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.
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!
