Fresh outta school cuz I was a high school grad..." Ice Cube

I remember playing this song over and over again in my headphones back in the day. The anger, energy, and frank nature of Cube's flow made it hit hard. Mix in his political leanings and hard beat and you had a classic song.





[Big Bird: Sesame Street]

Say, look at this, I've been cleaning out my nest
And I found an old book of my poetry

Fresh out of school 'cause I was a high school grad
Gots to get a job 'cuz I was a high school dad
Wish I got paid by rappin' to the nation
But that's not likely, so here's my application

Pass it to the man at AT&T
'Cuz when I was in school, I got the A.E.E.
But there's no S.C. for this youngsta
I didn't have no money, so now I gotta punch the clock
Gotta slaaave and be half a man 
But whitey says there's no room for the African
Always knew that I would clock G's
But welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order please?
Gotta serve ya food that might give you cancer
'Cuz my son doesn't take no for an answer
Now I pay taxes that you never give me back
What about diapers, bottles and Similac?
Do I have to sell me a whole lotta crack?
For decent shelter and clothes on my back?
Or should I just wait for help from Bush
Or Jesse Jackson and Operation Push?
If you ask me, the whole thing needs a douche 
A Massingill, what the hell crackers sell in the neighborhood?
To the corner house bitches
Miss Porker, Little Joe and Todd Bridges
Or anybody that he know
So I cop me a bird better known as a kilo
Now everybody know I went from po'
To a nigga that got dough
So now you put the Feds against me
'Cause I couldn't follow the plan of the presidency
I'm never gettin love again
But blacks are too fuckin' broke to be republican
Now I remember, I used to be cool
Till I stopped fillin' out my W-2
Now senators are gettin' hired
And your plan against the ghetto backfired
So now you got a pep talk
But sorry, this is our only room to walk
'Cause we don't want a drug push
But a bird in the hand is worth more than a Bush

Tell the politicians, the hustlers
Live and let live, yeah
Tell the politicians, the hustlers
Live and let live, yeah

I used to love H.E.R.

It's kind of ironic that my last post about Murs was titled with a line from Common's iconic track I 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...

"When I'm shooting let's see who drop...

...the police, media and suckas that went Pop" - Ice Cube

Ice Cube's first solo album was absolutely incredible. It took all of the attitude and anger of the NWA projects and added social consciousness and more in-depth political and social commentary. All of that with a palate of the frenzied sound of Public Enemy's production team, the Bomb Squad, and you had the recipe for a classic LP.