From the Vault: Katrina

All this Lil' Wayne talks got me thinkin bout how nice homie really is. I was getting ready to do a Quotable on him then I remembered...I already did.

Straight from the vault: The Quotable: Katrina


Lil' Wayne is like the Barry Bonds of Hip Hop....

Seriously, when he dropped his first solo album (The Block Is Hot) back in 1999....or any of his next 3 follow-ups for that matter....anyone who says they knew he'd become one of the premiere LYRICISTS in the game is either flat out lying....or on his payroll!

Don't get me wrong, its not like he was a bad rapper...he just wasn't a very good rapper. In short - his delivery was monotone, his flow was constipated, and his content (if any) was buried beneath the "Bling Bling" brovado he and his Cash Money compadres cashed in on....but his songs knocked in club and that was good enough (right?)....

Then he drops The Carter II in late 2005 and out of the blue he's a rhymin ape...effortlesly swingin from bar to bar with a new found graceful aggression infused in his nasally southern drawl. Suddenly he's using in-depth metaphors to paint his trap tales and even unveils a social consciousness not present on previous albums. Homie is dope...almost like he's dopin...like he's on a performance enhancer; like he's on a lyrical Human Growth Hormone...(or ghost writer)....

Speculation aside, Lil' Wayne is doin his thing right now and I gotta respect it. So today's quotable is from "Georgia...Bush," his response to Hurricane Katrina...

[Ray Charles sample: Georgia]

"Then they tellin yall lies in the news /
White people smilin like everything's cool /
But I know people that died in that pool /
I know people that died in 'dem schools /
Now what is a survivor to do? /
Got no trailer, you gotta move /
Now its on to Texas and to (Geeeooorrrgggiaaaa) /

They tell you what they want. /
Show you what they want you to see but they don't let you know whats really goin on. /
Make it look like theres a lotta stealin goin on. Boy 'dem cops is killas in my home. /
N**** shot dead in the middle of the street. / I ain't no thief, I'm just tryin to eat. /
Man F*** the police and president (Geeeeooorrrrgggiiiaaa)....Bush /

So what happened to the levees? Why wasn't they steady? Why wasn't they able to control this? /
I know some folk that live by the levees that keep on tellin me they heard explosions. /
Same sh*t happened wit Hurricane Betsy, 1965. / I ain't too young to know this. /
That was President Johnson but now its (Geeeoooorrrrrggggiiiiaaa)....Bush." /

"Georgia...Bush" - Lil Wayne; DJ Drama Presents: Gangsta Grillz Mixtape; Dedication 2

Carry on...

2 comments:

The Company Man said...

Chuck D's gotta be pissed! I mean his hypeman has become the posterboy for everything PE stood against. Remember "Burn Hollywood Burn?"

'Hollywould or would they not /
Make us all look bad like I know they had' /

Flav's officially become that likeable character that 'shuckles a little bit and sings.' Chuck's gotta hate seeing that Flavor of Love is now associated with Public Enemy.

As far as having any ramifications on conscious rap...I'm doubtful it would have a negative effect. I wouldnt be mad if it accelerated discussions on the way we're depicted in the media...but lets be honest - Flavor of Love was crazy popular. If anything we'll start seeing references to the show pop up in peoples punch lines.

'They showed me Strange Love like I was Mr. F'
- Common

The Company Man said...

In fact, theres an interesting editorial on the Flavor of Love effect written by a 6th grade teacher posted on Allhiphop.com.

Check it out:

http://www.allhiphop.com/editorial/?ID=323