Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I, and M.I.A…MONSTERS. Who would have that that the four man (and girl) team that was assembled in 2008 would still be making noise in 2011. This was not only a foreshadowing of the future to come, but a pivotal point in the history of Hip-Hop. With that being said I’m going to take each of the artists lyrics from the ’08 hit and correlate it with each of their careers today.
“How it feel to wake up and be the s*** and the urine.”
It’s been three years and Ye is still waking up feeling like human defecation. Since ’08 Kanye has come out with two solid albums, 808’s and heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. 808’s sold 450,145 copies the first week with 1.63 million copies sold later in the U.S. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a groundbreaking album for Kanye spending 3 Million total on expenses for this master iece. We could talk about how it sold 496,000 copies the first week, or how it had four Billboard chart topping singles (Power, All of the Lights, Monster, Runaway), but the reason why this platinum album became a staple in the music industry was because of the essence of every instrumental made along with background vocals were created by professional artist. This album had collaborations from Jeff Bhasker, The RZA, no I.D. , Mike Dean, Raekwon, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Charlie Wilson, Swizz Beats, CyHi Da Prince, Big Sean, Dwele, Nicki Minaj, Common, Jay-z, Bon Iver, Mos Def, Alicia Keys, Beyonce Knowles, Kid Cudi, Tony Williams and others.
“Swagger on a hundred, thousand, trillion!”
Kanye west’s womens’ wear line, Dw Kanye West, made it’s debut on fashion week this year. Ye teamed up with designer Louise Goldin, and Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci. His style and choice of fashion has sparked interest in both designers and fashionistas alike. Wether in Paris or on Tumblr, Kanye has made himself out to be a fashion guru in the eyes of top designers as well as fans.
“Gotta bop like this, Cant wear skinny jeans cause my knots don’t fit”
On June of ’09 Jay-Z , along with Kanye West, thought up to record a song called D.O.A (Death of Autotune) after hearing the instrumental no I.D. had just sent for Hov’s new album Blueprint 3. The song title is a reference to the medical term D.O.A which means Death on Arrival which i thought sufficed with the message of the song. He also gave ode to B.I.G with a reference of “You’re Nobody (Till Somebody Kills You) and a line from his freestyle on the wake up show. This track was like the final roll call for autotune and all things with it (bright colored clothes, skinny jeans, etc.) If you guys don’t know Jay by now he doesn’t just have his hands in music. He’s not a business man he’s a business, man! Jay has become an entrepreneur by his own right by starting brand Rocca Wear,Rocca Fella, Roc Nation, and this year has bought half of Pharrell’s line BBC. He’s been featured on Forbes magazine as well as an interview along side with Warren Buffett.
“Where the niggas know you thorough and the girls say yes (yes)”
“Beyonce voice” haha, sorry had to do that. If you don’t know by now Beyonce is having a baby and Hova is the baby-daddy! She “announced” it after her performance to “Love on Top” on the ’11 MTV awards after she showed the world her baby bump, all the girls say “awwww” and the guys say “Dang Jay you lucky foo.” Guess he’s leaving the life of countless women in his benz to a wife and kid whippin in the mini-van; although I doubt Jay would ever purchase a mini-van he’s probably just rig another Maybach to suit the kids.
“When it comes to styles I got several”
I’m just going to state my opinion when I say that Wayne had the weakest bars on this song. Hate me for not being a fan of his wordplay but when you’re in a song with the likes of Jigga, Yezzy, and TIP, you have to bring it harder than “Church, but I’m too clean for the choir.” Ok, I’m done, back to the lyrics. What Wayne does have is the ability to branch out to many different genres and explore his likes through music. Youtube have been blasted with videos of Weezy riding skateboards, hanging out with the renegades and so on. I’m a fan of exploring new things and creating new talent, just as long as we all know though that Weezy wasn’t the first hip-skater out there; let’s not forget about Pharrell Williams. He has also branched out music-wise by making a “rock-inspired” album called “Rebirth” in ’10 and his single “How to Love” which debuted in the album “The Carter IV.” Wayne’s fans love it. And I’m not saying it’s all bad because Wayne has definitely been a staple to the Hip-Hop industry, but if you know your Hip-Hop knowledge you’d know that Ye’s “808’s and Heartbreak” was a more experimental and melodic feel than his previous albums, Lupe Fiasco has an animated band that is centered on rock music called “Japanese Cartoon”, and Pharrell was skating before it was cool for a black dude to do it.
“Write your name on the bullet make you feel special”
Here’s something I can say about Wayne, the dude’s a wordplay monster. His punchlines are one of the most prominent in the game today and once you think he’s said it every way and angle, he comes out with another mixtape. His consistency is like no one else’s. He’d make a mixtape in a coma and by the time he wakes up it’d be time for “The Carter V.”
“You go see Weezy for the wordplay,Jeezy for the birdplay, Kanyeezy for diversity and me for controversy”
How did he do it! Four monsters of Hip-Hop on one track like that? I want to know the money involved or the deal that was made because if you think back at that time period and you look at these artist, they were all popping off back then too. This collaboration was definitely needed and, like I said, will forever be instilled as one of the most well done, smart, and relevant tracks in Hip-Hop history.
“Living revolutionary, nothing less than legendary”
Let’s all face it and be honest with ourselves, T.I.’s career didn’t really go as planned for him. With countless charges and jail time, T.I. didn’t go as big as he could have. He’s a great lyricist with a lot to say but when you’re in jail there is no one to hear it. I’m a fan of T.I., but I know he’s looking back at things he could have done better.
“No one on the corner got swagger like us, Swagger like us Swagger, Swagger like us”
And finally the glue that held the song together. I’ll admit though M.I.A was probably the reason I stopped listening to this song, the instrumental was way too repetitive. Her single “Paper Planes” began to pop of when it aired on the trailer for “Pineapple Express.” People saw it as the weed song of the year at that point, well of course until weed rappers stole it’s shine. But, nonetheless, this collaboration should be something memorable for her. To get to work with such great artists like that is something I only dream about doing. Not to mention she performed this while being pregnant at the Grammys!
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