Andrew Knox

HUM 125 – Music Journal #4

November 23, 2010

Rap CD Music Journal #4

1. “Things Done Changed” - Notorious B.I.G. (1994)

This song is all about how things have changed since the “good old days.” In B.I.G.'s opinion,
the ghetto used to be safer and friendlier place, but crack changed everything. Now, the hood is a place
of violence, fear, depravity and danger. The chorus is a mixture of vocal samples from Biz Markie and
Dr. Dre. I love the drum fill that starts the song off. There are shimmering sounds layered over the
funky samples in the chorus and the verses. Biggie bemoans the lack of opportunities for poor black
youth in the ghetto, starting off the third verse with, “If I wasn't in the rap game / I'd probably have a
key knee deep in the crack game / Because the streets is a short stop / Either you're slingin crack rock
or you got a wicked jumpshot.” In other words, the only ways out of poverty are going pro at
basketball or selling drugs; both are usually dead ends. Biggie infers that the generation gap, coupled
with the crack boom and the rise of the gangsta lifestyle, has utterly alienated inner city parents from
their criminalized offspring, “Back in the days, our parents used to take care of us / Look at em now,
they even fuckin scared of us / Callin the city for help because they can't maintain.”

2. “Hit 'Em Up” - Tupac Shakur (1996)

This diss track ripped on Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Lil' Kim among
others. It's generally an all out assault on Bad Boy Records and the entire East Coast. It took me a
little while to realize that I recognized the bass line. It's a synthesized rendition of the bass line that
was first sampled in “Paid in Full” by Eric B. and Rakim. This bass line is accompanied by a driving
drum beat, some floating treble piano notes and wobbly synth lines. Tupac starts the song with the
lowest of blows: “you claim to be a player but I fucked your wife.” Tupac is accompanied on this track
by rappers Hussein Fatal, Khadafi and E.D.I. Amin. Tupac describes Junior M.A.F.I.A. as “some
mark-ass bitches,” Khadafi rhetorically asks Lil' Kim if she is addicted to either cocaine or heroin and,
in another low blow, Tupac mocks a member of Mobb Deep for having Sickle Cell Anemia.

3. “1st of tha Month” - Bone Thugs N Harmony (1995)

This song is much more uplifting than the other two so far. The instrumental is a musical

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HUM 125 – Music Journal #4
November 23, 2010

stomp, with two heavy beats unifying bass, piano and synth instruments that are otherwise doing their
own thing. This song is about the rewarding feeling of cashing your latest paycheck and then spending
the majority of it on high quality marijuana. At this point, with all of these rap songs we've listened to
about pot being devoid of advocacy of violence, it seems a given that dro squashes all beef. However,
in the last verse, Layzie Bone describes his process for dealing cocaine. The song fades out with an a
Capella rendition of the chorus.

4. “Bling Bling” - The Hot Boyz (1999)

To me, this song is the epitome of stupid materialist rap. It's all about being in the club, with
diamonds, bitches, vodka and the newest luxury cars in no short supply. This hedonistic lifestyle is
exemplified in the fifth verse by the couplet: “I be that nigga with the ice on me / If it cost less than
twenty it don't look right on me.” The Hot Boys were sort of a Southern rap boy band formed by Cash
Money Records and consisting of MCs Juvenile, Lil' Wayne, B.G. and Turk.1 While Lil' Wayne's
popularity has exploded in the last few years, the other Hot Boyz are not nearly as well known. I don't
like the instrumental either, lots of beeping and sharp snare, with occasional downward swooping bass.

5. “One Love” - Nas (1994)

I first heard this song in an after school writing program in high school. The writing teacher
held it up as an example of rhyming storytelling. I thought it was pretty good, but I didn't pay Nas too
much mind until I got more into rap. Illmatic is the only rap CD that I possess. The song is formatted
as a letter to a friend behind bars, informing him of changes within their social circle: “yo, guess who
got shot in the dome-piece? / Jerome's niece, on her way home from Jones Beach - it's bugged / Plus
little Rob is selling drugs on the dime / Hangin out with young thugs that all carry 9's... / Last time you
wrote you said they tried you in the showers / but maintain when you come home the corner's ours.”
The chorus is a vocal sample of somebody (Bob Marley?) saying the song's title, along with some sort
of xylophone riff. I was somewhat surprised to learn that this track was produced by Q-Tip.2

1 Arnold
2 Love

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November 23, 2010

6. “Elevators (Me and You)” - OutKast (1996)

This song seems to be a reverse take on “Things Done Changed,” Outkast describe how they
used to be poor and deprived as children, but now they are moving up in the world, like elevators.
Even with some chart success with previous albums, Andre 3000 still feels like he isn't rich. He
recounts a conversation with an old school friend who demands he spread the wealth: “he kept askin'
me, what kind of car you drive, I know you paid / I know y'all got buku of hoes from all them songs
that y'all done made / And I replied that I had been goin through tha same thing that he had / True I got
more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me / to the end of the week, I live by the
beat like you live check to check.” This song seems stripped down compared to the rest of the songs
on this compilation... it's just a drum beat with an echoing snare drum, a bass line and occasional horn
samples.

