Tagged: rap

Tone 3 & Psychosiz – Rekoopa Kickback (Heavy Troopa is Ready to Launch, 2008)

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Apparently there’s no written lyrics available online for this song, or at least none that I could find – but it’s worth listening to, so I (updated!) transcribed it below. It’s featured on a compliation tribute album to Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars, one of the best RPGs (one of the best games period) for the SNES. Download it from gamemusic4all.comhttp://gamemusic4all.com/heavytroopa.html

Basicly, there’s a bunch of drug references, and it stars a bunch of mario characters. The lyrics are clever, and the chopped up mario rpg bgm in the background is fairly genius. Mario has to save the princess, who is super high, and has of course been kidnapped by bowser, who he beats by having a weed-smoking contest. “That’s the last time I go to a Mario Party, man…”

TOAD:
Yo man, you need to get over here, like right now, man… like right, right now… like -
like earlier then right now, ’cause I had to say it like three times!
Man, she over here, playin’ Smash Brother, homey, she fistin’ that brother’s smash, you got
to get over here and stop it ’cause the pipe is fit to be laid.
MARIO:
Ha! Psychosiz!
TOAD:
I’m tellin’ you, I’m – psh, okay…
TOAD:
Dude who owns the house, parents both are out
So we hit up some bitches, to try to smoke ‘em out
But some bad guys showed up, started pokin’ around
Found our stash, bro, and started chokin’ it down
Now everybody’s high as fuck, skulkin’ around,
Tokin’ a pound of shit they shouldn’t be fuckin’ around with
Then some college dude with no follow through
Jumps off the roof in a frog suit into a hollow pool
Bitches slidin’ down flagpoles to follow through
Plus the plumbing’s all fucked up, that’s when I called you
This bitch is crazy and her sister Daisey’s off too
Daddy’s little princess floating drunk out her prom shoes
MARIO:
Is she off E or X?
TOAD:
Hopefully both I think
Plus she was smokin’ weed with coke and tweak
Well coke at least and maybe dope I think
Oh – well she was drinkin’ though, I mean that I know fo’ sheez
‘Cause she was off at least two before the troopas even seen boo
And another few before that other two even seeped through
By they took princess off the sea king of the Riku(?)
She was off LSD, askin’ what the weed do
MARIO:
Where is she?
TOAD:
Last we knew in the dinin’ room with some grimy dude
Dragged her off, kinda rude, to try some shrooms
Emo kinda’ dude, red spiky do, Shell Toes and pelt(?) nose
MARIO:
That’s him!
TOAD:
Friend of yours?
MARIO:
Hell no!
TOAD:
Whoa, you think you can go in there sober man, guess again
Lesson plan: stay away from the purple tops as best you can!
Usually I’m on deck, but damn…
I’m outa’ shrooms, take this one, this green one’s extra, man
MARIO:
Into the party on a mission, scopin’ the scene
They thought that Mario was missin’? By no fuckin’ means
Hit the kitchen, could barely see over the weed smoke
Some dude in a raccoon fur rollin’ a leaf, “Yo -
If I was lookin’ for shrooms, where would I be?”
TANUKI:
“Well this is the kitchen, and that door there is to the street
There’s the bathroom, and another upstairs in between
The master bedroom and the nursery for the trees
But there’s too many shy-guys on the high-rise to slide by,
I’m all about my coins -”
MARIO:
“I’ll do you better than that!”
TANUKI:
“…well if you can fly high you can glide by,
Is you pimp? Take this cape and this feathered hat.”
MARIO:
Mashed to the living room, then I dashed through it
Fast to the dining room, then I passed through it
Smashed to the bathroom door, then I crashed through it
Feet barely on the floor, yellin’ “Peach, don’t do it!”
another TOAD:
“Mario, gnarly bro, you saved me from some bad shrooms,
Sorry though, princess is in another bathroom!”
MARIO:
Damn, flew upstairs, past two hammered brothers,
