Ask me any week and I'll give you a different answer. Here's the stuff rattling around in my head right now:
"Life's a bitch and then you die" (Nas articulated absurdism far more clearly in his song than Camus did when he got the Nobel prize)
"Woke up early on my born day - I'm 20
It's a blessing
The essence of adolescence leaves my body
And now my physical frame is celebrated
Cause I made it
One quarter through life
Some Godly thing created" (a lyric about the ecstasy of surviving youth as a black kid in a violent and difficult environment, moving on from adolescence and celebrating but at the same time the lyric is sobering because of the idea - which has long permeated rap and was reiterated by Kendrick in Butterfly - that black men only really have 3 decades on the earth to show what they are worth. Nas is saying he did it, he survived, he's proud but he doesn't know at what cost, or if any of it will be worth it, and is unsure about the future. This is the same song as the lyric above it).
Nas
And from Kendrick's Mortal Man:
Do you believe in me? Are you deceiving me?
Could I let you down easily, is your heart where it need to be?
Is your smile on permanent? Is your vow on lifetime?
Would you know where the sermon is if I died in this next line?
If I’m tried in a court of law, if the industry cut me off
If the government want me dead, plant cocaine in my car
Would you judge me a drug-head or see me as K. Lamar
Or question my character and degrade me on every blog
Want you to love me like Nelson, want you to hug me like Nelson
I freed you from being a slave in your mind, you’re very welcome
You tell me my song is more than a song, it’s surely a blessing
But a prophet ain’t a prophet til they ask you this question:
When **** hit the fan, is you still a fan?
Also really liked these lines from the Hamilton musical opening number, Alexander Hamilton:
The ten-dollar founding father without a father
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a
Trading charter
And this one
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
Really like this refrain from Warcloud because it sounds awesome when you hear it:
Frequency modulation, Mephistopheles
Mi dispiace, overwhelm realm as thick as thieves
Hap hazard ball and chain, the warrior king God
Whoever claim, this dismal drown you, bleed
Then squeeze, sound catastrophes
A kind of loose gown worn by the Japanese
Crash, some prickly apple trees
Thanks a lot it drops from you, who, went to nowhere and forgot
I get the props, blacken flowers and glocks, crash
Like, I'll witness skills, but it's completely one-sided! I'll tag you during the tournament for recommendations. Hopefully, the games I watch will actually be close.
