Jay-Z - This Can't Be Life (2000)

See, I was born in sewage, born to make bomb music
Flow tight like I was born Jewish
Used the streets as a conduit
I kept arms --38 Longs-- inside my mom's Buick
At any given moment Shawn could lose it, be on the news
Iron cuffs, arms through it -- or stuffed with embalming fluid
Shit, I'm going through it; Mom Dukes, too
Tears streaming down her pretty face; she got her palms to it
My life is gettin' too wild
I need to bring some sort calm to it

Thematically, The Blueprint marked a turning point for Hov. Which makes sense  -- at some point you have to decide: you can either continue rapping about dealing drugs or you can do stuff like this. Not both... at least not with any credibility.

This song isn't from The Blueprint, but it's a fitting send-off to all the dark days in Jay-Z's previous life.

Jay-Z - Where I'm From (1997)

I'm from the place where the church is the flakiest
And n-ggas been praying to God so long that they atheist
Where you can't put your vest away and say you'll wear it tomorrow
Cause the day after we'll be saying, "Damn, I was just with him yesterday"
I'm a block away from hell, not enough shots away from stray shells
...
Where we call the cops the A-Team
Cause they hop out of vans and spray things
And life expectancy so low we making out wills at eighteen
Where how you get rid of guys who step out of line, your rep solidifies
So tell me, when I rap, you think I give a fuck who criticize?
If the shit is lies, God strike me
And I got a question: are you forgiving guys who live just like me?

Jay's second release, In My Lifetime, was criticized by some critics for embracing a more commercial sound (see, e.g., Sunshine), but his street sensibilities still shone through. As vivid as it is bleak, Where I'm From stands out as one of Hov's grimiest tracks ever.

Jay-Z - Regrets (1996)

As sure as this, Earth is turning, souls burning
In search of higher learning
Turning in every direction, seeking direction
My mom's crying because her insides are dying
Her son trying her patience, keep her heart racing
A million beats a minute, I know I push you to your limit
But it's this game, love, I'm caught up all in it
They make it so you can't prevent it
Never give it, you gotta take it
Can't fake it, I keep it authentic
My hand got this pistol shaking, cause I sense danger
Like Camp Crystal Lake and
Don't wanna shoot him, but I got him trapped
Within this infrared dot, about to hot him and hit rock bottom
No answers to these trick questions, no time shit's stressing
My life found, I got to live for the right now
Time waits for no man, can't turn back the hands
Once it's too late, gotta learn to live with regrets

Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt (without a doubt one of the greatest rap records of all time) is often credited for popularizing so-called Mafioso rap (wherein the artist dons --pun intended-- the persona of a mob boss).  And while there are more than a few moments where Jay-Z glamorizes that lifestyle (see, e.g., Can't Knock the Hustle, Cashmere Thoughts and, to a lesser extent, Can I Live?), he doesn't shy away from meditating on the dark side, as well.

This is the number one rule for your set
In order to survive got to learn to live with regrets
On the rise to the top many drop, don't forget
In order to survive got to learn to live with regrets

Rap Retrospective - Jay-Z

Over the next couple of days, I'm going to go through the Jay-Z catalog and highlight some of his most lyrically impressive and meaningful tracks, while doing my best to avoid the most obvious and well-known songs.  Enjoy!

Rap Retrospectives

For the next 10-14 days (I haven't decided yet), I'm going to be posting a series of retrospectives on a few of my favorite artists. Stay tuned!

B.o.B. - Strange Clouds

Well if you guessin' it's me, you guessed correctly
I just stay with a stallion, you would swear I was an equestrian
And um, I'mma hit her with that pipe, call that Nancy Kerrigan
Stay on the greenest greens, call us vegetarians
You be on that minor league, but we smoke professionally
I do my job exceptionally, on point like a decimal is

Lest I be accused of catering exclusively to the backpack crowd, here's a mainstream banger from North Carolina rapper B.o.B. This is a surprisingly hard track, considering it's by the same dude that did the syrupy Nothin' on You (not to mention the insufferable Airplanes).