The latter muttered cuss words under a stammered stutter:
HAMMERED BROS:
“G-got that bob-omb shit,”
MARIO:
Words slurred at a turtle’s pace,
HAMMERED BROS:
“It’s off the chain, chomp it!”
MARIO:
“Stop it! That shit’s purple-laced!”
HAMMERED BROS:
“Nah, it’s vanilla-plain, scouts’ honor bro, I would know!
What are you, a doctor? Are you Dr. Mario?”
MARIO:
That’s when I heard
PRINCESS:
“Stop!”
MARIO:
And
BOTH:
“No!”
MARIO:
… from the third door, followed by,
BOWSER:
“What you goin’ into your purse for?”
PRINCESS:
“To find me a weapon!”
BOWSER:
“It’s not gonna stop me.”
PRINCESS?:
“But it’ll buy me a second!”
MARIO:
… and that’s all that I need.
The first door opened first, more smoke
Then out came some bird-ho with a shirt torn open
Took a few hits off a loose spliff, threw up her lunch
I hit the blue switch and the room lit up at once, heard,
MAGIKOOPA:
“Dude, you fucked it up!”
MARIO:
… apparent distress from some noob,
Probably the dude whose parents had left
Shirt so long, it looked like he was wearin’ a dress
Adjusted his glasses, still preparin’ to sex
Put on his hat and asked,
MAGIKOOPA:
“Mario, you ever hit stress?”
MARIO:
Took out a wand in the shape of a bong – or vice versa
MAGIKOOPA:
“This doesn’t concern you, don’t make me have to hurt ya”
MARIO:
Scooped up some hashish out a newer baggie and threw it at me
tryin’ to escape via the ladder at the window
I jumped the wand, and used the cape to shoot a hash-seed-spin
Then reflected it back usin’ the wind-flow
it didn’t matter in the end, though -
He fell off the balcony yellin’,
MAGIKOOPA:
“Bury me with my Nintendo!”
MARIO:
Canvas(???), you cool an’ all? What you doin’ dog?
Silhouette at the door, but couldn’t make it out through the fog
Just some fat guy, butterball status,
Wearin’ the same fit as me, colours all backwards,
Looked at ‘im, pushed past ‘im,
“Bite an ass, nigga” (?)
Took off the cape, then it’s back to the classic look
Hit the doorway, hit the hallway, hit the master bedroom door -
TOAD:
“Wait!
King-K stay on some major shit, laced and lit, I’m talkin’ breakin’ bricks,
If I was you, I’d save and quit!”
MARIO:
“I can’t!”
TOAD:
“Well at least think of takin’ this.”
MARIO:
“What? Toad, I’m already baked a bit
For this, I need somethin’ more than chronic power -”
TOAD:
“What? This ain’t marijuana, this that fire flower!”
MARIO:
Blueberry purple haze!
TOAD:
“This that fire flower!”
MARIO:
OG kush chronic dank!
TOAD:
“This that fire flower!”
MARIO:
Kicked in the door, trippin’ the floor cords(?),
All I heard was Thirsty Fish live on G4
BOWSER:
“What’s your problem, what you gotta rival me for?
Always steppin’ on my Shell Toes, nigga no more!
Think I’m scared of y’all?
(to Peach) Bitch, you hit me with that parasol and after I grab you by the hair I’ll tear it off
I’m fair and all, you wanna fight for the shrooms?
One leaves here tonight, the other leaves his life in a tomb!”
MARIO:
One beam of light reflected off the one greenest pipe in the room
He picked it up, lit it up, and ignited the room
With a POW!
And everybody fell on they back
He passed it to me, I inhaled, and sent it right back
With a POW!
And I was back up just like that
He reached for his stash back before he could grab it
I back-flipped and landed just out of reach
Took his store-bag went Ghost and dipped out with Peach
Down the – down the rainbow road, hit the street
Seein’ colours – “Let’s get the fuck off Koopa Beach!”
TOAD:
“Yo, she cool?”
MARIO:
“Hardly, man -”
TOAD:
“Yo she gone Yoshi Safarin’,
That’s the last time I go to a Mario Party, man!
All some derelict fix, perilous shit,
Type of bitch have you jumpin’ over barrels and shit!
Man, we could be playin’ golf,
we could be playin’ tennis,
We could be go-kartin’,
This bitch got – got us over here on this bullshit.”
MARIO:
“Man, we could be bumpin’ that Super Mario Brothers, what we could be doin’.”
TOAD:
“You touchin’ my weed?”

