Re: Nas - "Who Killed It?" Decoded Part I First let me say that this is one of the densest records I've ever heard... and the 30s detective voice / slang makes it even denser... first off, the clear link between the girl and hip-hop needs to be established... they are one... give credit to Common, cause this is a metaphor that dies hard... Rakim's "I Ain't No Joke" bass line sets the perfect backdrop, know that there are mad hip-hop references in this... First line..."Look here she, pretty Mic Shank, Two Face Al, Lois and Gal"Nas is defining hip-hop's identity... 3 styles... first the hard core underground... Mic Shank... the shank, weapon of the prisons... grimy as it gets... so the mic's a weapon... a tool of the underprivileged... a way to get what they desire through force... this is hip-hop essence, the hustle... at the same time it's sharp, precise, deadly... pretty, but not in a pretty way... Two Face Al... the contradictory nature of hip-hop... the conscious lyrics, the nihilistic lyrics... Nas himself... the commercialism combined with the incessant drive to keep it real... two faces... the duality... is it good for the culture or bad? Lois and Gal... the female element... the mainstream... the club tracks... the dance tracks... strip music... grind music... love rap.... dirty rap... the yang... but the yang that's been corrupted and disrespected... "Body found dead in the als, death by strangulation, microphone cord, a dirty broad"Hip-hop is dead... found in an alley... "death by strangulation"... no more air... no room for the real to breathe... coked by the microphone cords of pretenders, hustlers, false MCs... "a dirty broad"... dirty... innocence gone... sold soul for money... "Guess they'll never play it again Sam, damn that was my jam"Reference to the film "Casablanca", "play it again Sam" is what Bogart's character tells the black piano player Sam... hip hop is black music... Nas' music... and now the real is gone... dead... never to be played again... Nas is remorseful, "damn that was my jam"... he acknowledges that he plays a role in hip-hop's death..."Now she's on the lam, she made it out with 200 grand"Reference to the real MCs going independent... "on the lam"... on the lam from major labels... (ie AZ)... "made it out with 200 grand"... ball park figure for how much popular indie rappers make off a strong release... "What a scam" ... saying these MCs deserve more than 200k... "while these two compete on who's the star of the show" - him and Jay-Z"Golden legs there makes off with the doe" golden legs = white legs = white people. White label execs to be specific... get the majority of sales from rap, while artists get raped on their deals... "I read the paper there with Joe the butcher" Joe the butcher = Fat Joe... butcher = unrefined... hacks at his tracks like meat... subliminal gettin at Joe for dissin Nas for signin to Def Jam... nevertheless he acknowledges Joe's criticism... "said one glance is all it took ya - she's a real looker," Fat Joe sayin Nas has been takin in by lure of money... one glance from that angle of hip-hop, the big money corporate angle, is all it took for Nas to sign... Nas admits this, he too is about the paper... "They say her old man's a bootlegger"Hip-hop's father are the classics of Motown, Jazz, the Blues... her father is also the creator of her tracks... the producers who sample these old songs... illegitimately recreating them... illicit resales... bootleggin... "transportin to whoever, and at this rate we'll never get her"Samples used without discretion or respect to "whoever"... "at this rate we'll never get her"... if this continues, we'll never recover hip-hop... "Fellows think I'll call it a night, all this talk of this mystery dame's getting me tight" Nas acknowledges that the question of who killed hip hop and her true identity may be beyond his comprehension... same thing he's said in interviews "I bit off more than I could chew by declaring Hip Hop is Dead"...
Re: Nas - "Who Killed It?" Decoded Part I good read, and some nice insight into the song, first time I heard it, it got me thinking a bit about this. But now it seems a bit clearer
Re: Nas - "Who Killed It?" Decoded Part I I never knew lyrics were so deep and well-thought. Great job by him
Re: Nas - "Who Killed It?" Decoded Part I I still think the the voice is weird good write up by whoever had the time though.
