I’ve prA’Li never posted a drop on this site which was favorable to T.I. Up until now that is. As I listened to ‘Big Beast’ on repeat I realized that T.I. had the strongest verse on the song. Initially, I was in awe of Bun B placing the word ‘onomatopoeia’ in a rap song. That shit has six(6) syllables and is hard as fux to spell and say.
But as I kept listening to the song it was T.I. who deftly crafted his verse and sprayed it with over a dozen polysyllabic words (14). His verses total word count was 168 so that means every 12 words he averaged one that was longer than three syllables. I consider that average rap music mastery considering that the white gawd of rap lyrics comes in at about 18 words for every polysyllabic word.
This isn’t T.I.’s defining average for polysyllabic word usage but it is his best by my record so I salute him for his efforts at redefining Southern rap themes in my eyes(ears)…
“In a six, I’m riding with a pistol grip, banana clip
From Simpson Road to Adamsville, I’m repping this Atlanta shit
Nigga trying to handle up, let’s see can they handle this
A hundred round at em, that ain’t no Louisiana shit
Drinking on that Hennessey, blowing on that cannabis
AmeriKKKa’s nightmare, trap nigga fantasy
A record full of felonies, searching for a better me
But choppers go off in my hood like Iraq, Cuba, Tel Aviv
Pretty nigga, let him be — fuck him, shorty
Sucker nigga I’ll never be, don’t give a fuck about it
Quick to round up on that Audi, make em get the fuck up out it
Nigga better be about it, he deserve it he allow it
What’s a coward to a kamikaze?
He ain’t robbed a man, ain’t predator or prey; the law of nature where I stay
I catch you slipping with that K, ain’t no illusion, no confusion
Better come up off that cake and all that jewelry or you’re snoozing”
Peep T.I. kick his verse in the official video for the track from Killer Mike’s phenomenal album ‘R.A.P. Music’ which currently gets my nod for best Hip-Hop album of 2012.
Still not fuxing with T.I. Dudes bars are weak sauce.
Fuck what d-bag just said … That shit was dope sauce !!! As a dood from the south (florida) who listened and fell in love with rap before the “south” sound was around this is refreshing … And as a long time fan of company flow I am even more happy that el-p is involved …. The world needs more of this ! Saluuuuute to hip hop culture fuck the hip hop vultures
Dialectable, talk to me when T.I. Has some longevity in the game. Dude will not be here much longer. He already faded out from when he first began.
Please tell me dialectable what T.I. Said that was so amazing, same shit over and over.
I’m not rolling around with T.I. On repeat or nothing I’m just saying that most of the “south” music is simple cat in the hat type raps with the same 15 popular words just jumbled around ? … Most mc’s nowa days don’t understand how to rhyme on the syllable or just don’t because its labeled as to complex when the silly mortals have to actually listen to the song to understand it .. It’s just nice to see these cats step outside the box a little bit … Also I do not rap so I’m not judging as if I can do better I’m coming from a fan of hip hop perspective …. A fan of Kool g rap , Sean price , roc Marc , ka , NAS , skyzoo , large pro , Rasheed chapelle , action Bronson shit like that … I’m sure your prolly a rapper no ? If you are direct me to your music so I can hear some amazing shit
I don’t fux with T.I. on the regulack either but the verse above that is transcribed is fire. The construction of that shit is impossible for most rappers nowadays and I’m glad that T.I. showed with proof he has those skills
Dialectable, I’m not a rapper. I fux with the same rappers you do but let’s just call it what it is. T.I. Came with a so so verse, you and Dallas like it and that’s that. It’s just a matter of opinion. If anyone who is consistantly ill like Jadakiss, Sean P, Roc Marci, etc. Spit some shit you like that you would wonder what happened to their pen game. I guess the verse was hot for T.I. I don’t listen to T.I. So I guess I can’t judge you and Dallas got me.
After my last post I decided to listen to the track. Im not going to lie there are few people in the south I fux with. I felt like Bun B had the hottest verse.