MC Chris – Older Crowd (MC Chris Is Dead, 2008)

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The gated synths that lead into the song help set things up, and when the first line of the chorus, “I got the bass for your face,” comes up, it’s a perfect fit.

I got the bass for your face
Yes I can hold it down
These kids are such a disgrace
I need an older crowd

Mental stimulation
Voter Registration
Patches on my elbows
Match the colors of my cords

The vocorder effect, especially on “colors of my cords” (which sounds like an autotune) is like the perfect little cherry on top of the sunday – it’s so sweet. Then we get to the rap – MC Chris’ voice can be hard for some people to take, and it seems like either people love or hate him. But the rapping is solid – I’m not wild about the first verse, but the second and third and damn clever:

Are you joking? It’s too smoky
There’s a cover, we should leave
Let’s not panic, let’s beat traffic
And get home in time for tea

Kids have access nostalgia waxes
Can’t relax if I can’t breathe
Let’s just exit, we’re not sexy
I feel fat and elderly

Let’s play Scrabble, let’s play Boggle
Discovery channel with Ted Kopple
Kids are awful, they’re all moshing
So obnoxious sneezing, coughing

Spilling beer and breaking glasses
They’re no fun, these trust fund fascists
No more head tricks, we’ve got Netflix
Let’s grow beehives and mustaches

“Are you joking? It’s too smoky,” is a keeper, as is “Let’s just exit, we’re not sexy, I feel fat and elderly.”

There is vomit on the toilet
And no soap I can dispense
Girl named Wendy grabbed my testes
Now I have no confidence

Can’t believe it, I smell reefer
We might get a contact high
I feel loopy I see snoopies
I need pizza with these doobies

I feel mellow, legs are jello
Hold me up or I might nap
Someone dosed my Diet Coke
It’s not a joke so please don’t laugh

Freaky Friday might go my way
I feel like a different person
Now I’m tripping, ceiling’s dripping
Wait a minute, no crowd surfing

Once again, “Girl named Wendy grabbed my testes, now I have no confidence,” “Can’t believe it, I smell reefer, we might get a contact high,” and “It’s not a joke so please don’t laugh,” are great lines.

It’s tough for me to be as verbose explaining some songs that I like – especially ones like this that aren’t much more then rapping, a chorus, and some catchy synth accompniment – but it’s all about the gated synth in the intro, the little autotuned fx on “colours of my chords,” and the pacing in those lines I called out above.

Kanye West – Heartless (808s and Heartbreaks, 2008)

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This was one of the best albums to come out in 2008, and it was totally unexpected for me – I wasn’t really (and I’m still not I guess) a big Kanye fan, considering he’s acted like a jerk on several occasions, but this album knows exactly how to get to me – auto-tuned vocals, the 808 drum machine, hop-hop that swings more towards funk/soul and electronic music then rap… so tasty.

It starts out strong – just listen to that gut-rumbling kick, and Kanye’s slightly FX’d vocals:

In the night, I hear ‘em talk, 
the coldest story ever told 
Somewhere far along this road, he lost his soul to a woman so heartless…
How could you be so heartless? 

