Breaking the Block with Music
I don’t have the right words to describe music. Just thinking about music makes me smile. It can create or match so many different moods. Everyone can find something they like. So if you’re stuck, on a project or in life, music can help you clear your mind.
I love lyrics. Wordplay is my favorite. I need to get back into rap because that’s usually where you find it. I found this article, A Rap Playbook: 26 great examples of lyrical wordplay, to refresh my definition before I gathered my own examples. But shout out to these classics:
- “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna” – Lil Wayne, “6 Foot, 7 Foot” (2011)
- “I father, I Brooklyn Dodger them / I jack, I rob, I sin / Aww man, I’m Jackie Robinson / ‘Cept when I run base, I dodge the pen” — JAY-Z, “Brooklyn (Go Hard)” (2008)
And here are my examples:
- “This ain’t an iPhone, it’s a glock on my waist line/ you don’t wanna Face Time” – Scholar Kuwgi, “Bussin’ a Spiritual Juug”
- “Feastin’ on God’s word, chop it up properly/ Watch me put it down raw like hibachi” – Andy Mineo, “Cocky”
- “My whole clique Christ lovers/my outfit it might be plain, but I’m fly with the right brothers” – KB, “Don’t Mean Much”
- “Boy I’m finna son you/ might increase your melanin/ riding to the top/ man, I’m pedalin’, I’m pedalin’/ you ain’t ready for my reign/ whip out your umbrella then” – Dee-1, “Get it On”
I have to share that in the last example with Dee-1, I discovered another play on words. So “son you” and “increase your melanin” was clear to me, but then with looking up the lyrics, they spelled it peddle, which means to go from place to place with goods, wares, etc., for sale at retail. Which as an indie artist, he’s had to do. I’ve only thought about that line as “pedaling” in reference to “riding.” Mind blown.
R&B was my jam for a long time. I used to eat up all the love and heartbreak ballads. I had to take a break and now I’m getting back into it. I love Jazmine Sullivan, Ne-Yo, Shareefa, Elle Varner, Adele, J. Holiday. And outside of R&B, but still soulful: Hozier, Mali Music, Rihanna, Koryn Hawthorne. I’m getting into Snoh Aalegra, H.E.R, Ari Lennox. But to circle back to Jazmine Sullivan and Ne-Yo: they’re songwriters. And they’re beasts.
Need U Bad is a classic, but Stuttering is really creative. There’s scatting, y’all. Scatting!!!
Make it Work and Let Me Get This Right by Ne-Yo are hidden gems. I love the story Let Me Get This Right tells.
So if you’re ever stuck, find some good music to listen to. Light a candle, drink some wine or sparkling water, snap your fingers, do your step, do it all by yourself. Ayyee.