7. “Ready or Not” - The Fugees (1996)

The song starts with haunting ethereal singing, then Lauryn Hill enters, singing the chorus with
some overdubbed vocal lines. In the first verse, Wyclef Jean raps about his life, mentioning jail bars,
alcoholism and bragging about robbing a liquor store. As opposed to the typically gangster-style lyrical
content, Wyclef's voice details the stress, fear and paranoia running his life. After singing the second
chorus, Lauryn launches into her own verse. While she conveys her rap with an aggressive tone, the
words she says are accepting and agreeable. Many people, music critics, as well as participants in our
class discussion, have lauded Lauryn Hill for her style and influence. A reporter for NPR doing a piece
on Hill emotionally described her impact on women in hip-hop and in general, “she's one of slickest
rappers ever: Her rhymes are dexterous, spiritual, hilarious, surprising. Without a doubt, she was the
best-looking rapper the world had ever seen... Particularly to women and young girls who listened to
her then, she was a revelation. There was steel in her voice when she rapped[.]”3
After a third chorus, Lauryn Hill sings a short interlude, and then Pras spits an abbreviated verse
about how the members of the group, either literally or metaphorically, are all refugees from one
dispute or another. In this verse, there is a reference to “The Buffalo Soldier, dread like Rasta,” from
the Bob Marley song of the same name.
3 Chace

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November 23, 2010

8. “Heaven for a Gangsta” - TRU (Master P, C-Murder, Silkk) (1997)

Back in the 1990's, Master P, rapper and founder of No Limit Records, was the king of the New
Orleans hip-hop scene. Though many of his hits were dedicated to his massive collection of bling
bling, sports cars, bikini-clad women and other shiny things, songs like “Heaven for a Gangsta” express
his belief that the Gangsta lifestyle is a dead end. In the first verse, Master P envisions his burial, “ain't
no crying at my funeral I lived life to the fullest a high roller / So when I die put me in a pine box /
Bury me like a g two Glocks and a fucking bag of rocks.” In the second verse, Silkk describes his ideal
setup for Gangsta Heaven, “if they had a heaven for a gangsta / Block parties all days til we get tired,
free sex like the sixties / Nigga drinking up on some forties, nigga pumping up on some swishies / Dice
game every hour.” In the third verse, C-Murder apologizes (but shows no hints of remorse) to God,
“Lord, forgive me, but I know I'm going to hell, man.” Consequently, C-Murder is currently serving
life in prison for a 2002 second-degree murder.4

9. “Ain't No Nigga” - Jay-Z feat. Foxy Brown (1996)

On this track, Jay-Z and Foxy Brown duet in a tale of a relationship where the woman accepts
her man's infidelity in exchange for fancy clothes, jewelery and money. Both artists sing during the
chorus, trading off lines. Jay-Z raps in verses one and two, and Foxy, in a similar vein as Lauryn Hill,
transfers from a chorus into a double-length third verse. Many listeners may find this song demeaning
to women, since Foxy portrays a character willing to sell her integrity and trust in her relationship in
exchange for material wealth. Others may argue, however, that she is making the best out of a bad
situation, and living the high life is better than a tumultuous divorce. The content of Foxy Brown's rap
verse seems incongruous with the forgiving wife of the chorus, she's a badass: “mackin' this bitch,
wifee nigga / so when you flip that coke / remember them days you was dead broke / but now your
style and I raised you / basically made you into a don / flippin' weight..heroin and shit / you know my
pussy is all that.”

