“Somethin he could recognize, somethin he could feel…”
yo!
Life… ain’t meant to come around twiiiice
Yeah, that’s why I gotta get it right
They said I got it honest now I gotta give it LIFE
But sleep on it, that’s why God give you night
I mean, I had a dream that, God gave me FLIGHT
Too fly for my own good so, God gave me plight
If I wake up in the mornin now I gotta give ‘em SIGHT
^^this is probably one of my favorite hip hop verses ever.
The game is not to give ‘em nuttin REAL..
real…real… real… real
Nothin they could use, nuttin that they could FEEL..
feel… feel… feel… feel
Give ‘em a bunch of lies and teach ‘em that it’s REAL..
real… real… real.. .real
So that’s all that they a-know
That’s all that they a-feel… feel… feel… feel
Struggle… yeah yeah, another sign that God love you
Cause on the low, bein po’, make you humble
Keep they names in my rhymes to try and keep them out of trouble
Cause bein po’, also teach you how to hustle
All they want is some shoes or some rims for they bubble
Now that I got my own, I can hit them with a couple
Couple, my homies so they ain’t got no reason to cuff you
That’s my plan, if I can, on the man, up above you
its not my favorite Lupe song, but its up there. I remember the first time I heard it like. WOW.
Food & Liquor was one of those CDs that I liked immediately. but my favorite track on there is hands down, Hurt Me Soul: can’t describe how much I love this song…
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
Omittin the word “bitch,” cursin I wouldn’t say it
Me and dog couldn’t relate, til a bitch I dated
Forgive my favorite word for hers and hers alike
But I learnt it from a song I heard and sorta liked
Yeah, for the icin, glamorized drug dealin was appealin
But the block club kept it from in front of our buildin
Gangsta rap-based filmings became the buildin blocks
For children with leakin ceilings catchin drippins with pots
Coupled with compositions from Pac, Nas’s “It Was Written”
In the mix with my realities and feelings
Living conditions, religion, ignorant wisdom and artistic vision
I began to jot, tap the world and listen, it drop
My mom can’t feed me, my boyfriend beats me
I have sex for money, the hood don’t love me
The cops wanna kill me, this nonsense built me
And I got noooo place to gooo
They bomb my village, they call us killers
Took me off they welfare, can’t afford they health care
My teacher won’t teach me, my master beats me
And it huuurts me soul
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 godly, God guard me from the ungodly
But by my 30th watchin of “Streets is Watchin”
I was back to givin props again and that was botherin
By this uncomfortable as a untouchable touchin you
The theme songs that niggas hustle to seem wrong but these songs was comin true
And it was all becoming cool I found a condom on the ground that Johns would cum into and thought
What constitutes a prostitute is the pursuit of profit then they drop it
The homie in a suit pat her on the butt, then rock it
It seems I was seein the same scene adopted
Prevalent in different things with the witnesses indifferent to stop it
They said don’t knock it, mind ya business
His business isn’t mine and that nigga pimpin got it
I know I nearly posted the entire song but its THAT FIRE. Food & Liquor is full of other great tracks like Sunshine–“fresh to death she is, from her steps to her sex, she is…” Also Daydreaming, Kick Push, What it Do,and I Gotcha. And his sophomore release The Cool was just as good, faves being Go Go Gadget Flow,Dumb it Down, Intruder Alert, Superstar, and Hip Hop Saved My Life. One of my fave unreleased mixtape tracksare Gangsta Gangsta ft. Ness and And He Gets the Girl (dopeness-click link if you’ve never heard it!).
but enough of my faves, tell me those two songs above weren’t lyrically and sonically on point. I miss Lupe personally. I think he kinda started this new wave of “backpacker” hip hop. Whatever you call it, its great. need new music dude!
writing this post just reminded me that I used to pretty much be a Lupe stan…
this is one sexy song. and no, its not Trey Songz “I Invented Sex”
this one is one of the reasons I was loving on some Drake hard, before he blew up and errythang that is.
Come right here.
Put your bag down.
Took a night off for you.
Go ahead and turn the light off, but keep your heels on.
They’re fitting for what I’m about to do.
Ooh Oh Oh Oh.
No you ain’t explaining how you want it done
Just be quiet Ill do fine without your help, girl.
Any work without a second for some fun.
Now you finally got a moment to yourself girl. And I know what to do with it, and I know what to do with it.
