lil wayne:Amen (cry out)
The life of a big-time celebrity doesn’t equal a care-free world. B.I.G. said it best with “mo money, mo problems”. It’s not just the money that brings forth problems. Your environment plays a good role, and this is something Lil Wayne always knew and displayed exceptionally well on certain records. “Amen (Cry Out)” was one of those memorable Wayne moments that still feels lost amongst the general public in the midst of the best rapper alive era.
Streetrunner laid some of the best production that we’ve heard Mr. Carter use. With “Amen”, there was this melancholy vibe to it the whole time. The soul sample really set the tone in the background. It was perfect for him to lay down this collection of thoughts that take him on a journey of sorrow and self-reflection.
Within the first eight bars, Wayne projected a bit of his childhood and threw in relevant perspective on how New Orleans and black communities are looked at. The first two bars is demonstrating the type of racial profiling he’s experienced by being targeted as a drug dealer for having a beeper. That’s not all as he states a line about “ghetto birds” (bitches) and the government treating them with disrespect despite all the evolving we’ve done as a society. “Livin’ like the videos write a treatment on us” is painting the picture of what the 9th ward really looked like. No cameras but the scene was like something out of a movie.
Throughout, he speaks about various people in his life that have passed away. Most notable would have to be Lil Derrick, nephew of Birdman, who was shot to death in 2006. Weezy opens up about how Derrick was still heavy in the streets. Earlier in the song, there’s a quick story about another friend, Lil Tiggas. Unlike Derrick, Wayne puts it out there about how Hurricane Katrina was responsible for his passing. The list goes on. One thing that he set out to do well was pay tribute to a lot of people in his life that passed.
When the obituary list is complete, there’s one man that Wayne displays hate for: the father he barely knew. “And all I know ‘bout my real pops is that he had money” is not that good of a memory for someone who should’ve been in your life more. Throwing some money his way would never be enough to make up for decades of absence. However, you can hear the passion in his tone when he calls his father a joke and how he turned out fine without his guidance.
“And haters at an all time high
Everybody gotta hate us like a fuckin iPod
Shit and they tried to burn my phantom up, but i got my gun license
I got my hammers up, im ready to shoot like a camera
Stay still mothafucka I’ma have to write my will this summer
Cause if they don’t kill me, I’ma kill this summer”
There’s an interesting notion with that whole section of lines toward haters. Keeping the central theme in the N.O., it’d make sense why the “haters” or community would hate iPods and go as far as want to shoot up Weezy’s Phantom. However, his gangsta is not to be tested in that situation with his guns locked and loaded on any potential issues. The last two lines are a prediction for the future, which appears once again in the last two lines of the entire song; Birdman Jr. declares himself the future of music.
No comments:
Post a Comment