4 Jones

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November 23, 2010

10. “You're All I Need” - Method Man feat. Mary J Blige (1995)
Another male/female duet, on this Grammy-winning cover of a Marvin Gaye hit, Method Man
and Mary J Blige take turns expressing their love. Contrasted with “Ain't No Nigga,” the couple in this
song keep each other up by leaning on each other, their dedication to each other is so fierce that Blige
constantly declares through the choruses that Method Man is “all I need to get by.” Whereas in Jay-Z's
song, he replaces emotional engagement with luxury gifts, all Method and Mary have are each other, so
Method promises her riches in the future, “Back when I was nothin' / You made a brother feel like he
was somethin'... / Even when the skies were gray / You would rub me on my back and say "Baby it'll be
okay..." / In a fat ass crib with thousands of kids / Word, life, you don't need a ring to be my wife / Just
be there for me and I'ma make sure we / Be livin' in the effin' lap of luxury.”5

11. “I'll Be Missing You” - Puff Daddy (1997)

This song was Puffy's second solo single, but his first great chart hit. This song, despite
widespread criticism, won a Grammy and, until recently, was the one and only rap song to debut at the
number one spot of the Billboard Hot 100. It cemented Puffy's viability as a solo artist without piggy-
backing on the late Notorious B.I.G.. The song is still reliant on Notorious B.I.G. for content, since it's
all about Puffy grieving Biggie's death. The verses are very sentimental, even if not very well written.
I agree with a good point made during class discussion: Puff Daddy is less of a rapper and more of a
hip-hop entertainer in the vein of MC Hammer. The instrumental is clean and well-produced, based
around the music and chorus from the 1983 song “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. Many
critics complained about the degree to which the original song was sampled, feeling it was unoriginal.
One outraged DJ excoriated the track as a rip-off: “back in the day it really was an art form. DJ's would
take records from all various types of artists and through their voodoo turn it into something completely
new. But what Puff Daddy's done here is just stupid. There isn't one sliver or originality to this. All they
did was loop the rhythm to The Police's "Every Breath You Take", put a simple hip-hop beat to it and
figured no one would notice. Hell, they even ripped of the chorus!”6

5 Ioffee
6 DJ Asinine

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HUM 125 – Music Journal #4
November 23, 2010

12. “Nature of the Threat” - Ras Kass (1996)

This song is so deep and complex that it takes a minimum of four to five listenings to fully
comprehend the alternative history Ras Kass lays out in this seven-minute long continuous rap with no
chorus or break. The entire text of the lyrics is nearly 1,400 words long. Ras Kass touches on dozens
of topics during his awesome rant, including Afro-Originism, the genetics of skin color, ancient Aryans
in Iran and India, Hinduism, the Caste system, "Western Civilization means White Domination," Greek
pedagogy, injustices of the Roman Empire, the hypocrisy of Christianity and the lurid origins of
Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Ras' view of history is diametrically-opposed to mainstream
Western history, painted by racial conflict and discrimination. My favorite section of lyrics is “Queen
Elizabeth sends the first slaves on a ship named 'Jesus' / Stealin' land from the indigenous natives /
Gave them alcohol to keep the Red Man intoxicated / Whites claim they had to civilize these Pagan
animals / But up until 1848 there's documented cases / of whites bein' the savage cannibals, eatin'
Indians / In 1992, it's Jeffery Dahmer.”

13. “A Better Tomorrow” - Wu-Tang Clan (1997)

Finally, some Wu-Tang! The Clan was the first real rap group I got into, and “A Better
Tomorrow” is one of my favorite tracks from Wu-Tang Forever. This song features verses from
Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, U-God, RZA and Method Man. Inspectah Deck and Masta Killa also
alternate lines during the chorus. In terms of content analysis, this is yet another song emphasizing the
idea that the criminal lifestyle isn't compatible with success in life. This is summarized best in the
chorus, where the rappers warn listeners that children learn bad habits from their parents: “You can't
party your life away / Drink your life away / Smoke your life away / Fuck your life away / Dream your
life away / Scheme your life away / Cause your seeds grow up the same way / Cause your seeds grow
up the same way.”

14. “The Watcher” - Dr. Dre (1999)

“The Watcher” is the second track on Dr. Dre's second album, 2001. It was originally written
by Eminem, but Dre is the only performer on the track. It seems like on this song, Dre is starting to

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realize that he is getting older and aging out of the gangsta lifestyle, “Things just ain't the same for
gangsters / Times is changin, young niggaz is agin' / Becomin O.G.'s in the game and changin' / to
make way for these new names and faces.” The title, “The Watcher,” seems to come from his decision
to sit it out on the sidelines of rap for several years and just witness the changes.

15. “Bad Meets Evil” - Eminem and Royce da 5'9” (1999)

This song, a western-themed battle rap duet, is my favorite track from The Slim Shady LP. The
track is formatted as a tale of a legendary gunfight between two gunslingers over who was more evil.
This song is insanely quotable... “I don't speak, I float in the air wrapped in a sheet / I'm not a real
person, I'm a ghost trapped in a beat.” “I'm blazin' MC's, at the same time amazin' MC's / Somehow
MC's ain't that eye-brow raisin' to me.” “Give me two fat tabs and three shrooms / And you won't see
me like fat people in steam rooms / And when I go to hell and I'm gettin' ready to leave / I'ma put air in
a bag and charge people to breathe.” Eminem and Royce have some of the best team chemistry I've
ever heard on a non-group rap collaboration. I wish they had made an entire album like this song.

