January 30, 2008 | Tags: lupe fiasco, dumb it down, the cool

As many of you (should) know, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool was one of my favorite albums of 2007. In a post on my Blogspot upon the leak of his debut Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor, I briefly touched on why he's so far ahead of his peers, but a revisited in-depth listen to "Dumb It Down" makes me feel obligated to do so again. While speaking to my man Alias on the phone last night, we were chopping it up about how the first verse of the song really breaks down his relevance and existence in the rap game through the song. My blogging homie J Burnett [1] said that when he interviewed Lupe for XXL, that he said that he intentionally made this track as complex as possible, but once you really absorb it, it's crazy. The verse (taken from OHHLA, whattup Flash!), with reference points bolded:

I'm fearless, now hear this, I'm earless (less)
and I'm peerless (less), which means I'm eyeless
which means I'm tearless which means my iris
resides where my ears is, which means I'm blinded
But I'ma find it, I can feel it's nearness
But I'ma veer so I don't come near
Like a chicken or a deer, but I remember
I'm not a listener or a seer so my windshield smear
Here you steer, I really shouldn't be behind this
Clearly cause my blindness; the windshield is min-strel
The whole grill is roadkill, so trill and so sincere
Yeah, I'm both them there
Took both pills, when a bloke in a trench coat
and the locs in the chair had approached him here
And he clear as a ghost, so a biter of the throats in the mirror
The writer of the quotes for the ghosts
who supplier of the notes to the living
Riveting is rosy, pockets full of posies
Given to the mother of the deceased
Awaken at war, 'til I'm restin' in peace

Lupe claims that he's earless and eyeless, which means he's so far off from what's going on around him in the industry, that he's relatively oblivious to it - he can't see or hear it. He also claims that he's peerless, slyly implying that he's ahead of the curve. The car in the song is a metaphor for hip-hop, and where it's going. He says he's going to find "it," meaning the rap industry and his place in it, but that he's also trying to stay away from it, like a chicken or a deer.

Lupe's "not a listener or a seer, so [his] windshield smear(s)" - he's too far off to understand/comply with where hip-hop is going, so his viewpoint is unclear. So, he sarcastically suggests, "Here you steer, I really shouldn't be behind this, clearly cause my blindness": essentially, "Hey, why don't you [place rapper here] go ahead and do this rap shit, because I'm somewhere else." He then basically says that rap's windshield is some minstrel show shit (word to LB), and that it's so misguided itself that the car's whole grill is full of roadkill - also implying that it's run over emcees like him who are a chicken or a deer, and dare to do things differently.

With this struggle between staying away from an industry that seems so offbase from his own beliefs and wanting to find his place, he cleverly alludes to The Matrix, when Neo had to choose between two pills to determine his destiny and that of the other world: Lupe took both. And this struggle will forever haunt him - "Awaken at war, 'till I'm restin' in peace."

Give me a late pass if y'all want, or if this was painstakingly obvious to y'all all along. But with how much I was already amazed at the wordplay, rhyme schemes and delivery in the verse, I'm trippin' even more at how metaphoric that shit is once I break it down. Mr. Editor, sir, have Lupe read this and let me know how accurate/inaccurate my interpretation is to his original intentions, 'cause I wanna know.

Do you guys have any interpretations of the meaning behind the last two verses? Also, any other verses you guys had to revisit much later befofre you really understand what the fuck he/she was saying?

--
[1] Yes, I linked to both of his blogs. Dude's doing his thing.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Speech Is My Hammer�s Top 5 Dame Dash Moments

January 28, 2008 | Tags: none

Dame Dash has always been one of my favorite figures in hip-hop. Granted, he was with the Roc in the late 90s/early 2000s, when I was first getting into hip-hop and Jay-Z was my favorite rapper. But even though he’s one of the figures who was prominent during the time which many believe hip-hop was on its downfall, he remains one of my favorite people in the industry to this day. Dude was incredibly funny, but unlike a lot of hip-hop figures now, he also balanced his goofiness with an intellect that made you laugh with him instead of laughing at him. Plus, dude was actually having fun while so many of his peers were/are busy trying to look hard. Pause on this post, and I know the timing is random as fuck, but I present: Speech Is My Hammer’s Top 5 Dame Dash Moments.

5.) AllHipHop’s documentary/shadow of Dash.

An example of Dame Dash’s humor and swag. Along with showing how he made his successful ascension in the music/business world, classic moments include his complaints about being given the wrong kind of private jet, and his love for the dough. “I like all kind of money. I like the Dollar. I like the Euro. I like the Pound. I like the Frank, pause! I like the Yen..."