I know to do with it, I know what to do with it.
First time I heard this I wanted Drake to show me what he ‘was gonna do with it’. Just sayin!
I really liked Estelle’s CD! so thats what I’m revisiting this AM. I wonder why it seems like she hasn’t made any music for a long time–this project only came out in 2008. I think we have become so accustomed to artists constantly being in the limelight that I’ve forgotten what its like to actually not be all over the TV when you don’t have a new project coming out. My thought is when you make dope music you don’t have to keep putting out stuff, its only when your music is mediocre you have to make a lot of it to keep yourself on folks minds, like Beyonce Gucci Mane and other random people we have been bombarded with.
So Estelle, like Jazmine Sullivan had a huge buzz around them surrounding their debut projects because of who they were affiliated with (and in Estelle’s case not debut but first released in the US), then their projects came out and you never ever really saw them again. I seriously blame the Rihannas and Beyonces of the world, that have more presence than they do vocal ability–and presence could mean famous husbands/boyfriends, great choreography and/or great stylists, which therefore provides star power behind them and its like, nobody else can shine!
speaking of shining…so did you like Estelle’s Shine? I like that she can sing and rhyme, reminds me of Lauryn Hill. I think she has the talent to be way bigger than she is.
below is a vid of her feature with one of my fave hip hop duos Kidz in the Hall from their last project The In Crowd
if you never really got into Estelle, I implore you to check out Shine! some real bangers on there, really good music. 2008 was a good music year. 2009 is almost over and I think its been a year of too much hype and not enough good music thus many disappointments, to be honest.
I ain’t no ordinary nigga
Look around, this ain’t what ordinary gets you
Extraordinary figures
I’m an extra-ordinary nigga
I love this song!!!!
so I was reading the comments of my last post about Jay and BP3 in particular and I decided to listen to my Jay playlist to see what would pop out as some of my favorites versus songs I didn’t like for whatever reason. So in my search of a more recent Jay since he did say ”Hov on that new shit, Niggas like how come, Niggas want my old shit, buy my old albums” I didn’t want to pick anything TOO old. I understand growth, you can’t rap about hustlin your entire life–but for me its not even what you say but HOW you say it, and a song is more than lyrics (I know, right, coming from me. lol) so if it doesn’t flow right for me, the cadence and production, its just a bit off I’m immediately not a fan. But THIS song, is it.
I love American Gangster but this is hands down my favorite song on that project, and it has actually made my top 10–i can’t possibly only have 10 favorites by him? its just…does it for me.
Granted, I’ve only heard the Wale once thru, but its definitely not as good as his previous mixtapes, or even the very last Back to the Feature, and that one didn’t even get a lot of love. I can’t imagine anyone that hated that, that loves Attention Deficit. if they do…then well I’ll just chalk it up to questionable ears? I dunno, we all like what we like.
now that Love & War? eh. I have no more words, despite I had high hopes. I have all her other CDs but I won’t be purchasing this. sorry Am.
I spoke on my last disappointment post on BP3 and Ready. I can say now that BP3 grew on me but I still don’t really like Ready. I prefer I Gotta Make it, Trey Day and Anticipation.
now BP3?! my faves are:
Already Home (which I did NOT like immediately), A Star is Born (love J. Cole), Thank You, Empire State of Mind, So Ambitious, Real As it Gets, and On to the Next One. Still hate Hater and iffy aboutWhat We Talkin About. **edited for correction, this song isn’t terrible, just not my favorite kinda Hov**
maybe I’ll be able to say the same about the Wale and Amerie projects in a few weeks.
if someone can suggest their faves on both of these thus far, please let me know and maybe I’ll have to do an “intense listen” to feel them.
even in the drought,
my mattress is full
why shouldn’t I be out?
hey, buddy,
i’m good
(what they tell you?) I’m good
(what they tell you?) I’m good
(what she tell you?) I’m good
This is my feel good song. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, when I hear it “I’m good!”
here are some other favorites by or featuring The Clipse (or just Pusha), in no particular order:
Stay With Me: one of my faves, if not the fave on Pharrell’s In My Mind
of course the collabos with Pharrell/Neptunes are the best. I know they aren’t signed to Star Trak anymore, but seriously they should never stop making music together!!! those Virginia boys make some bangers!!!
so I heard this song for the first time this morning driving to work. on the Steve Harvey Morning Show.