16. “Hey Ya!” - OutKast (2003)

This poppy, acoustic guitar-driven smash hit was the first OutKast song I ever heard. It was the
biggest hit from Andre 3000's “The Love Below” half of their double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love
Below. Consequently, Big Boi does not appear on this song. I'm not sure this is really a hip-hop song,
it seems the only characteristic about it that is hip-hop is that it is widely labeled as hip-hop because it
was written by a hip-hop artist. This is really just an upbeat pop song written by a rapper. That being
said, I usually dislike pop songs primarily on the basis of their categorization as pop songs, but I just
can't hate this song. Nobody can hate this song, “Hey Ya!” is just an overwhelming force of good in
this universe. Well, actually, I thought “Roses” was better, oh, nevermind. “Shake it like a Polaroid
picture!”

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November 23, 2010

Works Cited:

◦ Arnold, Paul W. "Juvenile Says Hot Boys Reunion 'Will Happen'." Hip Hop DX, 8 Oct 2009.
Web. 28 Nov 2010. <http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.9934/title.juvenile-says-hot-
boys-reunion-will-happen->.
◦ Chace, Zoe. "The Many Voices Of Lauryn Hill." National Public Radio, 28 Jun 2010. Web. 30
Nov 2010. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128149135>.
◦ DJ Asinine. "I'll Be Missing You - Puff Daddy." EarBleed.com, 14 Oct 2010. Web. 1 Dec 2010.
<http://www.earbleed.com/zed/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=268:ill-be-
missing-you-puff-daddy&catid=34:djasininebleed&Itemid=55>.
◦ Ioffee, Karina. "Method Man pleads guilty to tax evasion." Reuters, 28 Jun 2010. Web. 30 Nov
2010. <http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE65R5ZG20100628>.
◦ Jones, Biz. "C-Murder Breaks Silence On Serving Life In Prison, 'I Hate It'." Support Online
Hip-Hop, 1 Feb 2010. Web. 30 Nov 2010. <http://www.sohh.com/2010/02/c-
murder_breaks_silence_on_serving_life.html>.
◦ Love, Dan. "Deconstructing Illmatic." OhWord, 11 Feb 2008. Web. 28 Nov 2010.
<http://archive.ohword.com/blog/926/deconstructing-illmatic>.

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Tracklist / Lyrics Sources:

1. “Things Done Changed” - Notorious B.I.G. (1994)

◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/ntr_big/ready_to/changed.big.txt
2. “Hit 'Em Up” - Tupac Shakur (1996)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/2_pac/rm_bside/hitemup.2pc.txt
3. “1st of tha Month” - Bone Thugs N Harmony (1995)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/bonethug/e1999/1stmonth.bne.txt
4. “Bling Bling” - Juvenile Hot Boyz (1999)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/bg/daghetto/bling.gee.txt
5. “One Love” - Nas (1994)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/nas/illmatic/one_love.nas.txt
6. “Elevators (Me and You)” - OutKast (1996)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/outkast/atliens/elevator.otk.txt
7. “Ready or Not” - The Fugees (1996)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/fugees/thescore/ready_or.fge.txt

8. “Heaven for a Gangsta” - TRU (Master P, C-Murder, Silkk) (1997)

◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/tru/tru2game/TRUremix.tru.txt
9. “Ain't No Nigga” - Jay-Z feat. Foxy Brown (1996)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/jigga/doubt/aintno.jyz.txt
10. “You're All I Need” - Method Man feat. Mary J Blige (1995)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/method/rm_bside/be_there.mth.txt
11. “I'll Be Missing You” - Puff Daddy (1997)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/puff_dad/nowayout/missing.dad.txt
12. “Nature of the Threat” - Ras Kass (1996)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/ras_kass/sl_onice/threat.rsk.txt
13. “A Better Tomorrow” - Wu-Tang Clan (1997)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/wu_tang/forever/tomorrow.wtg.txt
14. “The Watcher” - Dr. Dre (1999)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/dr_dre/theC2001/watcher.dre.txt
15. “Bad Meets Evil” - Eminem and Royce da 5'9” (1999)
◦ http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/eminem/shady_lp/badmeets.mnm.txt
16. “Hey Ya!” - OutKast (2003)
◦ http://ohhla.com/anonymous/outkast/tl_below/hey_ya.otk.txt