Tag Archives: metaphors

Profound Hip Hop Quote #20: Homage to Philly Edition

21 May

“Now while you grittin your teeth
Frustration baby you gotta breathe
Take a lot more than you to get rid of me
You see I do what they can’t do, I just do me.”

—Eve, featuring Gwen Stefani “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”

Click here to view the video!!

EveAlas, this is the eighth profound hip hop quote specifically paying homage to Philly with one more to go.  There’s so many to name, but you know I’ve got to include another female artist who has made herself known in the early 2000s and still reigns today, Eve, full name, Eve Jihan Jeffers.

Eve is one of the most influential female rappers or rappers from Philly, period, to see national and international success.  Actually, she deserves to be lauded for expanding her rap career into television, film and even fashion.

In “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” Eve commands respect from all competitors, haters and listeners while declaring an all-out women’s empowerment movement with the help of Gwen Stefani.  What makes her lyrics profound is, as she put it, “I just do me.”  She’s not concerned with pleasing or appeasing others and  is simply doing what she sees fit, not what others may expect.

Do you allow others to dictate your success or lack of success for that matter?  Of course, emulation is sometimes a necessity to do well in life, but emulating greatness and surpassing it is totally different than simply copying someone else.  Do you feel as confident in your ability as Eve is in hers to be unyielding in the face of doubters and competitors?

Please feel free to share your thoughts

~Anonomz aka Tanya Harris

Bonus English Lesson:
Whether it be intentional or on a subconscious level, words are not arbitrarily selected in poetry or music.  In these specific lyrics by Eve, she utilizes repetition as a technique to show emphasis.  For instance, the pronoun “you” is present in each line for a total of four times, and she incorporates the pronoun “me” just two times in the last two lines.  From this observation, one could deduce that this song is more so about addressing the competition and letting them know what she will tolerate rather than her justifying who “she” is and why she does what she does.

Advertisement

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Profound Hip Hop Quote #19: Homage to Philly Edition

14 May

“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!!

BahamadiaThis 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.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,