In the wake of the emerging “beef/drama/sillyness” between Soulja Boy and Ice-T [click to read], we at DX thought it necessary to drop a little science regarding the true value inherent in Hip Hop lyricism.

Hip Hop (music), like other art forms has entertainment value. No question about it. However, what often gets overlooked (particularly by young folks with no sense of history) is that Hip Hop is also THE way that more than two generations of marginalized Americans have expressed their pain, glory, anger, lust, bitterness, beauty, love and humanity. Whether it’s Kool Herc’s innovative approach to infusing verbal messages with beats, Lil X’s mind-blowing music video cinematography, or Lil Wayne’s hilarious linguistic improvisation; creativity translates into entertainment, and thank god for it.

But.

I’d argue that Hip Hop as entertainment is merely a by-product of the continuing imaginative genius that artists employ in order to gain the attention of listening/viewing public. Hip Hop is predicated on intellectualism, and to deny such is to rob a culture of its dignity by essentially reducing it to the mindless, iterative garble that largely rules the airwaves today. I believe that what we’re seeing with the conflict between Ice-T and Soulja Boy is the inevitable reckoning of a culture resisting the ignorant (if innocent) attempts by new-comers to disgrace that which many people hold sacred.

That said, rather than take sides on this issue, I’d like to use this as an opportunity to illustrate just how fucking spiritual Hip Hop can be. Thus, in this "Best Verse Ever" series Get Your Mind Right will offer interpretive readings of the top three rap-verses of all time, according to none-other than yours truly. My hope is that those that don’t know will recognize and that those who do know will critique. And it goes a little something like this…

Best Verse Ever: #3
Jay-Z
"Get By (Remix)"

"Nigga…just to get by/ nigga I sold coke/ nigga I pusha la/ carried the 4-5./ Claimed I was Ready to Die/ promised never to cry/ held it all inside/ reality was too much to take so I / kept my mind fried/ slept for most of mine/ soon as I closed my eyes…/ then I woke up behind/ thinking either I’d/ load up these nines/ or blow-up with rhymes/ so this flow of mine/ is like blow-up with lines of coke-up/ and you folks think Hov just wrote stuff to rhyme?/ naw, I’m a poster for what happens seeing your mom/ doing five dollars worth of work just to get a dime/ so pardon my disposition/ why should I listen/ to a system that never listened to me?/ picture me working McDonald’s/ I’d rather pull a Mac on you/ Sorry Ms. Jackson, but I’m packin'."

Much has been written about Jay-Z. We all know the story: Born and bred in Brooklyn, Jay-Z rose from a life of roaches, rats and crime to become one of America’s all-time great rags-to-riches stories. Indeed, few individuals have had such a polarizing effect on the game. Worshiped by millions and demonized by millions more, Shawn Carter epitomizes the multiplicity of the human spirit and serves as a provocative case study of the interactive influence of environment on human development. Said another way, Jay-Z provides us a with fascinating look at how one’s environment can collectively shape the course of people’s lives while simultaneously producing individuality by nurturing the resilient spirit characteristic of the black ethos inherited from an African ancestry.

This verse captures all of that.

"Nigga…just to get by/ nigga I sold coke/ nigga I pusha la/ carried the 4-5"…There are some that believe that there is no such thing as crime; only individuals who are pushed to the brink by circumstances which limit their ability to survive. No clearer illustration of this philosophy can be seen than the multiple media accounts of New Orleans residents being vilified as “looters” less than 24 hours after the flooding from Katrina began, simply for searching for food and drinkable water among the devastated supermarkets and abandoned grocery stores. On the surface this could be construed as crime, but another perspective is to look to those decision-makers in control of the resources and acknowledge that in many cases, people are literally left no choice but to take what they have been unjustly denied…just to get by.

Claimed I was Ready to Die/ promised never to cry/ held it all inside/ reality was too much to take so I / kept my mind fried/ slept for most of mine…In the Hebrew Book of Proverbs there is a verse that reads: "Before honor comes humility." If ever there was humility in Hip Hop, it is in Jay’s candid confession of his supposed ambition to take over for his friend and mentor the late great Notorious B.I.G. Note the ambiguously brilliant allusion to Biggie’s classic masterpiece as both a tribute to B.I.G. and a vulnerable admission that not only was he unable to accept his fate the way that Biggie did, but that he was also not as great as his heralded predecessor. Following that is the sort of objective commentary on the mind-numbing role of alcohol, drugs, television, etc. rarely seen in products made for mass consumption.

"...then I woke up behind/ thinking either I’d/ load up these nines/ or blow-up with rhymes/ so this flow of mine/ is like blow-up with lines of coke-up/ and you folks think Hov just wrote stuff to rhyme?" Comparing one’s rhymes with illicit drugs is perhaps as old as Hip Hop itself. In fact, our vernacular is full of ready-made similes for linking the two, not to mention the myriad emcees with aliases taken directly from the drug world (e.g. Escobar, Frank White, "the snowman," Joey Crack, Pusha T, Noreaga, etc). But the merit in these bars is that Jay-Z effortlessly leverages his patented double entendre in order to highlight the economic value attached to both drugs and rap music. One has to wonder whether Jay himself understood the many parallels between the two (both are stereotypically Black domain yet consumed largely by Whites, both are hood staples that originate outside of the hood itself, both can get you killed, etc). In any case, we see the origins of Jay-Z’s hustler persona- the “I-will-not-lose” philosophy that countless fans emulate and adore. In fact, the theme of being more than what Marcy made him permeates much of his music (we don’t have time to get into it here), and so it is fitting that Jay-Z simplifies his options for success down to 1) a life of crime and violence or 2) rap. The last line effectively chastises the listener and would-be critic for approaching Jay’s work as mere entertainment. In rhetorical fashion Jay demands that we see him for what he is, a professional at work. Continued on page 2 »