The Rap Pet Peeves Blog

Content is extremely important to The Company Man.

Whether its a web page, blog site, or rap song - that site, writer, or artist must have something to say in order to hold my attention. I'm not going to waste time on any site boasting little more than the latest celebrity sightings found on a bajillion other web sites. I'm not going to waste time on any blog showing little more than the latest youtube video found on a bajillion other blogs. And, I'm most definitely not going to waste time listening to any rapper saying the same thing the same way as a bajillion other rappers. Time is money. And during a financial crisis, the cost of capital is too high to waste on those with nothing to say.

But I guess thats what makes me different from most rap fans.

But I guess thats why I'm hot.

FACT.

On the flip side, little irks me more than a dope artist saying ish they know is wrong, ish they should know is wrong, and ish that just doesn't make any sense. Sometimes they do it just to rhyme. Sometimes they do it trying to be deep. Sometimes they just don't know no better.

Exhibit A: METAPHORS VS SIMILIES

"...Your boy takes off like I been strippin' all my life. / Thats the type of metaphors I write." - Jay-Z; 44 Fours



Dope line, right? The visual is crazy! "Your boy takes off like I been strippin' all my life. / Thats the type of metaphors I write." - you can see exactly whats he's saying. Not to mention that the song itself is a masterful display of cleverness surpassed only by its predecessor, '22 Twos.' Only one problem: ITS NOT A METAPHOR!

Similie: Comparing 2 or more persons, places, or things using 'like' or 'as'
Metaphor: Comparing 2 or more persons, places, or thing without using 'like' or 'as'

Source: my 5th grade Languange Arts teacher

'Your boy takes off like I been strippin all my life' is a SIMILIE. As soon as that 'like' flowed out Jay's mouth, the comparison was no longer a metaphor. I'm 82% percent sure Hova The God knows the difference between similies and a metaphors. Lets just say he was one '4' short of reaching 44 by tracks end (I mean, clearly '43 Fours' doesn't have the same ring to it. I wouldn't let one grammatical error crater my dope song/doper concept either). He's earned the benefit of the doubt.

Not even Lupe Fiasco is exempt:

"Never met her before / but I think I like her like a metaphor." - Sunshine

Again...SIMILIE.



Exhibit B: SAYING ISH THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE WHILE TRYING TO BE DEEP
"Jesus died at age 33. / Theres 33 shots between glocks. / At 16 a piece, thats 32 / which means / one of my guns was holding 17. / 27 hit your crew. / 6 went into you." - Nas; "One Mic"



Its been 7 years since Nas dropped 'One Mic' and those bars still fall 40 yards short of making any sense at all. What the HELL is GOD'S SON trying to say (pun intended)??? Comparing Jesus's death age to the number of shots fired at a rival is perplexing and contradictory...especially coming from Nas. Don't get me wrong, 'One Mic' is definitely a classic track (on a not-so-classic album). But the nonsensical nature of the bars above is a distraction from the songs potency. In fact, those are the only bars I can still recite from the track!!! Homie's trying too hard to be deep. And all he needs is 'One Mic'...plus '16 in the clip and one in the hole.'

Exhibit C: SAYING ISH JUST TRYING TO RHYME

Lil' Wayne's catalog is laced with nonsensical lines that do little more than aid his ability to stay on a rhyme scheme. He's adopted the piss-poor habit of repeating the same line consecutively, with slightly different pronunciations (which rarely adds any value to the verse), while he transitions to his next thought. Its weak. It waters down what he's trying to say.

"How did he think of this? / I mean how did he think of that? / I mean how did I think of that? / I mean like a rental, bring it back. / I mean how did I think of that?" - Lil Wayne

Or this one:

"So assasinate me, bitch. / Cause I'm doing the same thing Martin Luther Kind did. / Checkin' in the same hotel. / In same suite, bitch. / Same balcony like 'Assasinate me, bitch!'" - Lil Wayne; "Playing With Fire"

(2 minutes into the video)


Lil Emphezema (my bad, Lil Weezy) pulls an And-1 here. Not only does he repeat 'bitch' as the rhyme on 3 of the 4 bars, but he's also guilty of saying dumb shit just trying to sound deep. Lil Wayne isn't doing a damn thing the same as 'Martin Luther King did.'

Number of similarities between MLK and Lil Wayne: 3 (both are black. Both are male. Both are from he south)

Thats it.

Period.

Either he's over-valuing his contributions to society, or he's under-valuing MLK's. The line is weak, repetitive, and trying too hard to sound deep. Which is why Lil Wayne gets Lil burn in my iPod.

Like I said, content is extremely important to The Company Man.

Carry on...