Maybe it’s because I’m convalescing on a Saturday night , as weary as Weezy’s hook, or maybe it’s my time-tested affinity for gangster melancholia, but right now, I’m ready to go with “My Life” as my pick for the best rap single to see radio play in ’08. I’ve always found the auto-tune craze largely an unoriginal device generally used by Roger Troutman-aping artists eager to mask an inherent lack of charisma (salutations, T-Pain). But of late, both Kanye (“Put It On,”) and Wayne (“My Life,”) have successfully transcended its cheap schtick, making it less about “Hey, Now I Can Sound Like A Robot,” and more about how to utilize it for extreme emotional resonance.
Right now, I prefer the LP version to the original leak for the slightly more universalist message Game tacks on, sneering, “Fuck Jesse Jackson. It’s not about race now.” What I love about this song is that you don’t have to grow up in the hood to appreciate Game’s story. It’s about more than just simply geography or simply poverty, it’s about a sense of struggle and how to approach distant dreams with a tireless and triumphalist attitude. Though, god knows we didn’t need another “I was listening to The Chronic” name-drop from Jayceon Taylor.
Download:
MP3: The Game ft. Lil Wayne-”My Life”
16 comments
Tray says:
August 17, 2008 at 12:21 am (UTC -7)
Okay, nice triumphalist attitude, but he namedrops twenty rappers in the first ten seconds of the song! I mean, what is it about this guy that he can’t talk about himself without relating his experiences to those of dead performing artists? Seriously, let’s break this nonsense down. He starts out like so:
“Take me away from the hood in the casket or a Bentley
Take me away
Like I overdosed on cocaine”
Car Brand Namedrop No. 1.
“Take me away like a bullet from Kurt Cobain
Suicide (suicide, suicide)”
Oh no – is someone having “Suicidal Thoughts”? Don’t worry, Game will go there shortly…
“I’m from a Windy City, like Do or Die”
Apparently Game has so little to say that he fills up his bars with namedrops of obscure midwestern rap groups that confuse the listener into thinking he’s from Chicago. Fortunately anyone who’s ever listened to another one of his songs knows he’s from COMPTON, COMPTON, COMPTON. Home of Cube, Yella, Eazy, Dre, Ren, The Arabian Prince, and street knowledge.
“From a block close to where Biggie was crucified”
But just in case this is your first experience with Game’s smooth lyrical stylings, he clears that up – by mentioning another dead performing artist! You’d think the Guinness Book of World Records was giving out awards for most dead rappers mentioned in one song or something.
“That was Brooklyn’s Jesus
Shot for no fuckin’ reason”
As long as we’re talking about Biggie, let’s talk about him! Doesn’t matter that he’s not what the fucking song is supposed to be about.
“And you wonder why Kanye wears Jesus pieces?”
Huh? You lost me. Is this some kind of word association game? Is Game undergoing Freudian analysis?
“Cause that’s Jesus, people
And The Game, he’s the equal”
We come full circle!
“Hated on so much, The Passion of Christ need a sequel”
Biggie = Jesus = Kanye = Jesus = Game = Jesus.
“Yeah, like Roc-a-fella needed Sigel”
Just like that! Wait…
what is like that? Oh…
the movie needs a sequel like Roc-A-Fella needed Sigel. So clever, and it rhymes!
“Like I needed my father, but he needed a needle
I need some meditation, so I can leave my people”
Does “my father” count as a namedrop? And in case you’ve lost track:
Passion Of Christ needing a sequel
is like
Roc-A-Fella needing Sigel
which is “like”
Game needing his father (who needed a needle)
but not so much like
Game needing meditation (???) so he can leave his people. Game: Miley Cyrus’s SAT prep teacher in his spare time.
“They askin’ “Why?” Why did John Lennon leave The Beatles?
And why every hood nigga feed off evil?”
Game really wanted to mention Jadakiss here, but that wouldn’t have helped his pursuit of the Record For Most Dead Musicians Mentioned in One Rap Song, and John Lennon is dead, so…
“Answer my question before this bullet leave this Desert Eagle”
Game will gun you down if you’re not up on your Beatles trivia.
[Wayne warbling into autotune while Game leafs through ego trip's book of rap lists in search of list of dead rappers]
“We are not the same, I am a Martian”
From namedropping dead rappers, we pivot to allusions to bad songs, for 500 please.
“So approach my Phantom doors with caution”
Car Brand Namedrop No. 2.
“You see them 24′s spinnin’? I earned them
And all the pictures of me and Em, I burned them”
Logical progression of thought.
“So there ain’t no proof that I ever walked through 8 Mile
And since there ain’t no Proof, I never walked through 8 Mile”
Pivots back to dead rappers.
