Lyrical Analysis (Mike Jones, Flip, BDK Pusha T)
HarveyCanal
"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
Befo' my paper came, befo' I got my fameThese hoes that's poppin on me now didn't even know my nameThey said my flow was lame, they said I had no gameI told 'em all I was fin' to blow they thought I was insaneBut then my name started blowin up quick,now they jumpin on my dickCause they see me on the rise and oh now my paper thickBut then my name started blowin up quick, now they jumpin on my dickBecause they see me on the rise and oh now my paper thickcame/fame/name/lame/game/insane/quick/dick/thick/quick/dick/thick=12/12=1 syllable per rhymeAt times there is beauty in simplicity. Say what you will about Mike Jones, there is really something genius about that dude's flow. Don't get me wrong though, I fully recognize that it's completely dumb at the same time. For instance, if you just read his rhyming words in that verse stright across the line, all those single syllable accents sounds like the one-eyed old man with hardened stumps for hands placing a touch-tone call to Singapore. came/fame/name/lame/game = baah/baah/baah/baah/baahJust by listening to a verse like this, you get caught into a wavelength that you never knew was there...like Laird Hamilton using those foil boards to tow-in surf giant waves (look it up).And right when Mike Jones gets you duly entranced into his web of rote simplicity, he pulls one of his most cunning of tactics.But then my name started blowin up quick,now they jumpin on my dickCause they see me on the rise and oh now my paper thickBut then my name started blowin up quick, now they jumpin on my dickBecause they see me on the rise and oh now my paper thickWait, did the record just skip? Oh cool, maybe the dj is cutting this song up. Hold up, hot damn...that fool just weaved nothing short of an alchemical miracle on us! He turned quick/dick/thick/quick/dick/thick=6/6=1 syllables per rhyme into But then my name started blowin up quick,now they jumpin on my dickCause they see me on the rise and oh now my paper thick/But then my name started blowin up quick, now they jumpin on my dickBecause they see me on the rise and oh now my paper thick/=30/30=60/2=30 syllables per rhymeI mean, what kinda compounding interest rate, pyramid scheme of a rhyme are you trying to flash on us, brah? You just blew our minds with Cheeto breath and made us shit limitless platinum credit cards. I don't know if I wanta go on a shopping spree or burn any memory of every being exposed to such black magic shenanigans. Seriously, try to listen to Back Then just one time...even just a snippet of it. And I dare you the next time you take a shower, a moment where you are all alone, rid of clothes and kinda in a sanctuary of a place in time, to not find yourself hearing one of Mike's lines echoing through your skull cavity, whether you want it to or not. You slip from being conscious of it and you might even fall into reciting that dumb shit under your breath, as if you have become possessed and have resorted to speaking in tongues to keep your idle self occupied.Like a crafty commercial jingle, Mike Jones has the power to penetrate your central processing center like a virus infecting binary code. He's taken some drug or inherited some sequence of dna or has been exposed to some sort of radiation that has made him able to turn words into telepathic programming. If Mike's skills ever fell into the wrong hands, it could be an instant Matrix cot and an iv drip for life, bitch.
Comments
Look, I know you wanna chill wit a player
But all you got to do is keep it real wit a player
Just answer your phone whenever I call
Cause I'm riding on chrome whenever I ball
I like them short and tall but not too thick
I just walk in the spot and take my pick
And they wanna roll cause they like my style
And when I pop my collar I make them smile
I need a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets
That know how to cook cause a nigga like to eat
Spaghetti, shrimp and steak and I'll adore you
I'll treat you like milk, I'll do nothing but spoil you
chill wit a player/real wit a player/whenever I call/whenever I ball/thick/pick/style/smile/sheets/eat/adore you/spoil you
5/5/5/5/1/1/2/2/1/1/3/3=34/12=2.83 syllables per rhyme
Well, well, well...Lil Flip steps right up and artificially inflates his syllables per rhyme all the way up to almost 3. Let's take a look at how he got it up there.
With chill wit a player/real wit a player Flip utilizes Juvenile's patented tactic of using a repeating single word/phrase to end each line as it gets layered with an internal rhyme scheme. When Juve did it, it was fresh. When Camron did it, it was still novel. When Flip does it, and he kinda does it again with adore you/spoil you...it's tired with a capital shut-the-fuck-up-already.
Speaking of which, Flip's big metaphor in this verse is famous for making listeneres want to straight up hurl. I"LL TREAT YOU LIKE MILK, I'LL DO NOTHING BUT SPOIL YOU. Not only is such a sentiment not even close to player, it also implictly enchants the bile right up from your gullet by speaking in said curdled terms.
Slogan-wise, Flip gives us the "I need a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets" mantra that no man can ever do without. Problem is, it's highly unlikely that Flip can claim ownership of that line.
And you gotta love Flip's reasoning.
Just answer your phone whenever I call
Cause I'm riding on chrome whenever I ball
Or even better...
