In the heat of farcical parliamentary Brexit manoeuvrings and Trump trampling through the ruins of international relations, here's a clever reimagining of a white-collar high-level meeting if it was a street-gang brawl. This comes from DJ Shadow's fifth album, from 2016, The Mountain Will Fall. Much is said about straight-talking honesty, or lack of it in politics, as well as in business, but this number from the US hip-hop producer, aka Joshua Davis, working here with the politically charged duo El-P and Killer Mike, is ram-packed with phrases that suggest sexual violence, braggadocio and menace, in many ways revealing what business leaders and autocratic, psychopathic politicians are really about. In this they mouth words as if mafiosi or LA gangs.
The lyrics conjure up a form of aggressive humour that also parodies that unattractive form of hip hop itself. The boardroom fight video adds extra punch to it, and the lyrics include some killer lines about Donald Trump and others, including the famous reference to his daughter Ivanka, whom Trump said he would date if he wasn't related to her ("flame your crew quicker than Trump fucks his youngest").
The music is shored up by the rapping and the horn sections, but by sweet contrast, the striking opening sample of guitar scales and bass line, while boldly aggressive here, actually comes from a 1968 version of Jerome Kern's and Oscar Hammerstein's Ol' Man River show song Ol' Man River (made famous by Paul Robeson), but here performed by the French-Italian singer Caterina Valente, which is also posted below for your enjoyment.
[El-P]
Picture this
I'm a bag of dicks
Put me to your lips
I am sick
I will punch a baby bear in his shit
Give me lip
I'ma send you to the yard, get a stick
Make a switch
I can end a conversation real quick
[Killer Mike]
I am crack
I ain't lyin', kick a lion in his crack
I'm the shit, I will fall off in your crib, take a shit
Pinch your momma on the booty
Kick your dog, fuck your bitch
Fat boy dressed up like he's Santa
And took pictures with your kids
[El-P]
We the best
We will cut a frowny face in your chest, little wench
I'm unmentionably fresh, I'm a mensch, get correct
I will walk into a court while erect, screaming "Yes!
I am guilty, motherfuckers, I am death"
Hey, you wanna hear a good joke?
[Refrain]
Nobody speak, nobody get choked
[El-P]
Get running
Start pumping your bunions, I'm coming
I'm the dumbest, who flamethrow your function to Funyuns
Flame your crew quicker than Trump fucks his youngest
Now face the flame, fuckers, your fame and fate's done with
[Killer Mike]
I rob Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Linus and Lucy
Put coke in the doobie, roll woolies to smoke with Snoopy
I still remain that dick grabbin' slacker that spit a loogie
'Cause the toter of the toolie'll murder you friggin' Moolies
Fuck outta here, yeah
[Refrain]
Nobody speak, nobody get choked, hey
Nobody speak, nobody get choked, hey, hey
Nobody speak
Nobody speak
[El-P]
Only facts, I will shoot a
Baby duck if it quacks, with a Luger
Top billin', come cops some villainous shots is boxed, shipped out, and bought, and y'all feeling it
El-P killin' it, Killer Mike killin' shit
[Killer Mike]
What more can I say? We top billin' it
Valiant without villainy
Viciously foul victory
Burn towns and villages
Burning, looting. and pillaging
[El-P]
Murderers try to hurt us, we curse them and all their children
I just want the bread and bologna bundles to tuck away
I don't work for free, I am barely giving a fuck away
[Killer Mike]
So tell beggin' Johnny and Mommy to get the fuck away
Heyyo here's a gun, son, now run, get it the gutterway
Live to shoot another day
[Refrain]
Nobody speak, nobody get choked, hey
Nobody speak, nobody get choked, hey
Nobody speak
Nobody speak
Nobody speak, nobody get choked.
Want to suggest songs for Song of the Day or to say anything about it? Does this song make you think of something else? Then feel free to comment below, on the contact page, or on social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube. Please subscribe, follow and share.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained inAbout/FAQs ...