J-Live - No Time To Waste

Be not just said but heard, not just heard but seen
Not just seen but felt, behind your "nah means"
Be substance, beyond your "um, like, ya knows"
Let's see your wise words form this constant flow
Be proof at the show, show proof of life
Captivate minds, eliminate strife
Decimate the trife like check but not mate
Real kings move with ease; we block, move and take
The best food for thought; we grill like the Foreman
Build, upon blueprints, designs endurin'

While this track sounds distinctively old school, its message couldn't be more timely.  These days, it apparently doesn't go without saying that rappers are supposed to be skilled, creative lyricists. J-Live pushes back, with a track that sounds more like a religious edict than a rap song. His only commandment?  Step your game up.

This isn't a requiem for hip hop; it's a call to arms. J-Live isn't calling for idle remembrance; he's calling for a renaissance.

Plots to destroy your culture, give orders
See the self hate and doubt get deported
Beyond your borders, belay the orders
Delays and setbacks get drawn and quartered
Teach the lambs to repel that slaughter
Teach the horses to drink that water
Teach to build or destroy like mortar
And like muscle tissues get torn
Let's grow from these lessons stronger than before

Jay Rock - M.O.N.E.Y.

Motivated by money
Money is mesmerizing
Many are murdered for it
While mayhem is exercising
Mighty as Morpheus
And it might pay your mortgages
Plus the morgue got some more of it
That embalming fluid merges through your muscles
...
Operation for evil, it's obvious for attack
Obedience is a must, but it's hard to obey
When your optics ain't seeing no opportunities pay

I'll admit it: I'm not really feelin' the R&B-heavy production here. But lyrically, this song is a tour de force. We've all heard that money is the root of all evil; if you needed any convincing, Jay Rock'll explain it to you in uncompromisingly gritty (not to mention alliterative) detail.

Okay, you might not often find yourself in the mood to listen to a track this dark, but you have to admire Jay Rock's exemplary wordplay.

Phonte - The Good Fight

I know it's not sane, but yo, I'm just sayin'
Everybody prays for the day they see the light
But the light at the end of the tunnel is a train
Five dollar gas, and poverty rates
Are rising much higher than your hourly rates
So if you thinkin' 'bout quittin' you should probably wait
'Cause everybody gotta do a fuckin' job that they hate
"Go and live out your dreams!"
That's what they tellin'
Fam' in my ear all day and they yellin':
"Keep it real 'Te, and don't ever sell out!"
But how the fuck you sell out when ain't nobody sellin'?

Far from inspiring, but undeniably real.

Lil Wayne - Mega Man

Young Money, man, we got this shit by a landslide
Boy, I send them bloods at your ass like a tampon
Uptown shit, wet the whole party
Weezy gon' ball, ball like Steve Harvey
The heater I'm a tuck her, Tucker like Dolores
That's my word, word like thesaurus
I don't see no future in your frontin', I be stuntin' hard
Rap game dependent on me like a bungee cord
Fear nobody but God almighty
Shoot that motherfucker 'til I get arthritis
I'm a beast, I'm a ass, I'm ahead of my class
I'm a diamond in the rough like a baby in the trash
I don't talk it, I live it, I paint a picture vivid
And them pistols popping like they sitting in a skillet

This ain't 6 Foot 7 Foot, but it does give a taste of what makes Wayne an exhilarating listen: frenetic, free-association rhymes; bizarre, outrageous metaphors; and an extraterrestrial-frogman voice that sounds just a little unbalanced.

At the risk of overstating things, Lil Wayne might just save mainstream hip hop. It's not just that he was breath of fresh air at a time when the industry had become stagnant. If you look at the arc of his career, the more lyrical (and, let's face it, weird) he got, the more popular he became. That's something I'm sure other rappers noticed. Let's hope they act on it.

Evidence - You

Players don't die, we try our luck at other tables
And when I lose, I learn, I'm still winning major
I jump forward then back and through the missin' stages
A perfect day to make a perfect entrance
A perfect sentence? I can't perfect, but
I just keep pushing pencils, no fake trace stencils
Do it all by hand so they have respect

This new track from the Dilated Peoples frontman isn't groundbreaking, but it does feature some smart, well-crafted lyrics and more than a few slick turns of phrase.  Overall, a solid track.

