rap music's memorable banalities

"Cuz I choose to use my infinite potential"
-Jeru the Damaja

this may have been a terrible idea for a thread, but for some reason this lyric was stuck in my head tonite and could figure out no earthly reason why it would be

i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

"I've got a bungalow" - Dr Dre

at least 70% of the group home album

I go to St John's University
And since kindergarden I acquired the knowledge
After 12th grade I went straight to college

A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it’s still a wish

It's not about a salary, it's all about reality.

We demand sanitary food

...is pretty good in context, but it got pulled out by a friend in high school as an example of how Wu-Tang Forever was a step down into wackness, and I've never been able to shake that reading of it.

I Left My Wallet In El Segundo

but that's the point isn't it?

best rap banality ever:

Super Nintendo Sega Genesis
When I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this

lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.

the early 90s was so full of filler raps like this

ILM's least memorable banalities

are you looking for the 'whats on your ipod threads'

take 2

are you looking for the 'whats on your ipod' threads

i am looking for the exit, sir

;_;

i'll get me GOAT

And when my dishes were dirty, I got Cascade.
I got it MADE.

wow, that song... that whole verse is amazing:

I'm kinda spoiled
Cuz everything I want I got made
I wanted gear - got everything from cotton to suede
I wanted lead - I didnt beg, I just got laid
My hair was growin' too long, so I got me a fade
And when my dishes got dirty, I got Cascade
When the weather was hot, I got a spot in the shade
I'm wise because I rise to the top of my grade
Wanted peace on Earth, so to God I prayed
Some kids across town thought I was afraid
They couldnt harm me - I got the army brigade
I'm not a trader - If what you got is greater, I'll trade
But maybe later cuz my waiter made potato -n- alligator souflee
I got it made

I mean, it has it all - abuse of the passive voice to make the rhyme work, flat out self-contradiction ("I'm not a trader [...] I'll trade" (unless there's some "traitor" pun that I'm not getting), statements that would probably be true of anybody and don't really prove that he's got it made (wants peace on Earth). The only question is, which is more banal: that he sits in the shade when it's hot, or that he washes his dishes with Cascade?

I like how his waiter is the one making the fancy dishes though - that actually does kind of suggest he's got it made.

I have to honestly thank you for turning me onto Special Ed. "Would you join the Navy if you didn't like the gravy and rice? Think about it."

I'd rather bust a nut than bust a cap

the early 90s was so full of filler raps like this

Come on and dance guys grab a girl don't wait make the twirl
It's your world and I'm just a squirrel
Trying to get a nut to move your butt

I put too much sugar in my Kool...Aid

and it gets warm, take off your hot sweater

if you're tired, then go take a nap

dood ya can't knock Special Ed!!

(many x-posts)

My DJ is warm, he's X. I call him Norm Ya know.

Still makes me laugh everytime.

maybe X should take off his sweater.

And in the off season we vacate in the shade.

and it gets warm, take off your hot sweater

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, October 14, 2008 1:35 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

if you're tired, then go take a nap

― Granny Dainger, Tuesday, October 14, 2008 1:37 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha these were exactly what i meant

i'll get me GOAT

― HOOS clique iphones fool get ya steen on (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Saturday, September 13, 2008 5:46 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol

Buy a half price sweater new

you cant help me if you cant help yourself
you better make a left

I'M GETTIN SLEEPY
I NEED SOME COFFEE

it don't matter if radio say its a hit
real niggas consider it miscellaneous shit

^ ^ ^ Requesting source pls. ^ ^ ^

Saigon on "Say It" from new Termanology mixtape If Heaven Was A Mile Away

I knew a guy like you
his name was Felipe

And if you're dirty, then go take a bath.

first of all I'd like to thank god

a pound costs six in new york
but it's half in Miami

I'm just vanishin' with the vanishin' cream - Masta Killa

I woke up this morning and had that line in my head. I never noticed it until just then. Weird.

Letters makes words
and sentences makes paragraphs

this be the drama
i'ma cause like a comma in sentence
paragraphs indented

early in the mornin' jump out my bed
grab some afro sheen and I comb my head

I've posted this before, on a similar thread, as it is my favorite example of this sort of thing:

You lied about the lies that you lied about
You even lied to your aunt when you went down south

All the way to Africa, a.k.a. the Motherland
Stick out the left, then I'll ask for the other hand
That's the right hand, Black Man
Only if you was noted as my man

xp LOL

I feel the wind 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

I did half a xan
13 hours til I land

“I like it when there’s turbulence on my airplanes”

(“What’s Up Danger”)

Nice & Smooth "Funky For You" is rich with these:

Use my mind to control all my body parts
Got an early start, plus I'm very smart
Type of man that the girls want to read about
Indeed I proceed to rock the house without a doubt

