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Our local Hip-Hop/R&B station, HOT 105.5, plays absolute garbage.  All the boring, ridiculous ringtone top 40 crap.  Music for pea-brains and 9 year olds.  The ONLY time I tune into that station is between noon and 1pm for DJ Mondo's throwback mix.  If I'm out and about during those hours I'll flip over, listening for tunes that I've forgotten about.  Yesterday I hopped in the car just as the throwback mix was ending so the first tune I heard (unfortunately) was "Motivation" by Kelly Rowland featuring Lil Wayne.  Ugh.  Here's the first verse:

Oh lover, don’t you dare slow down
Go longer, you can last more rounds
Push harder, your almost there now
So go lover, make my mother proud

"Make my MOTHER proud"???   Yikes.

Sticking with the Compton theme again this week, this time focusing on Ice Cube's 1993 classic "Today Was A Good Day".  O'Shea waxes poetic about the day he's having and how it all seems to go his way.  But late in the first verse he says, "called up the homies and I'm askin y'all/which park are y'all playin basketball/get me on the court and I'm trouble/last week fucked around and got a triple double!"  Ok... I played basketball in high school and a little college ball and A LOT of pick up ball.  For those who don't know, a "triple double" is when a player accumulates 3 separate stats in double figures (10 or over).  This year in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State star Draymond Green had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in thier loss to UCLA.  Now... I can tell you for a fact that no one, NO ONE at the park is keeping track of assists.  Or rebounds for that matter.  I always get a kick out of imagining statisticians armed with clipboards sitting on the park benches.  Still a good song, Cube.  Now go make some more of that TBS money.

The year was 1989 and N.W.A. had taken the world by storm, especially white America. Conservatives were ready to run for the hills while those of us curious about the inner-city lifestyle were treated to a behind-the-curtain view courtesy of Dre, Eazy, Ice Cube, Ren and DJ Yella.  

In the song "Express Yourself", Dre professes "I don't smoke weed or sess" (around the 4:30 mark on the video below), which seems highly contrary to the message promoted on the rest of their album.

Fast foward to 2001 and we find Dre replacing Cheech & Chong as the official poster-boy of herb, releasing the iconic album The Chronic. I present Exhibit B - "The Roach".

Real Talk Tuesdays is all about exposing inconsistencies in lyrics (as well as praising good writing). That said, Dre remains one of the best producers in hip-hop today.  It's the sounds he gets. When you take away the marketing, the videos, the endorsements, the hype (the ghostwriting) - what you have is the sound. Listen. As a DJ, I usually have to pull back the faders a bit when I put on a Dre record because it bangs so much harder than the rest. Well done, Dre. Light one up.

Real Talk Tuesdays will be my weekly effort to explore lyrics and movie quotes.  Some will be showered with accolades while others will be exposed for their logical flaws.

For instance, this week we look at "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch (1999).  One of my favorite hip-hop anthems.  This song was responsible for the downfall of the Rawkus label (after using an uncleared sample from the Godzilla score).  In the second verse (around the 2:00 mark on the video below) he starts to boast about New York - the roughnecks, the cars, the night life - but he miscalculates and claims that, in New York, "shit don't start jumpin til after 12 pm".   Hmmm.  I think you mean A.M. - unless you're talking about the lunch counter.  Unfortunately he chooses to rhyme this line with "ignorant minds I free 'em".  Dammit Pharoahe, I love you but lemme proof your shit.