“Sometimes I think about my life with my face down”
Then he goes back to writing cards for Hallmark.
“Then I see my sons and put on that Kanye smile
Damn, I know his momma’s proud
And since you helped me sell my “Dream,” we can share my momma now”
Pivots back to allusions to bad songs. [On a serious note, only Game is so committed to name-dropping that he discusses sharing his momma with a random momma-less producer. Did Kanye even do this beat? If not, why is the whole song about him?]
“And like MJB, ‘No More Drama’ now”
Game would’ve worked in a reference to Dre-produced Family Affair instead, but that would violate the terms of the comprehensive restraining order Dre filed against him in COMPTON COMPTON COMPTON municipal court.
“Livin’ the good life, me and Common on common ground”
At first I thought Game had gotten Common confused with T-Pain (they both wear hats in their videos, albeit T-Pain’s are more of the Dr. Seuss variety), but then I remembered that seminal T.I./Common collabo. Game’s like an elephant – he never forgets – and like Noreaga, he carries bodies in his trunk.
“I spit crack and niggas could drive it outta town
Gotta Chris Paul mind state, I’m never outta bounds”
Chris Paul is neither dead, nor a rapper – as DMX once asked Cam, what’s really good?
“My life used to be empty like a glock without a round
Now my life full, like a chopper with a thousand rounds (Gunshots)”
The (Gunshots) represent the fullness of Game’s life.
[Wayne warbles some more as Game weighs in on SOHH as to who's better - Jay-Z or Nas.]
“Walk through the gates of Hell, see my Impala parked in front”
Car Brand Namedrop No. 3.
“The high beams on, me and the Devil share chronic blunts
Listening to the “Chronic” album, playing backwards
Shootin’ at pictures of Don Imus for target practice”
blah blah blah.
“My mind f**ked up, so I cover it with a Raider hood”
That way, we won’t be able to see into his mind with our x-ray vision and perceive its fucked-up-ness. (Headwear Namedrop No. 1.)
“I’m from the city that made you motherf**kers afraid of Suge (Compton… Compton…)”
A) You already told us where you’re from. Remember, where Biggie got crucified? A windy city?
B) COMPTON, COMPTON!
C) The city made us afraid of Suge??? I thought it was his menacing demeanor.
“Made my grandmother pray for good
And never made her happy, when I bet that new Mercedes could”
Car Brand Namedrop No. 4, Psychotic Non Sequitur No. 89423.
“Ain’t no bars, but niggas can’t escape the hood
They took so many of my niggas, that I should hate the hood
But it’s real niggas like me, that make the hood”
A little Juelz Santana circa 2003 flow for you.
“Ridin’ slow in that Phantom just the way I should
With the top back
In my Sox hat”
Car Brand No. 5, Headwear Namedrop No. 2.
“I’m paid in full, the nigga Alpo couldn’t stop that”
Couldn’t forget the cinema.
“Even if they brought the nigga ‘Pac back
I’d still keep this motherf**ker cocked back”
And you thought he’d go a whole song without mentioning Pac! Shame on you!
[Young Wayne On Them Hoes, AKA Mr. Make It Rain On Them Hoes wa-a-a-a-a-arbles some more while Game reads over restraining order from Dre, and, upon discovering said order forbids him from name-dropping not only Dre, but anyone on the Aftermath record label, records new version namedropping Erick Sermon and Jesse Jackson instead.]
Illusion says:
August 17, 2008 at 8:11 am (UTC -7)
Wow, Tray, that was such an unbelieveably funny analysis…hahaha, I’m still laughing at that.
This dude needs to guest post somewhere IMMEDIATELY.
Passion of the Weiss says:
August 17, 2008 at 8:12 am (UTC -7)
Really Funny stuff. I never said the lyrics were mind-bendingly brilliant. The name-drop thing is something you either can or can’t accept. I like the song’s feel and tone and think it just sounds good.
Also, I am from Los Angeles, the city that made us afraid of botox.
Scuba Steve says:
August 17, 2008 at 11:58 am (UTC -7)
Not every rapper has the verbal flexibility of Pharoahe Monch.