4.) Dash’s entire music video career.

This cat constantly stole the show in his music videos. My Cultural Vibe cohost J-Young the General says that the Big Pimpin dance was Dash’s top moment ever, but I contend that his best music video appearance was at the beginning of Cam’ron’s “Oh Boy” video, when he’s humorously berating chicks on either side of him. “You’re really just gonna put your feet next to my cereal? Are you serious?”

3.) Dame Dash’s words for Kevin Lyles in the Backstage DVD.

I haven’t seen this, but apparently dude clowned Kevin Lyles, saying that Def Jam was simply hopping on the train that Roc-A-Fella had already got going. For dude to do that on camera, and to Lyles’ face, is nothing short of hilarious.

2.) Dash’s “Rocapads” skit on Chappelle’s Show.

This is a classic moment in hip-hop history, IMO. This captured all that is Dame Dash – the blatant name-dropping, the silly-though-enterprising business acumen, the charismatic mannerisms, the classic quotables. This could’ve been pulled off with other hip-hop figures, but no one would’ve been nearly as funny with this. “So if your period’s dropping, we catch it. Yanahmean!”

1.) Dame Dash & Cam’ron’s appearance on The O’Reilly Factor.

In territory where rappers are notoriously stultified, Dash and Cam teamed up to handle themselves well and to give O’Reilly a taste of his own medicine. Cam’ron handled the ignorant factor (the original occurrence of the infamous, “You maaaaaaaaaad, you maaaaaaaaad!”), while Dame brought intellect along with humor. They didn’t necessarily solve any hip-hop problems with this, but kudos are due to them actually holding their own against Bill O’Reilly without looking like complete idiots, along with being stupidly entertaining. This gets my #1 spot. "I thought you were mediating? ... Bill! Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill!"

Honorable Mention: His entire existence in the State Property films, his overzealous cackle at the beginning of "Bring It On," and his mini-cameo in "Paid In Full."

What are you guys' Top Dame Dash moments?

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Video of the year.

January 16, 2008 | Tags: none

I don't know whether to cry or to laugh at this shit. But since I've been in a bad mood and I'm battling the flu, I'm going with the latter.

Highlights:

-Shorty in the shiny suit dancing with the aliens.
-"Tickle the cat."
-Dubya smacking ass, while giving his thumbs up approval to said ass and, presumably, to Mike Jones.

Classic.

EDIT: Props to Eskay, I saw this vid there first.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

So Ya Boy's Doin' Radio Now...

January 15, 2008 | Tags: none

What’s good? I try to stay away from the whole self-promotion thing in Speech Is My Hammer for the most part, but I’m too excited about this to keep it to myself. Plus, y’all have always supported me in my endeavors (‘preciate it!), so I figured I’d let y’all know.

Starting this month, me and my man JYoung The General are the latest hosts to Cultural Vibe, a radio station through Michigan State University. Every Saturday night from 8-11, we’ll be playing hip-hop and R&B, and we’ll be having guests come in to give us interviews about what they’ve got going on. With my credentials—interviewing your favorite emcees, freelancing for nationally-circulated mags, and blogging/writing for the best hip-hop site on the net—and his credentials—being a dope emcee, ghostwriter, and part of a producer tandem that fucks with the Dips—this was the perfect fit. Our first show was on Saturday, so let me swagger jack AHLOT (whattup ma!) and get my photojournalism on.

From left: William Ketchum aka The Critic aka For The Right Price, I Can Even Make YOUR Radio Show Tighter! and JYoung the General

(Wale's "Nike Boots" remix w/Lil Wayne just came on. That beat is just stupid.)

Getting comfortable with the mic. Pause.

Crate-digging (for lack of a better term)

SMH.

Also, here’s my two playlists (his was in a text file, but this should give you an idea of what we’re fucking with).

I’ve got one more self-promotion spot coming up by the end of the month, but tune in to the show if you can (http://www.impact89fm.org/, and click on "Listen Live!"...the online streaming was down during our first show, but we're hoping it'll be back up soon). Even if you can’t, give the homie some feedback: What do y’all like about radio, and what do y’all hate? What do y’all think radio needs to work on? What do y'all wanna hear? Answers, niggas!

And I’ve got some blog ideas in the oven, too. Hopefully at least one will be up by the end of the week.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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Blogs

Speech Is My Hammer...

Lupe Fiasco, "Dumb It Down": Revisited

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Speech Is My Hammer�s Top 5 Dame Dash Moments

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Video of the year.

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So Ya Boy's Doin' Radio Now...

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