Spreadin' peace and love throughout my travels
And take time to read and unravel
Day to day problems, and then solve them,
I can see clearly now as I revolve around suckers who perpetrate heroes (?)
But I'm no sandwich, more like a Manwich
Or maybe like a meal, which is much more real
Than Clark Kent or the Man of Steel

Spring again, and I'm feelin' fine
Pass me an ice-cold glass of wine
So I can get mellow, lay back, and let my girl play the cello
Hello, I hate Jell-O

hello i hate jell-o is hilarious

yeah, Nice and Smooth run the rap banalities game:

Greg Nice, my life's like a fairy tale
Orca was a great big whale
I knew a fat girl who broke the scale
You won't tell, I won't tell
Clientele I must excel
Took a little test, I passed then failed

yeah IRL LOL @ jello, sets a whole new bar for memorable banalities

But they also have one of the greatest banalities of all time, which I think about frequently: “I left my philly at home ... do you have another? I want to get blunted my brother.” Think that track might have another one ...

"Orca was a great big whale" clearly the prototype line for "Summer Girls"

Diamond D: "Got to give a shout to the Large Professor/Thought I lost his number but I left it on my dresser"

How 'bout dinner, a Salisbury steak?"

I said, "Sorry Honey-Dip, but I already ate"

- Scoob Lover, Big Daddy Kane "Pimpin' Ain't Easy"

"heads pretend they're hard, yo their favorite movie's <i>Lucas</i>"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8V7SMa3Uj8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JygHtlGt9Kc
you used to support your fam off of this
now you can't even buy spam off of this

from the grave, delivers

RIP

At night, New York, eat a slice too hot
Use my tongue to tear the skin hanging from the roof of my mouth

e-40:
sometimes you might find me drinking tap water
up out the public park sinks

“This guy made me fill out a visitor’s form”

One hour done passed; done watched two episodes of M*A*S*H.

They call him Two-TECs, he tote two TECs

not the most imaginative nickname

Hey remember Biggie's friend Two Tecs? Why did everybody call that guy Two Tecs? What a weird nickname. Oh well, I guess we'll never know.

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) October 25, 2016

DOOM leave the competition steamin' like a pile
Smile, ding! Sparklin' jewels
In effect like alternate side of the street parkin' rules

what that tweet presupposes is that the listener turned the song off after two tecs was introduced and didn't continue with the rest of the album

well, the rest is filler

You will never see me smoking a cigarette
Coz cigarette smoker, that's not me

"No, I'm not Chinese"

--Big Daddy Kane, "Long Live the Kane"

Here, no more dough will be made
Unless it's being made by hoes

That's Dom Perignon, it's supposed to bubble. from whodinis echo scratch!

"My album will manifest many things that I saw did or heard about" - O.C., 'Time's Up'

pic.twitter.com/t0KERirQ4V

— Valee (@valee) July 12, 2022

your girl trying to dance with a bag of baby powder
THE AIRHEADS ARE SOUR

kool keith - serpent

good album

has there ever been a nerdcore rapper angrily rapping about breaking D&D rules

they gave my unc life for selling dope and he 63
barack came in office in 08 and gave him clemency

rio day yung OG - "inrrgee"

in a way this is the very opposite of banal but the delivery w/in the song & the context in which it comes makes it feel like a true rap banality to me <3

P heartwarming!

came in to post this one from de la soul 'all good' but i already posted it 9 years ago

I can't believe we built this large pizza pie together, no pepperoni
Yeah you wanted extra cheese, sometimes I gave you extras

― Spottie, Friday, February 14, 2014 2:23 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

still a great line from a great song

xxxpost yeah Serpent is soooo good

AOTY

“Whip anybody ass at NBA Live”

Common on The Bizness

when I was young, I was a fan of the Jackson 5

I used to watch CHiPs now I load Glock clips

No, my album ain’t done. It ain’t dropping yet - Juelz Santana

I used to watch CHiPs now I load Glock clips

― Raising Azure Asia (President Keyes), Sunday, October 27, 2024 7:51 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

this is the opposite of this thread

the contrast of the banal with the dramatic is its own poetic thing but def not a memorable banality on its own

I was just following up the quote above that about the Jackson 5

though in the context of the lines around it the gun loading isn't all that dramatic, since he just talking about Mr. Magic and how he's not gay.

I fucked up my Jeep
I fixed it with Bondo

- Valee

'playin live 95
tradin charles smith for drexler'
―j-live

(me to myself: no way that trade is even. what a cheater lol.)

This isn’t banal so much as sort of tautological/obvious

Having cash is highly addictive
Especially when you’re used to having money to live with

Kick off your shoes and relax your socks