I’m not sure how I feel about it, but I do know that I like the words. You all know I love Michael with my whole heart (I’m being serious here) and his music is HUGE on the life soundtrack, but I don’t think I’m going to see this movie. I mean, I’m sad just thinking about it. When it comes on DVD I may buy it though. I just can’t see myself having this moment in a theatre–even if it is the King of Pop. I mean most other concerts are HBO specials, not feature films. As much as Michael’s shows have never been like “other concerts”, I don’t think I can do it.
**edited to add** I forgot that the concert never actually took place, so this film is just of the rehearsals–which I’m sure are introspective, but I don’t know if its something I want to see on the big screen. I watched a review for the show on GMA, and Chris Connelly said it was good. I’ll wait for some reviews from peers.
so anyway, here are the lyrics. And then the song.
This is it, here I stand
I’m the light of the world, I feel grand
Got this love I can feel
And I know yes for sure it is real
And it feels as though I’ve seen your face a thousand times
And you said you really know me too yourself
And I know that you have got addicted with your eyes
But you say you gonna live it for yourself.
I never heard a single word about you
Falling in love wasn’t my plan
I never thught that I would be your lover
C’mon baby, just understand
This is it, I can say,
I’m the light of the world, run away
We can feel, this is real
Every time I’m in love that I feel
And I feel as though I’ve known you since 1,000 years
And you tell me that you’ve seen my face before.
And you said to me you don’t wnat me hanging round
Many times, wanna do it here before
I never heard a single word about you
Falling in love wasn’t my plan
I never thught that I would be your lover
C’mon baby, just understand
This is it, I can feel
I’m the light of the world, this is real
Feel my song, we can say
What do you guys think of the song? I think it might be a winner. Are you going to see the show in theatres?
Melanie Fiona’s The Bridge. Its finally out! I mentioned her awhile back as someone to check for on That New New post. I downloaded the mixtape she put out over the summer with Questlove, but it was way more talking than music so it kinda disappointed me. But because of that project I knew that I liked the song “Ay Yo”, and of course my faves are “Give it to Me Right” and “It Kills Me”. Other favorites include “Monday Morning”, “Teach Him”, and “Bang Bang”. The music has an older vibe especially with the beats, and she has an awesome voice, so if you haven’t checked her out already please do. Her debut is selling VERY cheap on iTunes, and its worth the purchase.
I’ve also been diggin Letoya Luckett’s Lady Love. I really liked her first solo project and took me awhile to get into this one, but I’m finally there. I didn’t like the last single “She Ain’t Got” for some reason–don’t really like the melody of it and it reminded me too much of “She Don’t” from her first joint, which I LOVED–but a lot more desperate sounding. lol The single out now is “Regret”, featuring Ludacris, and I actually couldve done without him on the song. its a decent song though. “Not Anymore” was her lead single for this project and it was one of those songs that kinda grows on you. Now the songs that I really liked are “I Need A U”(absolute fave!), “Over”, “Matter” and “Drained”. I’m not even really sure how I feel about Letoya’s voice but the songs are light and the music is good.
and most recently, I got put on to this mixtape by a new artist named Shalonda called Just Go. I read about it on Soulbounce and the author Ms. Huny told me via twitter that I would dig it and she’s right. My favorites are Fever, Misty, and BlessLockDown. Click on the link above to read more about it. Its a very short joint, great vocals over hot current hip hop beats, and its just a really fresh sound. You can find it here.
so I’m keeping these in rotation probably for the rest of the weekend and maybe a few others. I guess I’ll go hit the streets to see what the new “club bangers” are since I don’t really know because I rarely “club”. I’m sure I’ll know between this weekend and next weekend when I travel home for homecoming!!!!
I’ve always liked this quote. I know some folks that say their siblings are their best friends and I’ve always admired that. I think its great to grow up with someone and actually get along! I know more folks that love their siblings, but don’t really LIKE em that much, or just don’t see it in a friendship kinda way: its family, so its more, but its different. For those of you with siblings I don’t know which side you fall, on, but regardless, we all have something in common: friends. our chosen family. this song is for them.
I don’t know what I’d ever do without you
From the beginning to the end
You’ve always been here by my side
So I’ll call you my best friend
Through the good times and the bad ones
Whether I lose or if I win
I know one thing that never changes and
That’s you as my best friend
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