Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #8: Eminem- Drug Ballad)

You probably haven't listened to Eminem in a while. Maybe it's because he hasn't come out with anything for a few years. Or, maybe you've fallen in to the mainstream trap of thinking he's all shock-value. Or, perhaps it's because you associate him with middle school and realize that you were in to "(Everybody) Backstreet's Back" at the same time, and completely mistrust your past taste in music. It could even be that you're too embarassed to be a white dude bumping the Marshall Mathers LP, and are afraid of what people will think of you (I fall in to all four categories). Well, fuck all that.
Don't get me wrong, Eminem gets plenty of respect from Hip-Hop "afficionados", but his hiatus from the industry over the past few years has caused his name to fall almost in to obscurity. But I encourage you all to revisit your prepubescent years and see how great Eminem really is, and realize how much you can actually get out of his music now, other than being the only kid with the hella-chill mom who lets him buy "Parental Advisory" CDs.
Eminem has other songs and verses that are more widely heralded than those on "Drug Ballad" like "Stan", "The Real Slim Shady", and his ridiculous shit on "Renegade", but I thought I'd use this particular song as an example of Eminem's versatility.

Just check the first verse (below is just a sample):
And by the, sixth gin you're gonna probably crawl
And you'll be, sick then and you'll probably barf
And my pre-diction is you're gonna probably fall
Either somewhere in the lobby or the hallway wall
And everything's spinning
You're beginin' to think women are swimming in pink linen again in the sink
Then in a couple of minutes that bottle of Guinness is finished,
You are now allowed to officially slap bitches

I'm no lyrical technician or whatever, but I count something like 4 or 5 different flows in that single verse, not to mention the smoothness of his delivery, rhyme scheme, and content. I like this track a lot, mainly because (like Dre Dog's "Situation Critical") it's a piece on how the rapper is fucking up his own life, and because it lacks all of Eminem's typical "faggot" lines and stuff about him killing his wife.
My only gripe about Eminem is the sound of his voice (which I don't mind but it could be better), but other than that this guy is a fucking genius on the mic.

Out like Duke in Round 1. Go Belmont!

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #7: Pastor Troy- This Tha City)

Now for me, when the "Great Verses" list was started, one of the driving forces behind it was putting up some new music and maybe new rappers that some of you haven't heard. My first two songs I don't think really achieved that goal; I am sure most of you had heard Gettin' It and while Big L is pretty well-known, I figured you hadn't heard that freestyle.


With this in mind, I present to you Pastor Troy. I first came across the Pastor Disaster when I was real young and and just getting my feet wet in rap music. I can't remember where I heard of him, but at the age of 12ish I bought one of his CD's. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Pastor Troy is most likely best known for a feud he had with Master P, but other than that, he has little audience outside of the South. I actually at one point had a couple of his albums, but as I've gotten older I've either lost them, or they didn't make the switch to my new computer.

Athletes are constantly in need of pump-up songs, and even when I was real young I tried to find rap that would pump me up. With this I present to you This Tha City. This song has been an Alex Hart pump-up staple for a good long time now, and nothing got me more rearing to go than verse 2.

While not the most exciting verse lyrically, the passion that Troy throws into his spitting is undeniable. It sounds as if he's gutturally yelling the thing out through clenched fucking teeth, as if he's taking a big fat shit (in a good way). This song needs to be listened at high volume levels, and works best if your feeling belligerent or aggressive so drink some cheap whiskey, listen to this, and (to quote Juanfeesh) stomp some gumps. If I could best some up this song I would leave it to the Pastor himself:
You cracking smiles, we cracking mugs selling drugs
We what hoes love, ATL fucking thugs.
This might not be the best verse I throw on here, it sure is one of the hardest and hopefully you'll bump it at some point.

Out like Brett.

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #6: Big L- Stretch & Bobbito '98 Freestyle )

Harlem's Finest. Possibly the best flow and some of the best lyrics to be heard. Big L's career was cut painfully short after two classic albums, similar to another NYC great, but Big L was at his finest when freestyling. If anyone can find me a better freestyler (except for Eminem in 8 Mile), I'll drink from my own dip cup. Big L had wordplay that most rappers can only dream about, and this is best shown on the first verse of his Stretch & Bobbito '98 Freestyle.