Tray says:
August 17, 2008 at 12:23 pm (UTC -7)
It’s not even that he name-drops too much, many other rappers whom I like make namedrop almost as much. I just feel that with Game, he doesn’t namedrop to make a point, or even to be clever (you certainly can’t call “here’s my Erick Sermon” wordplay), but rather, writes the song in order to give himself an excuse to namedrop. There’s no unifying concept here, it’s really just a list of rappers and songs everyone’s forgotten about but Game, strung together with these bizarre non-connections. For instance, Roc-A-Fella needed Sigel like Game needed his father. An ordinary bad lyricist would say something about how he needed his father like a fish needs water, like a nympho needs to be fucked, like Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown can’t breathe without air, etc. Game chooses to express his need for his father with an analogy to a record label’s need for a rapper it didn’t really even need. It’s an indescribably nutty way to say how much you needed a father in your life. But that isn’t even what Game is doing. What he’s really saying is much weirder. He’s not saying that he needed a father like the Roc needed Beans, he’s saying that they needed Beans like he needed a father. Game’s OWN LIFE just comes into play as a simile for Beans being needed by the Roc. And how did Beans even come up? Well, the Roc’s need for Beans is “like” The New Testament needing a sequel because Game is hated on just as much as Jesus Christ. With your typical simile-obsessed rapper, all the similes are still driven by the subject matter of the song (the Clipse sell so much crack like x, y, and z, Big L fucks so many women and drives so many cars like so and so, Chamillionaire is throwed like a frisbee); with Game, the song just follows whatever direction the similes/name-drops take him. It’s like every song he does is this unwitting parody of punchline rapping.
Trey Stone says:
August 17, 2008 at 3:28 pm (UTC -7)
in-depth analysis tray’s got going here, but i’m not concerned with Game’s usual poseur bullshit so much as i think this is one of those forced melodramatic songs that makes people like me skeptical whenever something in rap is hyped as “more meaningful” than your usual.
Passion of the Weiss says:
August 17, 2008 at 4:39 pm (UTC -7)
C’mon Trey, the one time I write a nice post about a Lil Wayne song and then nothing? I give up.
Trey Stone says:
August 17, 2008 at 6:29 pm (UTC -7)
lol. what can i say i always gotta go against the grain
nah but really, while the beat’s my biggest problem here, yeah i can’t say this is one of T-Wayne’s best moments. he’s been better at using the T-Pain effect to be weird/goofy than for emotional resonance. i admit i’m biased against Game because i think he’s the most no-personality, derivative rapper who gets both commercial and critical love, but i try to give the dude’s material a fair chance. sure i’ll have a post talking about him when his album comes out.
actually, while i was set on hating on it at first cuz liking anything with Linkin Park is totally uncool, Busta Rhymes’s “We Made It” is basically a better version of this song. not that Busta has a lot to do with that but still
Passion of the Weiss says:
August 17, 2008 at 6:38 pm (UTC -7)
He might be derivative but he can spit, he picks better beats than nearly any other commercially viable rapper and I think he does an excellent job of articulating what it’s like to be a dyed in the wool fan of Los Angeles hip-hop. I think he makes a lot more sense if you grew up in LA and lived through the pre and post Death Row years.
Though I don’t know what the fuck that “windy city” nonsense was. The Santa Anas last like three weeks a year tops.
Disco Vietnam says:
August 17, 2008 at 8:28 pm (UTC -7)
This album is a butterface
Tray says:
August 17, 2008 at 10:16 pm (UTC -7)
“I think he does an excellent job of articulating what it’s like to be a dyed in the wool fan of Los Angeles hip-hop.”
Yeah, that or a PR rep for whoever owns the rights to the Death Row catalogue. But seriously, he even fails as a LA hip-hop fan. His knowledge of the stuff is skin-deep. I never hear him talk about Above The Law, RBX, Lady of Rage, or even The Dogg Pound – it’s always Dre, Pac, Snoop, Suge, and NWA. It’s like if Joe Budden’s sports punchlines were exclusively about Magic and Jordan. We get it, they were great, shut up now. I don’t want to belabor the point, but I truly believe he’s the worst commercial rapper out there, with the possible exceptions of Plies and Fat Joe.
Passion of the Weiss says:
August 17, 2008 at 10:22 pm (UTC -7)
Seriously, Dogg Pound was on his last album. And no one talks about RBX. No one ever did.
You cannot honestly believe that he is worse than Rick Ross. Or Young Jeezy. At least, Fat Joe used to be good. But no one seems to remember that.
Ben Westhoff says:
August 18, 2008 at 8:39 am (UTC -7)
This song is hot, and this album will be the #2 selling rap album of the year, betcha.
Zilla Rocca says:
August 18, 2008 at 1:14 pm (UTC -7)
Tray:
you type more than any human I’ve ever seen in my life.
Tray says:
August 18, 2008 at 6:43 pm (UTC -7)
Oh, I’m a big fan of both. What exactly does he do better than either? They pick better beats than him, have similarly sucky lyrics, average flows – the difference is they have personality and he’s like, a walking VH1 one-hour special on 90s rap, minus the annoying interviews with KRS where he just says “THAT’S BEEF” over and over.
Aryan says:
November 25, 2009 at 9:09 pm (UTC -7)
Hey Tray..
Yeah, like Roc-a-fella needed Sigel
isn`t he dissing jay..??