Harlem World by the late, great Ol’ Dirty Bastard, has my media players (all of em) on LOCK right now. There are other songs I like, and may have actually liked a little more, but Harlem World is the song that, if I really did have a personal soundtrack, would probably be the song that (for reasons other than the meaning of the lyrics) best described me.
I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, and he correctly surmised that I only really like complete songs; the beat has to be tight AND the rhymes have to be on point. Dope beat with wack rhymes? I’m not listenin. Dope lines, wack beat? I probably never heard it in the first place. Harlem World, though? Ridiculous. Let me count the ways:
1. The track. It’s my personal formula. Muddy organ + boom-bap drums.
2. The lyrics. Nothing particularly profound, just some good ol’ joning.
3. The Russell Jones factor. Ol’ Dirty was straight-up Ol’ Dirty on this record. It was like the condensation of everything he had done on the album into one song. That means he:
– sang. Absolutely murdered (for better or worse) “Hollywood Swingin’” by Kool & The Gang.
– screamed.
– talked trash (at the beginning AND the end of the song.)
– used the “invisible” technique, leaving off the rhyming words of each couplet.
– switched his entire flow. when he actually starts the straight-up rapping part of the record, he almost sounds like he’s talking out of the side of his mouth with his jaws clenched. By the end, he’s done the complete Ol’ Dirty routine.
This record has everything. Ehhhhhhyeeeeeething. I highly recommend it. Of course, I realize that everybody won’t dig it like I do. Some people might not get it, and some people will think it’s corny. But me? If they were playing a song in a movie that was supposed to be about me? This is the record I’d want them to play.
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