So the intro is the chorus, and all it takes is a clap and a caliope-sounding staccato chord line to moves us into the verse:

How could you be so, cold as the winter wind when it breeze, yo 
Just remember that you talkin’ to me though 
You need to watch the way you talkin’ to me, yo 
I mean after all the things that we’ve been through 
I mean after all the things we got into 
Hey yo, I know of some things that you ain’t told me 
Hey yo, I did some things but that’s the old me 

I’m not sure why the ‘street’ vocabulary doesn’t annoy me – normally a lot of that sort of slang turns me off, but in this context, “afta’ all da tings dat we been do, afta all da tings we got into” sounds… I don’t know, it sounds refined, almost cultured, like the narrator is trying to be reasonable with his girl, which I’m sure is exactly what it’s supposed to sound like. It works. The perky yet minimal hits that hit towards the end of the verse, into the chorus, keep with the ‘less is more’ approach that a lot of the tracks on this album take.

There’s more good lyrical candy in the second verse:

How could you be so Dr. Evil, you bringin’ out a side of me that I dont know… 
I decided we weren’t gon’ speak so 
Why we up 3 A.M. on the phone 
Why does she be so mad at me fo’ 
Homie I dont know, she’s hot and cold 

“How could you be so Doctor Evil?” Good stuff – and the short conversational “Why do she be so made at me fo? Homie I don’t know, she’s hot and cold,” line is so appealing, as far as the rythem and meaning goes.

And then there’s the bridge, where things get super grunged out for a second on the line, “and we jus’ gon’ be enemies.” It’s a nice quick break, before we get back to the chorus. That’s basicly all there is – no additional instrumentation, just some auto-tuned vocalizing.

I think a lot of my attraction to this song comes from its minimalism, and the fact that it’s telling a story. This is established in the first chorus right up front: “In the night, I hear ‘em talk, the coldest story ever told, somewhere far along this road, he lost his soul – to a woman so heartless…” It’s almost like a ghost story. This is good stuff.

Linkin Park – With You (Hybrid Theory, 2000)

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Okay, some people don’t like Linkin Park at all, and to be fair, looking at their other music, I can understand why – but how could you not like Hybrid Theory? It managed to be completely different from what the genre expected, and ‘With You’ is an excellent example.

‘wicky wicky wah’ synth scratches, a brooding bass line, and some guitar effects lead into the main groove at :14, resolving at :22 into the high screamy synth, rhythm electric guitars, and rock percussion. So far, pretty average (apart from that bendy synth), and then you get the lyrics, presented in a sort of quiet rap:

I woke up in a dream today,
To the cold of the static
and put my cold feet on the floor 
Forgot all about yesterday 
Remembering I’m pretending to be where I’m not anymore 
A little taste of hypocrisy 
And I’m left in the wake of the mistake, I’m slow to react 
Even though you’re so close to me 
You’re still so distant and I can’t bring you back

Nearly all these lines are gold: “woke up in a dream today”, “a little taste of hypocrisy”, “left in the wake of the mistake, slow to react”… and the repeated word in “the cold of the static and put my cold feet on the floor” doesn’t even bother me, for some reason. The melodic sceamo chorus is so-so, but is a lot more stomachable and harmonic then other stuff I’ve heard. And then the rapping comes back:

I hit you and you hit me back 
We fall to the floor the rest of the day stands still 
Fine line between this and that 
When things go wrong I pretend the past isn’t real 

That whole phrase is fantastic – four lines, and he’s created the setting for an entire story. Among all this, the guitars manage to be distorted and still in-tune, the percussion (which is consistently spot-on throughout Link Park’s tracks) frames everything else, and the trade-off between rapping and melodic screaming works to communicate the sort of ‘intelligent passion’ feel of the lyrics.

The break at 2:18 showcases some more mixing trickery before sliding into the optimistic bridge:

No, no matter how far we’ve come 
I can’t wait to see tomorrow

And then it’s over – the ‘bad radio reception’-effected percussion fades out and takes the bubbly synth with it.