I know I'm like 2 weeks late with this song, but better late than never. Mos Def, now known as Yasiin Bey, has been in the game since the mid 1990s. He's always been an intelligent, social-conscious rapper and has some insane talent. As a testament to this, he has announced his plans to release a Top 40 Underdogs series, which will be his reinterpretations of some recent hits. Remixing is a huge part of hip-hop culture, so this isn't strange, but he will stick with his style of social and political subjects which unfortunately is not common. Such is true with "Niggas in Poorest", where he puts a major spin on "Niggas in Paris".
In "Niggas in Paris", Jay and Kanye boast about their riches (of course) and how they "ball so hard". Yasiin refutes this in the first verse, saying "So what's fifty grand to a young nigga like me? More than my annual salary". I could probably go on all day, comparing the two songs and showing how Bey turns each superficial line from "Niggas in Paris" into something actually relatable. I mean, I love Jay and Kanye as much as the next hip-hop head but seriously? They are bragging about all their money and status in this song and pretty much every song, while most of their audience is struggling to make ends meet. I mean, big ups to them for making it and getting all these millions..but what about all of your friends and family still in the projects? Do you even remember what it's like? Unlike them, Yasiin remembers what it's like in the ghetto.
This whole video is amazing. The lyrics are on the screen so you know exactly what he's trying to say. The imagery he uses drives the point of every line so deep; you cannot ignore it. You can make it big and forget the 'Hard Knock Life' all you want, but that doesn't make it go away. It still exists and it's something the rest of us face every day. There's one line that I think resounds the message of the entire song, as a criticism to both mainstream hip-hop artists and the 1%:
Don't get caught up in no throne / Towers of Babylon rise up and so they shall fall
Also, one thing I've noticed in people's reactions to this song is the very end, when he says "Allah is in control", and everyone is just trippin over the reference to Yasiin's Islamic religion. Hip-hop references the Christian God in literally countless songs, so I feel this shouldn't even be an issue. Why the hell do you care? The point of the song is not to preach Islam. The point of the song is to raise awareness within the hip-hop community of the injustice surrounding us and to provoke the audience away from the normal apathetic attitude and into action.
It's them niggas in poorest, be them rebel guerillas
Lyrics:
Live from America
Yasiin, Yasiin, Yasiin
N.I.P, sing it
[Verse 1]
Poor so hard, my clean clothes look grimy, pretty women don't mind me
So what's fifty grand to a young nigga like me? More than my annual salary
Poor so hard, this shit crazy, walk outside the whole world hate me
Nervous stares at the thoroughfare, surveillance cameras, police tracing
Poor so hard, this shit weird, we be home and still be scared
There's grief here, there's peace here, easy and hard to be here
Psycho, liable to turn Michael, take your pick, Myers, Myers, Myers, same shit
Poor so hard, got holey socks, dope block on my stove top
Jumbotrons for astronauts, high in orbit off planet rock, say
Poor so hard, this chopper too, we starving Marvin, you hot food
There's birds of prey, no escape, open-air prison, local zoo
Poor so hard, who getting faded? Little Maurice in the sixth grade
No mama, no father, role model the dope game, say
Poor so hard, bitch behave, standing behind the deuce-deuce-trey
Ice-cold, heat blow, closed casket, cold case
[Hook]
Poor so hard, that shit cray
[Verse 2]
These young bloods is looking scary at the mall
They wearing pants, you can still see they drawers
They rob a nigga in the bathroom stall
They took his life cause he ain't want to take it off
Poor so hard, that shit cray, ain't it, Bey? Diabetics, fish filet
Poor so hard, your house so cold, nigga, it ain't spring
Every winter landlord fuckin' with my heat again
Bougie girl, grab your hand, show you how to do this ghetto dance
Fuck your French, we ain't in France, I'm just saying
Prince Williams ain't do it right, if you ask me
If I was him, I'd put some black up in my family
Fake Gucci, my nigga, fake Louis, my killa
Real drugs, my dealer, who the fuck is Margiela?
Doctors say I'm the illest, I ain't got no insurance
It's them niggas in poorest, be them rebel guerillas, huh
[Interlude: Malcolm X]
I don't worry, I tell you
I am a man who believed that I died 20 years ago
And I live like a man who is dead already
I have no fear whatsoever of anybody or anything
[Hook]
[Verse 3]
To the kings and queens and everyone in every place, yo
Don't get caught up in no throne, don't get caught up in no throne
Don't get caught up in no throne
Towers of Babylon rise up and so they shall fall
As it was written before, amen, so it goes on
Don't get caught up in no throne, don't get caught up in no throne
Don't get caught up in no throne
These devils out here lying, acting like the people ain't dying
They silver and they gold, ain't never saved a soul
Don't get caught up in no throne, don't get caught up in no throne
Don't get caught up in no throne
Signs through the earth and through the heavens, lunar, solar eclipses
We seeking for forgiveness and safety for our children
Don't get caught up in no throne, don't get caught up in no throne
Don't get caught up in no throne, Allah is in control
5 comments:
So Mos Def is calling himself Yasiin Bey now?
Hey, doesn't matter what name the rose takes, it still smells sweet and the thorns still hurt.
Bey is a true genius mastermind who wears his heart and intentions on his sleeve, PLUS he's genuine as hell. I used to be into Jay-Z until I learned he was a swagger jacker, and I've NEVER been into Kanye just 'cuz of how hard he's posin'.
Bey/Def on the other hand...man's so good he can rip up on other people's songs and STILL make it sound like his own. He comes correct and from the heart, the man's got the street in his blood and it shows with each move he makes.
I swear, this man exists simply to prove that the rap game still HAS heart, still means something beyond what the media tries to present it as.
AS FAR AS RELIGION IS CONCERNED, man people will trip over the slightest thing. Doesn't matter if he's muslim, jewish, christian or whatever - so long as there's no extremism goin' on, I certainly don't care, it doesn't affect me one bit personally.
As is, the dude HAD a quote from freakin' Malcom X in there and changed his name. If that doesn't scream African-American Muslim Rapper, I don't know what does. Hell, at least he's stayin' real about it, unlike a certain Puff Daddy - a man who lives on swagger jacking, public relations, spin image, and name changing.
For what it's worth, thanks for bringin' up a new Def/Bey song here, Self-Medicate.
I don't normally listen to rap, and I pay attention to the lyrics even less, but I couldn't help but go through this post. Really, really nice stuff.
luv this one! xoxo
damn this one hits me right in the spot... yasiin bey, mah nigga.
Yasiin DOES remember what it's like in the ghetto... Perhaps that's why all his songs have that street charm to them. Great find!
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