As I mentioned on my previous post, Jay-Z is one of my fave rapper. I think, listening to his music is necessary. A summer without Jay-Z anthem just didn't feel like summer at all. One of my most fave album by Jay-Z is Blueprint. The album's blue tinted jewel casing made it more impressing (not that I would have not bought it back then). This album for me was one of the best Jay-Z ever released.
With its first track The Ruler's Back which my Dad would call real music (mind you, my Dad's more into old songs and stuff but he did enjoyed the said track) to U Don't Know which had me LSS for days (I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell/ I am a hustler baby, I sell water to a whale/ - see, I still know my fave line in the said song) and of course, last but certainly not the least - the climax of the album Renegade.
Yes, indeed it is Renegade I picked as the climax of the album. Why not?!? With two of my fave rapper (Jay-Z and Eminem) doing a collab, who would dare disagree with me. Shocking right? Jay-Z's on the block hustling stories rapping style with Eminem's shock filled horror core rap, how could that be possible. But hell, yeah they both indeed collaborated in Renegade and it was fantastically rapped.
Renegade turns out to be a song about both Jay-Z and Eminem's world with Eminem delivering the impassioned anger he’s known for and a more introspective Jay-Z's there to help him back to sanity.
However good it might sound to everybody else, Renegade is still Jay-Z's song and not Eminem's. Contrary, there are a lot of music lover who thought that Eminem out-shined Jay-Z in this track. On Ether which is one of the most vicious diss songs of all time, rapper Nas took plenty shots at Jay-Z's sexuality and street credibility, but the line that burned extra slow was, Eminem murdered you on your own shit. Yes, there's no denying that Nas was right but who cares, Jay-Z's still one of the best.
SONG MEANING:
The song has different meanings to both artists. Jay-Z's two verses deal with his fatherless childhood, and how financial difficulties faced by his mother forced him to sell drugs for survival (thus becoming a renegade to society). He states his demeanor was "30 years [his] senior," implying that hardships he faced during his childhood forced him to grow up and make adult decisions from a young age. Jay-Z argues that his music is the product of his rough upbringing, and that it speaks to others going through the same problems. Thus, he dismisses critics who lump him together with artists who only rap about "jewels." He accuses these critics of simply "skimming" through his music, instead of listening thoroughly.
On the other hand, Eminem deals with the public perception of his music. At the time, Eminem was at the center of many criticisms due to the content of his lyrics. His references to drug use and religion caused many parents to publicly denounce his music. Eminem sees this outcry as hypocritical, claiming that these parents are using him as a "media scapegoat" to deflect attention away from their own shortcomings as parents.
--- Credit: Wikipedia
Enough has been said. Read through the lyrics and learn....
[Verse1: Jay-Z]
Motherfuckers say that I'm foolish I only talk about jewels
Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it
See I'm influenced by the ghetto you ruined
That same dude you gave nothing, I made something doing
What I do, through and through and
I give you the news with a twist, it's just his ghetto point-of-view
The renegade, you been afraid
I penetrate pop culture, bring em a lot closer to the block where they
Pop toasters and they live with they Moms
Got dropped roadsters from botched robberies, niggas crouched over
Mami's knocked up cause she wasn't watched over
Knocked down by some clown when child support knocked
No he's not around
Now how that sound to ya, jot it down
I bring it through the ghetto without riding round
Hiding down ducking strays from frustrated youths stuck in they ways
Just read a magazine that fucked up my day
How you rate music that thugs with nothing relate to it
I help them see they way through it, not you
Can't step in my pants, can't walk in my shoes
Bet everything you're worth, you'll lose your tie and your shirt
[Verse 2: Eminem]
Since I'm in a position to talk to these kids and they listen
I ain't no politician but I'll kick it with em a minute
Cause, see, they call me a menace and if the shoe fits I'll wear it
But if it don't, then y'all'll swallow the truth, grin and bear it
Now who's the king of these rude, ludicrous, lucrative lyrics
Who could inherit the title, put the youth in hysterics
Using his music to steer it, sharing his views and his merits
But there's a huge interference: they're saying you shouldn't hear it
Maybe it's hatred I spew, maybe it's food for the spirit
Maybe it's beautiful music I made for you to just cherish
But I'm debated, disputed, hated and viewed in America
As a motherfuckin' drug addict, like you didn't experiment, nah nah
That's when you start to stare at who's in the mirror
And see yourself as a kid again, and you get embarrassed
And I got nothing to do but make you look stupid as parents
You fucking do-gooders, too bad you couldn't do good at marriage
And do you have any clue what I had to do to get here
I don't think you do so stay tuned and keep your ears glued to the stereo
Cause here we go, he's {*Jigga j-Jigga*}
And I'm the sinister Mr. Kiss-My-Ass, it's just the
[Hook: Eminem and Jay-Z]
Renegade, never been afraid to say
What's on my mind at any given time of day
Cause I'm a renegade! Never been afraid to talk
About anything, anything, anything, anything, renegade
Never been afraid to say
What's on my mind at any given time of day
Cause I'm a renegade, never been afraid to holler
About anything (etc.)
[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
I had to hustle, my back to the wall, ashy knuckles
Pockets filled with a lot of lint, not a cent
Gotta vent, lot of innocent lives lost on the project bench
Whatchu hollering, gotta pay rent, bring dollars in
By the bodega, iron under my coat, feeling braver
Durag wrapping my waves up, pockets full of hope
Do not step to me, I'm awkward, I box lefty
An orphan my pops left me, and often, my momma wasn't home
Could not stress to me I wasn't grown, especially on nights
I brought something home to quiet the stomach rumblings
My demeanor, thirty years my senior
My childhood didn't mean much, only raising green up
Raising my fingers to critics
Raising my head to the sky B.I.G. I did it, multi before I die
No lie, just know I chose my own fate
I drove by the fork in the road and went straight
[Verse 4: Eminem]
See I'm a poet to some, a regular modern-day Shakespeare
Jesus Christ, the King of these Latter-Day Saints here
To shatter the picture in which of that as they paint me as
As a monger of hate, satanist, scatter-brained atheist
But that ain't the case, see it's a matter of taste
We as a people decide if Shady's as bad as they say he is
Or is he the latter, a gateway to escape
Media scapegoat; who they can be mad at today
See it's easy as cake, simple as whistling Dixie
While I'm waving the pistol at sixty Christians against me
Go to war with the Mormons, take a bath with the Catholics
In holy water, no wonder they tried to hold me under longer
I'm a motherfucking spiteful, delightful eyeful
The new Ice Cube, motherfuckers hate to like you
What did I do, I'm just a kid from the gutter
Making this butter off these bloodsuckers
Cause I'm a muthafuckin'
[Hook]
Lyrics credited to Rap Genius and photos credited to Google....
Laters Baby....