While granted this is not a typical song due to its lack of a hook and the fact that it's a freestyle recorded in a booth of a radio station, the first verse Big L drops might be in my top 3 verses. Throw in the fact that it may or may not be a freestyle (one of the DJ's says something about Big L writing it), and you can understand why Big L is unquestionably the greatest rapper from Manhattan.

Shut your mouth up before I buck lead/
And make a lot of blood shed/
Turn your tux red/
Im far from broke, got enough bread
And mad hoes, ask Beavis I get nuttin Butt-head
Don't get me wrong I've heard some witty shit in my life, but if you're freestyling that, that's the craziest line I've ever heard. Period.
R.I.P to one of the greatest to bless the mic.

As a special bonus I am putting up the CD that this is on:
Harlem's Finest: A Freestyle History

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #5: Dre Dog- Situation Critical)

Andre Nickatina holds a special place in all of our hearts; I remember being in 8th grade or so and simply downloading any song of his I could find on Kazaa, enthralled by his catchy beats and the fact that he held a relative "underground" status and hailed from my hometown. Having 100+ of his tracks would easily make me hella cool if I ever went somewhere, like college, where I could disseminate my knowledge of King Nicky to the blind masses.

But something happened along the way; Nicky T lost his luster. As I grew older and my knowledge of rap expanded, I grew tired of his repetitive and oftentimes incomprehensible lyrics, his passion for coke, and unwavering desire to record everything with Equipto. Don't get me wrong, I'll still slap some of my all-time favorites ("Baking Soda in Minnesota", "Show Gone Wrong", "Crackin' Like Pistachios", and "Crack Raider Razor", to name a few), but most of his stuff has fallen to the wayside anytime I make a new playlist or simply feel like listening to some good music.

Recently, I returned to one of the places where it all started, I Hate You With a Passion. This album holds a special place in my heart because, for me at least, it marks (pun intended) the beginning of my friendship with the wonderful Mark Friese. I mean, not only did he burn it for me, but he made a fake cover and CD graphic on his computer and printed it out, then taped it on. That shit was official.

Anyways, before I get teary eyed, I Hate You With a Passion was Nickatina at his best; as Dre Dog. The opening line of the album, from "Muthafucka" sets the tone perfectly: "Muthafucka so I heard you like to run yo mouth/well eat this rhyme so you can taste what I'ma talk about". Dre Dog had bigger shit to rap about than Scarface and making money, and he was pissed the fuck off, too.

Nothing showed this better than his third and final verse in Situation Critical:

"My indo have an increase this week from eighth up to a half/

Ain't nothin funny motherfucka, nigga why you laugh?/

So fuck this fame and fuck these records, motherfuck these raps/

My mother's broke there ain't no hope, her son ain't got no snaps/

Its the same old song, I'm doin wrong, fool this is typical/

Fuck the fuckin world mama, situations critical."

The way he picks it up to another level in the third line proves that he's for real; but what does it for me is that he's pissed at his audience, but he's also pissed at himself. You simply don't see that kind of introspection in his later stuff, much else from alot of other rappers out there.

I know most of you have this song, but I just had to share the pleasant surprise I experienced when I remembered that this dude used to be pretty raw back in the day. It's really helped me deal with the issue that one of my childhood idols (maybe "idol" is too strong of a word) has become pretty much irrelevant in my life.

As Nicky said in this very song:

"Cuz coke is queen and money is king and niggas want the crown/

So all you niggas goin' up you fuckers comin' down."

EDIT:

Archie asked me to make him a CD/zip similar to the Winter Break CD to End All CDs. Here it is.

Not sure what order the tracks are in, but the list is:

1. Da Rockwilder - Method Man and Redman

2. Danger Zone - Big L

3. Respect- Notorious B.I.G.

4. N.Y. State of Mind - Nas

5. Brownsville - M.O.P.

6. Liquid Swords - Genius/GZA

7. School's In - J-Live

8. Gettin' It - Too Short

9. Smoke II Much - The Fixxers

10. Ten Crack Commandmants -Notorious B.I.G.

11. Hits From the Bong - Cypress Hill

12. Verbal Intercourse - Raekwon

13. Ether - Nas

14. Let's All Get Down - Mac Dre

15. Sunny Meadowz - Del tha Funkee Homosapien

Enjoy. If you don't have some of these songs and want them, I can do my best to upload your requests one-by-one. The Big L, M.O.P., J-Live, and Del all come from Oh Word's 50 Greatest Rap Songs You Need to Hear Right Now, and are all highly suggested.