Somebody had to say this. That somebody is Deen.
So Mr. Fiasco, aka, Mr. Can’t Do Right stepped in the proverbial “it” again. Typical. What the fuck is wrong with this Lupe fella? I mean, what’s his major malfunction? Far be it from me to declare anything in hip-hop sacred (can’t slander shit effectively that way – Beyonce’s still off limits though), but I think enough of us rap folk hold Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)” to be sacred enough to be left the fuck alone. I’m not part of the brigade that considers “T.R.O.Y.” to be the greatest anything, but I acknowledge its excellence and the fact that folks have held that shit in the HIGHEST of esteem for roughly two decades now.
That being said, I think Lupe (and his nameless producer) have approached the heights of arrogance, insensitivity and hubris with this shit. I mean, who the fuck listens to ‘T.R.O.Y.’ and thinks to themselves “We can take this Tom Scott sample, re-work that bitch and make a better song”? I’m not saying it can’t be done, but why bother? There are tons of unexplored samples – try one of those. Or if you MUST fuck with it, consider giving Pete Rock a call to avoid having the OG go on a twitter rant about how lame you and your producer are. That’s just common sense to me, but I’m polite that way.
The worst part of this mess –other than the “cool” idiots defending this daft choice and criticizing Pete Rock for getting sensitive about the matter – is that Lupe’s song is just “meh.” Lupe wastes his impeccable technique on sanctimonious sociological sobbing for 4 minutes, while bastardizing one of the dopest samples ever. Then again, I’ve never really been a fan and Lupe’s only given me additional reasons to shit on him over the years: leak surpassing retail debut, The Cool sucks save 3 or 4 tracks, LASERS sucked more, the Tribe flap, his shitty hair and his shitty attitude. Lupe has burned so much goodwill among sensible rap folk that he’s nothing more than a celibate Wale. Pause if needed. They’re both fucking shite.
Ultimately, the real tragedy here is that I’ve wasted valuable minutes of my life writing about someone who seems intent on only appealing to dullards and douchebags. I feel cheated. I was in the middle of writing something about a song I actually like, but I felt it would be inappropriate to let Black Licorice Hair’s latest transgression pass without comment. Trying to outdo “T.R.O.Y.” is the kind of terrible idea you get when you abandon do-rags for dreads. You dirty dreadlock having muthafuckas will never prosper – unless you’re making fight music like Waka…
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