Rap Genius: The top 5 lyrics of the week — the South rises again
RAP GENIUS - The South rises again this week, as rappers below the Mason-Dixon take all five slots in our Lines of the Week roundup...
The South rises again this week, as rappers below the Mason-Dixon take all five slots in our Lines of the Week roundup. Â Dixie’s comeback this week is a varied one, with rhymes ranging from sophisticated, allusion-filled wordplay to creative brags to playful absurdity to, well, whatever it is that Waka Flocka does. Â Below, the all-South Lines of the Week, with entries from Georgia, Louisiana, and Virginia.
5.  “My watch say I made it, my chain say I’m rich/Diamonds in my mouth got me talking cash sh*t” — Waka Flocka, ‘Pretty Flacko (Remix)’ lyrics
While these words may admittedly not read like much on the page, Waka’s delivery makes all the difference. Â He says these lines in a cadence somewhere between a drill sergeant and a cheerleader, and his infectious sense of fun leaves you no choice but to give in and start shouting along.
4.  “In the bed, in the safe — man, I hide money in the roof/Got more babies in the house than the old lady in the shoe” — Gucci Mane, ‘U Can Tell’ lyrics
Speaking of fun, Flocka’s mentor Gucci Mane also makes our list this week. Â Only Gucci would be self-effacing and charming enough to use The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe in a simile.
3. Â “2001 True Blues, some high end denim/Cost a lil grip, them motherfuckers won’t bleed on my shoes/Excuse me if I’m stepping on your image” — Curren$y, ‘Pick N Roll’ lyrics
As with Waka, delivery is just about everything when it comes to Curren$y. Â His laid-back drawl disguises a knack for odd flows and phrases that run for unpredictable lengths of time. Â Here, he packs all of the above into a brag about expensive jeans, and brings it to a higher (no pun intended!) level with the “shoes”/”stepping on your image” wordplay.
2. Â “2 Chainz came up, Kendrick went HAM/Tupac came back — oh, that was a hologram?” — Skillz, ‘2012 Rap Up’ lyrics
It wouldn’t be late December without Skillz’ annual rhyming look back, the “Rap Up.” Â He swears that this year will be the last, a promise we really hope he finds a reason to weasel out of. Â But if this the last one in the series, Skillz went out in style. Â The puzzlement in his voice as he mock-realizes the truth about Pac’s return is priceless.
1. Â “As we pray to false gods at the Caesar’s/With a fake smile like these black leaders/Kwame Kilpat’, top peeled back/A raisin in the sun, a ni**a still black” – Pusha T, ‘Concrete Jungle’ lyrics
It’s a shame this song didn’t come out a week earlier, as Pusha’s verse may well have made it to our year-end list. Â Be that as it may, this performance is incredible, and well worth hearing in full. Â Just pulling out this excerpt loses some of the incredible context before and after the lines above. Â Regardless, so much is going on here that to unpack it all — the Biblical allusions and Roman history, the political scandals, the literary references — would take far more space than we have here. Â Congratulations to Pusha for a masterpiece of a verse.