I need a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets
That know how to cook cause a nigga like to eat
See, I can really relate to that last one, as it so happens that I also like to eat.
Math has never been my strong suit, but am I understanding correctly that with this you're considering Mike's repetition of a line to be in fact a syllable-for-syllable rhyme between the first thirty and the last thirty?
Exactly.
Wow.
Don't rule out sarcasm.
-tepid.
umm you just said you aint have no game till you had fame, that's about as sad as Sean Kingston admitting some girl had him suicidal.
Rappers stepping to me they want to get some
But I???m the Kane, so yo, you know the outcome
Another victory
They can???t get with me
So pick a BC date cause you???re history
I???m the authentic poet to get lyrical
For you to beat me, it???s gonna take a miracle
And, stepping to me, yo that???s the wrong move
So what you on, Hobbs, dope or dog food?
Competition I just devour
Like a pitbull against a Chihuahua
Cause when it comes to being dope, hot damn
I got it good, now let me tell you who I am
The B-I-G D-A-double D-Y K-A-N-E
Dramatic, Asiatic, not like many
I???m different, so don???t compare me to another
Cause they can???t hang, word to the mother
At least not with the principal in this pedigree
So when I roll on you rappers, you better be
Ready to die because you???re petty
You???re just a butter knife, I???m a machete
That???s made by Ginzu, wait until when you
Try to front, so I can chop into
Your body, just because you try to be basing
Friday the 13th, I???mma play Jason
No type of joke, gag, game, puzzle or riddle
The name is Big Daddy, yes Big not little
So define it
VS
Been two years, like I was paddy wagon cruisin
The streets was yours, ya dunce cappin and cazooin
I was just assuming you'd keep the coke movin
But I got one question, Fuck y'all been doing?
Pyrex Turs turned into Covalli furs
The full length cat, when I wave, the kitty purs
All my niggaz caped up, selling grey and beige dust
Had that money right or end up in the trunk taped up
We don't chase a duck, we only raise the bucks
Peel money rolls until our thumbs get the papercuts
Children totto, South Beach Galardo
Teals started up, go brr like it's Nardo
Women if you love me, please let me know
Tie rags round your neck and learn the sets we throw
These are the days of our lifes
And I'm sorry to the fans but the crackers weren't playing fair Jive
Kane is playing the dozens with his verse...so it's gonna naturally be more loosely structured than Pusha's more conversational flow.
Kane is also rhyming at a faster pace...so there is something to writing brief stabs within tiny spaces versus just letting your voice drag across a slower beat.
Syllables per rhyme:
Kane: some/outcome/victory/get with me/history/miracle/lyrical/wrong move/dog food/devour/chihuahua/hot damn/I am//N-E/many/another/the mother/pedigree/better be/petty/machete/when you/Ginzu/into/basing/Jason/riddle/little
1/1/3/3/3/3/3/2/2/3/3/2/2/2/2/3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2=65/28=2.32
Pusha: cruising/cazooing/moving/doing/furs/purrs/caped up/beige dust/taped up/chase a duck/raise the bucks/papercuts/Galardo/Nardo/me know/we throw/lifes/jive
2/2/2/2/1/1/2/2/2/3/3/3/2/2/2/1/1=33/17=1.94
So it's Kane's 2.32 syllables per rhyme versus Pusha's 1.94 syllables per rhyme.
Now, metaphors...
Kane: pick a BC date cause you're history/principal in this pedigree/you're just a butter knife, I'm a machete...that's made by Ginzu, wait until when you front so I can chop into your body/Friday the 13th, I'mma play Jason
Pusha: paddy wagon cruisin/the full length cat, when I wave, the kitty purrs/go brrr like it's Nardo
Neither really uses metaphors all that much in these verses.
Pusha's about "the full length cat" is definitely the best one as far as a punchline...although it's hard to deny that "pick a BC date" grouping because that has become a hall of fame segment that has for the longest had entire crowds screaming it out when the song gets played.
Kane also does a good job of extending his metaphor about a machete into an action that ultimately gets tied up with another metaphor (Friday the 13th).
So while Pusha delivers the most striking single metaphor, Kane uses metaphors more often and does more with them as far extending them as working concepts.
And content-wise, Kane talks about he's an amazing lyricist and proud of it, while Pusha talks about how he's a lowlife piece of shit and proud of it.
Advantage: Big Daddy Kane
I really want to know. I couldn't stand "Mr Jones" but my 6-4 was great and so was Like what I got. If he made an entire album like LWIG I'm pretty sure I'd play it on repeat for the rest of the year.
Yeah, as far as I know the album got shelved...which is a shame for my dude Salih Williams who produced much of it. My 6-4 remains as amazing though.
Almost the same story for Chingo's album. Salih produced Like This and Like That, it got crazy radio spins down here, then the album completely flopped.
Go figure...