“My aura is psychedelic flow non-prehistoric metamorphic boric like
acid no hat tricks a classic so park that ass like Jurassic and check
the matrix completed like 7 (seven) to overshadow the triple 6 (six)
complimenting zig-a-zicks with wisdom like the 5 percenters when doing
mathematics flips scripts like acrobatics intrinsic in rapping.”
—Bahamadia, “Wordplay”
Click here to hear the song!!
This is the seventh profound hip hop quote specifically paying homage to Philly, and I feel extremely guilty because I have yet to acknowledge some of the female artists who have and are doing their thing to put Philly on the map. There’s no denying that the “rap game” is male dominated, but there are many women who reign supreme when it comes to lyrical ability, and Bahamadia, aka Antonia Reed, is definitely one of them.
Even though Bahamadia may not have seen the same level of success as some of her counterparts, she has been revered locally, nationally and internationally as a lyrical wordsmith. Though her voice is monotone, there’s something melodic and soothing about her flow, and her wittiness and lyrical finesse was what initially made me a fan when I first heard her in the 90s.
Rap plus Bahamadia automatically equals profoundness. These specific lyrics from wordplay are representative of her mastery of language. Most rappers back then and even now do not possess such prowess or the deftness to deliver as she does. One line alone could devour all challengers; “No hat tricks a classic so park that ass like Jurassic.”
When is the last time you heard a female or any artist deliver such crafty wordplay and require you to possess a certain level of expansive knowledge to be able to decipher his or her content? Much respect is due to Bahamadia; thanks for representing Philly to the fullest!
Please feel free to share your thoughts
~Anonomz aka Tanya Harris
Bonus English Lesson:
If you haven’t figured it out, Bahamadia’s “Wordplay” has a deluge of well-crafted literary elements. It encompasses similes, metaphors, hyperboles, allusion, assonance, consonance, slant rhymes, etc. For example, “No hat tricks a classic so park that ass like Jurassic,” contains a simile “park that ass like Jurassic,” an allusion because it would be necessary to be familiar with Jurassic Park” in order to get the cleverness of the line and consonance and assonance simultaneously as she uses the “s” sound and “a” sound for emphasis and to improve the flow of the rhyme.
Journey of Anonomz 