooooohhh 

I choose you girl 

(Bun B) 

Baby you been rollin solo, time to get down with the team 

The grass greener on that other side if you know what I mean 

I'll show you shit you've never seen 

The 7 wonders of the world 

And I can make you the 8th if you wanna be my girl 

When I say my girl I don't mean my woman, that aint my style 

Need a real street stalker to walk a green mile 

We pilin up the paper on the dining room table 

Cause you able to realize I'm the truth and not a fable 

We rockin precious sable, keep that chilla on the rack 

What I look like with some thousand dollar shit up on my back 

Im a million dollar mack, need a billion dollar b**** 

Put my pimpin in your life, watch your daddy get rich 

Easy as A B C, simple as 1 2 3 

Get down with UGK, Pimp C  B U N B 

Cause whats a hoe with no pimp, and whats a pimp with no hoe 

Dont be a lame, you know the game and how it goes 

We tryin to get chose 

OOOooooohhh Ooooooohhh 

I choose you girl 

(Big Boi) 

Eeny mini decisions with precision I pick 

Or make my selection on who I choose to be with 

Girl dont touch my protection, I know you want it to slip 

But slippin is something I dont do, tippin for life? (Mmm mmm!) 

Thats like makin it rain 

Every month on schedule (mmmHhmm!) Let me tell you 

Get your parasol umbrella cause its gonna get wetter 

Better prepare you for the C-Support 

She supposed to spend it on that baby but we see she dont 

(Chopped & Screwed) 

Ask ask Paul McCartney the lawyers couldn't stop the 

Slaughter slaughter of them pockets, had to tie her to a rocket 

Send her into outer space, I know he wish he could 

Cause he payin 20K a day, that b****is eating good 

Like an infant on a double D titty just getting plump 

Cause he miscalculated the next to the last pump 

(Chopped & Screwed) 

Dump dump in the gut, raw from the giddy up 

Better chose the right one or pick pick the kiddies up 

Ooooohhhhh Ooooooohhh 

I chose you girl 

IIIIiiii 

I chose you baby

Sin, all depends, on what you believing in, faith is what you make it...

that's the hardest shit since MC Ren..." Andre 3000

I'm not too sure if posting links to other blogger's posts is kosher or not but I feel I have to. The folks over at the t.r.o.y blog have put together a little something for one of the all time under appreciated MCs'

"MC Ren controlls the automatic, for any dumb motherf--r, that wants static..." - MC Ren of N.W.A.

BTW, Dre and Big Boi really went in on this track...

"...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.