Tyler the Creator - Yonkers

I'm clocking three past six and going postal
This the revenge of the dicks
That's nine cocks that cock nines
This ain't no V-Tech shit or Columbine
But after bowling, I went home for some damn Adventure Time
I slipped myself some pink Xannies
And danced around the house in all-over print panties
...
I'm an overachiever, so how about I start a team of leaders
And pick up Stevie Wonder to be the wide receiver?
Green paper, gold teeth and pregnant golden retrievers -- all I want
Fuck money, diamonds and bitches -- don't need them

I know that this song is a significant departure, thematically, from most of the songs I've posted here.  But conscious rappers don't have a monopoly on lyricism. You can find poetry in the pure as well as the profane.

This isn't the most offensive, violent or weird song from Tyler the Creator and his erstwhile obscure rap collective Odd Future (it is a lot more, uh, accessible than some of the others, though). Obviously, this kind of music is not for everyone. I'm not even sure it's for me. But it is at least interesting... which is a lot more than I can say for most of what they play on the radio.

Ski Beats (ft. Mos Def) - Cream of the Planet

The mind's so powerful
It ain't long for your dreams
It's surrounding you
Caution, caution
Careful, careful
A whole lotta fun but it ain't that simple
The mathmatic, Asiatic, black magic
Rap captains stay active, free captives
Baby, what's happenin?
Listen, life is fantastic
Beautiful and tragic
Plain, classic
Long as I'm alive I'mma never stop rappin'
It's honest work for honest bastards
Made in Manhattan, raised outta Brooklyn
It ain't shit that you can do but keep looking
Shook, cause they all crooks
My hands keep clean even off the books

Like sipping a martini, listening to this song instills a sense of tranquility. Something about the effortless flow and the impossibly chill beat makes me feel like I shouldn't even sing along. So I just listen; even after it's over, I sit for a moment, in silence... 

Masta Ace - I Refuse

Y'all can hear me now; yeah, I know you could
And confidence rings through when you know you're good
And greatness is defined by the length of time
That one man can stand with the strength of nine
And smile into the face of adversity
And then say this ain't as bad as the worst can be
That's when you know you're the cream of the crop
Way back when you was young, you would dream of the top
Schemin', scopin', hopin'
Knowin' that a lane is open
'Cause when you're forced to eat your words
That's the same as chokin'
So you strive to set the bar higher
Intoxicatin' heat -- hotter than a car fire
And when the rubber meet the road
Like a car tire
You'll be on top, and sharper than barbed wire

Be confident. Keep your skills sharp. And always stay hungry. Platitudinous? Perhaps. But Masta Ace makes it sound so profound.

And yes, my excerpts are usually shorter, but paring down this poetry was just too tall a task.  Enjoy!

De La Soul - Oodles of Os

Oodles and oodles of O's, you know
You get 'em from my sister
You get 'em from my bro
All I is is man, and once an embryo
Am I solid gold? I don't cast a glow
Yes, I guess it's reflex
Some have no control
I'd rather let a laughter
And tally, off I go
Canoeing up the river or out into the O
You just know we're not
So not play the role 

Here's another old school track for you.

I confess I have no idea what this song is about, but art needn't be understood to be enjoyed. What I do know is that the lighthearted wordplay and overall goofiness make the song fun to listen to.  It reminds me of how De La Soul later criticized gangsta rap for being joyless (among other things).  While I think gangsta rap has a lot of offer in its own right, suffice it to say that they don't really make rap quite like this any more.

Xzibit - The Foundation

Realize you can only run the streets so long
Then the streets run you -- into the ground, then gone
It's kinda rough trying to teach you what's right from wrong
Same shit different day
It's the same ol' song
If the time ever comes that I meet my match
Take control of my assets
Fuck startin' from scratch

I've been posting a lot of new releases lately, so today I'm takin' it back to the old school.  Xzibit has never been a particularly cerebral rapper, but good rap needn't be intellectually inaccessible.  There's not much to say about this track; it's father-son advice in song-form.  And although it's tinted by gangsta sensibilities, the song is, honestly, kind of touching.

