Monday, June 17, 2013

Petty name-calling, under-the-breath-talking

I decided while driving last Friday that High Road by Fort Minor is the best rap song that I have ever heard.  (Fort Minor is the side project of Linkin Park's rapper, Mike Shinoda.)  Naturally I needed to verify this with real data, and now after browsing through all of the rap tracks in my collection that I had rated 5 stars, I can back up my initial conclusion.
I love pretty much everything about High Road.  Mike's vocals are perfect—the rhythm is entrancing, and he's got a strong, sharp, clear voice.  The chorus is sung by John Legend, who fits the track wonderfully well with his silky-smooth R&Bness.  The beat's great too, and I love that the pacing is such that I can manage to rap and sing along moderately well, which is not generally the case.  And the lyrics, while not Shakespeare, have a nice flow to them.
Lemme tell you where I'm at with this
You bastards are gonna have to take back that shit
I'm not plastic and fake
When I make tracks, I take facts and lay 'em out for the masses
You assholes are gonna see soon that I'm not playing
Start asking me the names that I'm not saying
But I'm trying to be bigger than the bickering
Bigger than the petty name-calling, under-the-breath-talking
Rumors and labels and categorization
I'm like a struggling doctor: no patience
But you can say what you want about me
Keep talking while I'm walking away
Anyway.  Yeah.  Best rap song ever.  The runner-ups, which all excel in most of the factors that are important to great music, are (in no particular order):
Chiddy Bang—Handclaps and Guitars
Jurassic 5—Back 4 U
Diddy/Dirty Money—Coming Home
The Roots—Walk Alone

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