You wanna front, what, jump up and get bucked
If you’re feeling lucky duck then press your luck
I snatch fake gangster MCs and make ’em faggot flambé
Your nine spray, my mind spray
MALIGNANT mist that’ll leave comp defunkt
The result’s your remains stuffed in a car trunk
You couldn’t come to the jungles of the East popping that yang
You won’t survive get live catching wreck is our thing
I don’t gang bang or shoot out bang bang
The RELENTLESS lyrics the only dope I slang
I’m a true master you can check my CREDENTIALS
Cause I choose to use my INFINITE POTENTIAL
Got a freaky, freaky, freaky freaky flow
Control the mic like Fidel Castro locked Cuba
So deep that you can’t scuba dive
My jive’s origin is unknown like the Jubas
I’ve ACCUMULATED honeys all across the map
Cause I’d rather bust a nut than bust a cap
In your back in fact my rap snaps your SACROLILIAC
I’m the mack so I don’t need to tote a Mac
My attack is purely mental and its nature’s not hate
It’s meant to wake ya up out of your brainwashed state
Stagnate nonsense, for if you persist
You’ll get your snotbox bust you press up on this
I flip, hoes dip, none of the real niggas skip
You don’t know enough math to count the mics that I’ve ripped
Peep the Dirty Rotten scamp as his verbal weapons spit
— Jeru “Come Clean” (you know what I’m listening to tonight)
the metric doesn’t work out so well because Jeru’s brilliant use of repetition ups the word count but if we give bonus points for
* faggot flambe
* Fidel Castro locked Cuba
* scuba dive
* “unknown like the Jubas”
etc it’s still way up there…
also, @Dialectable:
I was a big Kool G. Rap fan but I think it’s unfair to NOT call his ass out for almost everything since DJ Polo split… The Columbia album was OK but it’s where his silly cartoon gangster persona came to the fore. On those first three albums, KGR was a complete MC/artist… Latterly– which has been a long time now– he’s just another clown watching “Scarface” too many times and avoiding any semblance of person expression in his work. Fucking “Giancana Story” my half-Italian, half-Guyanese ass…
SAUSAGE ROTI FTW
I hate to say it but rap is on life support these days. There are few cats who are really going in hardbody (Sean P, Roc Marci, Mayhem Lauren). I’m not even talking about dudes wear girls skinny jeans or all the lame southern rap out either because I don’t even pay it any mind and it wont be around much longer anyway. I find my self more into listening to podcasts (The Combat Jack Show of course, Tacos and Chocolate Milk, and The Perfect Ten Podcast, starring Ralphie May and his wife Lahna Turner, shit is hilarious). If I do listen to music these days it’s either som soul, funk, or classical when I’m in the whip with my 19 month old son.
Spare rib I tend not to say anything on the interwebs I wouldn’t say to someone in real life so I personally will not be calling Kool g rap out on anything but other than that “riches royalty respect ” is a solid album in my opinion … And the reason I brought him up originally is cause he helped pioneer the multi syllable rhyme formula … Other than that (to build on t bags statement ) I feel that all that is wrong in hip hop is cats #1 not following the rules (yes there are rules) #2 cats NOT RESPECTING THE PIONEERS !!!!!! I’m sure you a cool cat in real life T but this spare rib dood is everything I hate about the internet world gtfoh I am done here
Come on Dialectable, step it up. There are NO rules– if there were, the art form would never exist, nor would it have advance. Are you one of those folks beefing with DP because he reps “808s & Heartbreaks” & Kid Cudi? How much Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron do you KNOW? How much Langston Hughes? James Baldwin? Zora Neale Hurston?
re: KGR, explain to me how Nathaniel had a greater range of subject matter and greater range of reference on his first three albums (with DJ Polo) than all of his subsequent albums and their black mafioso bullshit combined? Dudes’s career– and life?– clearly went awry after “4, 5, 6” but instead of addressing that in a creative, personal way, G. turned into a cartoon gangster… Pitiful!
Especially when NYC and elsewhere were teeming with REAL fucking gangsters– NONE of whom I valorize but the bodies, money, indictments, convictions and lifetime bids are all out there to study if you care to. If KGR still has flashes of technique, he has ZERO soul, which is the main reason nobody is checking for old mouf, your imaginary “rules” be damned.
@TBag– the similarities between Warren C. and Sean P. have to do with music, art and cultural geography; Warren being Canarsie dude and Sean being from B’ville means they have WAAAAAAAAAAY more in common than any difference they might have re: holes and what to put in them.
I can’t make it happen but I bet real life Warren and real life P (not his dumbed down rap interview persona) would have a GREAT conversation… Unfortunately, we don’t live in a culture that would make that happen.