Rap Song Mondays- Eminem "Lose Yourself"

I have to admit that I’m not the biggest Eminem fan. I understand that in the music world he’s like the second coming of Christ, and I won’t deny his rapping abilities because they are spot on, but most of songs fail to connect with me. His joke songs like “My Name Is”, “The Real Slim Shady” and “Without Me” are funny the first time you hear them, but after listening to them hundreds of time on the radio, they begin to lose their appeal. I find his ultra-personal songs like “The Way That I Am” and “Cleaning Out My Closet” way too personal for me to even begin to understand. The only ones I can listen to are “Guilty Conscious” (an amazing collaboration with Dr. Dre), “Superman” and “Stan” (which I rediscovered over this summer and am still in awe of its brilliance), but even those I can only play once in awhile. There is, however, one Eminem song that I can hear over and over again without getting tired of and that’s his Oscar-winning “Lose Yourself.”

While it is definitely a personal song, it’s not in the psycho-mom-Kim’s-a-bitch style that we’re accustomed to hearing. Instead, it was written for the semi-autobiographical character of Rabbit that Eminem played in 8 Mile. In relating to the struggles of Rabbit in “Lose Yourself,” we actually catch a glimpse of what it must have been like for Eminem to grow up as poor white trash in Detroit.

No song that I can think of captures the feelings of failure and desperation as expertly or innovatively as Eminem does in this song. We feel it in everything from his lyrics to his tightly controlled delivery and flow. Rabbit/Eminem knows he is a good rapper and can come up with great rhymes, but his nerves seem to get the best of him. They are so bad that “there’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti.” When this shot passes him by, he is upset that he missed what could be his only opportunity to make it out of the shitty life he can’t escape. This sense of desperation builds over the second verse and by the third, it has all but spilled over. The rhymes keep coming faster and faster as Eminem’s voice get harsher, accentuating downbeats and almost maniacally rushing all the words together so that we feel the tension rising in Rabbit as he gets on stage to rap again.

If you have ever doubted that a rapper can emote feelings in the same manner that Jennifer Hudson or Judy Garland can, seriously listen to this song and tell me it’s not a performance unto itself. “Lose Yourself” is the epitome of what rap can be, and what it should be, and if we had more of this type of song instead of fucking “Laffy Taffy Girl” or whatever shit is on the radio, rap would get a much better name.

Rap Song Mondays- Eve and Gwen Stefani "Let Me Blow Ya Mind"

If you remember back to last week (I know it’s hard, but just try), I mentioned in my first edition of Rap Song Monday that in competition with Missy Elliott’s “Work It” as my favorite rap/hip-hop song were two other songs. Well, coming this week is the second of those (with the third following next week) and that song is Eve and Gwen Stefani’s triumphant teaming on “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.”

Even before this song came out, I was (surprisingly) a fan of Eve’s. I had heard both her previous singles (“Love is Blind” and “Who’s That Girl?”) on TRL back in the day and loved them- and still do to this day. They were so different from what I was listening to at the time (Britney Spears, Dream, O Town, etc.) and really helped me to appreciate rap/hip-hop music.

And then came “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.”

I remember seeing the music video long before they started playing the song on the radio and was in awe of how fabulous it was. There is that iconic image of Eve and Gwen on that 4-wheeler riding down the street during the beginning of the video (and I am so pissed I can’t find a picture of it…damn Google Image search) that basically defines the whole attitude of the song- two women fighting their way through a male-dominated society and not giving a shit about the criticism being hurled at them. I love when they crash the party and seeing the horrified looks on the faces of the crusty white bitches as Gwen walks by in, basically, a bra and you can almost see their thought bubbles go “Oh my God, black people!” Eve, in her short, red-haired glory, never looked as great and natural and Gwen Stefani (a couple years before her “Hollaback Girl” success) radiates sex appeal and charisma. Just take a gander at this photo from when Gwen pushes some dopey white bitch away from the mike and sings the chorus:

I think it’s also important to point out that “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” is one of the few songs where I can just belt out most of the lyrics without the music or anything in the background. I don’t know what it is about the song that allows me to do that, but it happens for some off reason. My friend Laura argues that a rap song isn’t a rap song anymore when a white person can memorize all the words and sing along with it. I can see her point to a certain extent, but Eve is definitely a legitimate rapper and “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” although it does rather cater to a white majority audience, is a great rap song.

After “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” Eve tried to cash in again on this winning formula and did “Gangsta Lovin’” with Alicia Keys and even collaborated with Gwen again on “Rich Girl,” but neither of them can really stand up to the awesomeness that radiates from “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” I really wish that Eve would come back from UPN/CW sitcom hell and make another CD to restore her to her former glory. Maybe she will get lucky again and make another song just as hot as “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”

Rap Song Mondays- Missy Elliott "Work It"

For my inaugural edition of Rap Song Monday, I decided to choose what I rightly consider my favorite rap/hip-hop song (as of this very second anyways- there are two others that are right at top with this song): Missy Elliott’s electric club-banger “Work It” which continues to impress me five years after I first heard it.

Missy Elliott is probably my favorite rapper, male or female. She really makes an effort to be original in everything that she does from her beats and lyrics to her fashion and stunning music videos. I mean, who else could deliver a line like “I’m a bad mamma jamma goddammit motherfucker, you ain’t gotta like me” and have it seem like something revelatory (I personally live by that phrase)? And she doesn’t try to be political like Kanye, deeply personal like Eminem or overly sexual like Lil’ Kim (and most female rappers for that matter). Missy sticks to her hot club bangers that are totally different and great to move to.

Out of all of Missy’s impressive tracks, “Work It,” for me, stands above all. Maybe it’s the memories of all the discussions my friend Kayla and I had when the song came out and how we marveled at its ingeniousness and hilarity (The whole getting your “hair did” was a favorite of ours). Or maybe it’s the 11th grade English paper I wrote about its use of poetry techniques (“I’ll make you hot as Las Vegas weather” is a simile) and the B+ I got on it (Reading the paper again, I don’t know how I wasn’t sent to the principal because the thing is pretty distasteful and somewhat vulgar).

Perhaps the ultimate reason why I love “Work It” is Missy’s inventive rhymes and lines. Whether she’s rapping about Kunta Kinte (“Kunta Kinte, enslave a game, no suh/Picture black saying oh yessa massa”), getting a date drunk (“Let’s get drunk, it’s gonna bring us closer/Don’t I look like a Halle Berry poster?”) or shaving “down there” (“Call before you come, I need to shave my cho-cha”), Missy is clearly having fun and not taking herself too seriously. Like Groucho Marx’s character in Duck Soup, every line works and offers something hilarious, insightful or, at the very least, is integral to the song.

It also doesn’t hurt that Timbaland is producing the track and he turns out one of his hottest beats EVER. Holy shit, plus there’s that music video? It is one of the few music videos I have seen that have actually enhanced the song and made it even greater (Who would think that was possible?).