Max Bell throws barbs over laser discs of “Barb Wire.”
To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, I dislike the Drake. Hate is a strong word, and there are more loathsome individuals on this rotating blue orb than an ex-Degrassi cast member turned rapper. More than anything, it’s that I don’t buy what Drake’s selling. He’s not sincere, he’s just good at selling you on the fact that might be. “Worst Behavior” is another one of his seemingly impassioned sales pitches I listened to and laughed at like a late night infomercial. Motherfucker’s have almost ALWAYS loved Drake. His come up was short, even if he attempts to make you think otherwise while holding a cute child in his arms.
Conversely, the man who raps under the name of Busdriver does not get enough love. His pulmonary palimpsest has improved every year for nearly fifteen years, and somehow I doubt he has the money to drop racks in the strip club while wearing leather jorts and Fubu. Not that he would — he’s Busdriver. Still, ideally he’ll see the dividends he deserves in 2014. The Hellfyre ship is firing all canons (Dorner vs. Tookie review here) and Busdriver is holding the matches and fuses.
This is a round about way of telling you that Busdriver and Kenny Segal have remixed Drake’s “Worst Behavior.” Segal’s take on the 40 Shebib beat isn’t markedly different, but the deft electronic additions manage to imbue it with a new wrinkle of depth. And Busdriver, as he was on his version of Migos’ “Versace,” is in “full clown mode.” Douches dressed like the Decemberists and prude twats in tube tops are not safe.
With “Worse,” Busdriver’s not mocking Drake so much as he is nobly demonstrating that he can do what Drake does in a weirder (and I think) better way. There’s not a cadence Busdriver is incapable of mastering. And comedy this cutting and cerebral is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Yet, for all the hilarity, there are earnest pleas for overdue recognition. Busdriver’s outlived countless peers who never got love in the underground, and he’s rightfully losing his shit: “Shit, niggas still playing my old shit / But it don’t grow shit / The game’s a cold bitch / So I’m crushing these pills with a glow stick.” Motherfucker’s really should stop getting it fucked up and start hearing him — or paying attention again.
Below you’ll also find some Busdriver videos from various points in his career. Among them is “Imaginary Places,” which is a top-five hardest rap song with a flute ever recorded and one of my favorites to have appeared on a Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game soundtrack. Busdriver was there to hold your hand as you virtually kick flipped.
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