You are the foundation
Beginning of a new generation
I remember hospital hallway pacin'
I was anxious as fuck to see your face shine
Only to find that yours looked like mine
So it's like I'm livin' twice at the exact same time

Talib Kweli - So Low

I always speak for the struggle
My people still hurting
I'm a name brand, I'm a product
But still a real person
I'm still flirting with death
Although I'm still certain
About my commitments in life
Although I'm still searching
I better find a way
If not, I better make a path
One thats seldom traveled by the masses

Few names are more closely associated with meaningful, intelligent hip hop than Talib Kweli's. And while he may occasionally celebrate that status by writing an self-indulgent, self-congratulatory boast track, So Low shows that he isn't afraid to wax introspective about his role as an artist.

I talk it how I live it
Yet I'm still considered
A walking contradiction
Cause I'm breaking out
Of your artistic prison, listen
I got my own demons
What I'm supposed to do with yours?
Times like this, I gotta remind myself what I do it for
People I knew before celebrity swear they see the change in me
I tell 'em change is God, you gotta let it be

There is a tendency to treat our favorite artists like vending machines, but it's worth considering that: (a) they are still human beings; and (b) constantly having to live up to the expectations of fans can be a burden.

Murs - Remember 2 Forget

I keep forgetting to remember to forget
All the lies and all the bullshit
All the reasons that we had to call it quits
Pieces to our puzzle that never seemed to fit
Started out fast and ended so quick
For weeks on end I was so sick
So the next time I start to reminisce
Remind me to remember to forget

Noted without comment.

The Roots - Dear God 2.0

All I'm trying to do is live life to the fullest
They sent my daddy to you in a barrage of bullets
Why is the world ugly when you made it in your image?
And why is livin' life such a fight to the finish?

Since time immemorial, those who believe in a benevolent god have struggled to understand what C.S. Lewis called the "Problem of Pain." That is -- if a loving and all-powerful entity really is guiding our every move, why is our world so wracked by war? Why is life so often unjust and unfair? Why do we suffer?

Acid rain, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis
Terrorists, crime sprees, assaults and robberies
...
Endangered species and we runnin' out of trees
If I could hold the world in the palm of these hands
I would probably do away with these anomalies

Why aren't things... better?

Pharoahe Monch - Evolve

Extinguish the sun when I drew
Play pool with the planets
We are renegades
The movement outlandish
My shit is straight from the soul, goddammit
It's the one time only
Vernacular original miraculous spectacular flow
Computer digital
I piss upon the pitiful
Ridicule the minuscule
Pharoahe Monch need to park that ass like municipal

I could praise his complex multisyllabic rhymes, his singsong preacher's cadence or his intelligent -- occasionally recondite-- writing. But why repeat what's been said a million times before? I'll keep it simple: there are lyrical rappers, and then there is Pharoahe Monch.

Lupe Fiasco - Hurt Me Soul

Now I ain't tryna be the greatest
I used to hate hip hop
Yup, because the women degraded
But Too $hort made me laugh
Like a hypocrite, I played it
A hypocrite I stated
Though I only recited half

This is one of Lupe Fiasco's older songs, but it's probably my favorite. I know plenty of progressively-minded folks that love hip hop. To those people, this song poses a difficult question: how do you reconcile your political and social views with your enjoyment of music that is so often intolerant and regressive?

I had a ghetto boy bop, a Jay-Z boycott
'Cause he said that he never prayed to God, he prayed to Gotti
I'm thinkin' golly, God guard me from the ungodly
But by my thirtieth watchin of "Streets is Watchin'"
I was back to givin' props again
And that was botherin'
'Bout as uncomfortable
As a untouchable touchin' you
The theme songs that n-ggas hustle to seem wrong
But these songs was comin' true
And it was all becoming cool 

I don't think anyone would disagree that mainstream hip hop too often celebrates misogyny, tolerates (at the very least) homophobia and glamorizes crime. Is it okay for us to enjoy music like that? I don't have an answer for you, Dear Reader -- and neither does Mr. Fiasco. You'll have to figure that out on your own. But if you feel at least uncomfortable about it, here's a song for you.

Surreal and the Sound Providers - Push On

It's been a long journey, a long road
Filled with potholes and obstacles
I've fallen so many times
It forge character tho'
And growth in my rhymes
Now when I fall, I'm older
Get up, smile, brush the dirt of my shoulders
...
Right now, there's no time to waste
Put your best foot forward and try to keep pace

I not sure I have much to add to this. I'll admit, I'm not a believer in the the "power of positive thinking." Hoping for the best won't unstack your deck; being optimistic isn't going to tip the scales of the Universe in your favor.

But.

Maintaining a positive outlook, even temporarily, does feel good. That's reason enough to try.

Mos Def - Life in Marvelous Times

Ends don't meet where the arms can't reach
Mean streets -- even when its free, it ain't cheap
On-going saga: terminal diagnosis
Basic survival requires super heroics
No space in the budget for a cape
It's when you gotta fly by night to save the day
Crash-landings routinely happen
Some survive; others never rise from the ashes

Fantastic lyricism, but it's pretty bleak stuff. It begs the question: what's with the song title? Life in Marvelous Times? It's line after line about the oppressive nature of inner-city life.  But then --

And we are alive in amazing times
Delicate hearts, diabolical minds
Revelations, hatred, love and war
And more and more and more and more
And more of less than ever before
It's just too much "more" for your mind to absorb
It's scary like hell, but there's no doubt
We can't be alive in no time but now

Life's tough -- for some of us more than others. But we have to make the best of it.  What other option do we have?

Brother Ali - Tight Rope

Her boy terrified to let the world in
He has girl friends but doesn't want a girlfriend
He retreats inside himself
Where he lives life itself in secret
Daddy says people go to hell for being what he is
And he certainly believes him
'Cause there ain't no flame that can blaze enough
To trump being hated for the way you love
And cry yourself to sleep and hate waking up
It's a cold world, y'all
Shame on us

One needn't look very hard to find homophobia in rap -- ranging from the casually offensive "no homo" phenomenon to the aggressively offensive shit like DMX's Where Da Hood At. Though there are some signs of progress, this type of ignorance is still quite pervasive. So it's noteworthy when a rapper writes a verse showing solidarity with gay folks. Brother Ali deserves praise for his efforts, but the real celebration will have to wait until the day tracks like this are no longer remarkable for their rarity.

Skillz - Hip Hop

You get 'em wealth, that's what they attracted to
And when they get it, it never comes back to you
And it's sad, to watch you lose your grip so fast
And when you on TV, all I see is tits and ass
Shakin' it fast

I think what's striking about this track is how damn earnest it sounds.  Maybe it's just the Cat Stevens hook. Still, when Serious Rappers talk about the state of hip hop, it's usually something like "fuck all the commercial rap; I'm the only one making Real Hip Hop!" Skillz, on the other hand, just seems sad he was left at the altar.

Maybe it's who you hangin with
I ain't blamin' them
You get 'em shit they never had
And that changes them
But, see, you precious
More like a work of art
It's more to you, but the world don't get to see that part
...
Used to think bein' with you, was just the thing to do
Am I hurt cause you gone?
Or hurt because you doin' something new?

In a lot of ways, Skillz' track shows a sort of emotional depth and maturity that other thematically similar songs lack. Folks like Nas are still stuck at the Anger phase of the Five Stages of Grief ("Roll to every station and murder the DJ!"). In one song, Skillz makes it through Bargaining ("You ain't gotta turn back, just don't take a turn for the worse"), Depression ("I'm sorry that I got so attached / But I'm still here, if you ever wanna come back") and, finally, to Acceptance:

To me, you were never just a passing fad
I'm grateful -- some never had the chance I had
So before you go, take this advice
Some of us live you, think about us when you livin' your life

J. Cole - Blow Up

Momma said I should reconsider law school
That means I wear a suit and bend the truth and feel awful?
Hell naw! Got a degree but what that cost you?
You make a good salary, just to pay Sally Mae

My life, in four lines. Well, besides the "good salary" part.

Was broke as dishes, tryin' to let it go
Hit the club, she drop it low
Lower than my credit score
Account overdraft
What I got this debit for?
So much debt, it got me drinkin', thinkin' --
Bitch, I better blow
I better blow

Who better captures the malaise of our Great Recession than Mr. Cole? To be sure, his lyrics are peppered with the sort of "I'm rich!" braggadocio one would expect from a rapper, but there is an undercurrent of unease and uncertainty, too.  In another song, Villematic, he seems unsure about his chances for success ("I know my debut will ship, but is it gon' sell?"). There's a thought millions of us can relate to.