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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

History Motherfuck Them Flowers

Posted by on Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 12:26 PM

Number ONE on the gangsta hiphop top 10: The East Flatbush Project's "Tried By 12"


Spencer Bellamy's forgotten track (it was released in 97 and is more famous in Europe than it is here) has the strange hypnotic power of a poisonous plant or a black rose eating a deadly spider. As for Des's rhyme style, it comes very close to what Chinese literature scholars call parallel prose (p'ien-wen), which in English approximates John Lyly's euphuesism. The parallelisms stand as pillars in the architecture of his rhymes: "It starts with the shove and ends with the shovel," "I'd rather be the bastard who blasts than the bastard who's blasted," and, of course, "I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6." This track about funerals, guns, and death is not totally dark but darkles.

 

Comments (5) RSS

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1
"I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6" is of course a nod to Gangsta Rapper #1, Ice Cube.

this is forever an absolutely essential track.
Posted by lar on March 11, 2009 at 12:41 PM
2
Agreed with 1. I don't know about the list or the order, but this track is harder than most everything released after it. To me, the lo-fi sparse beat to this song is the most chilling part. If the beat were more slick, I think the tone of the words would be lost; but everything in 'Tried by 12' is perfect.
Posted by cosby on March 11, 2009 at 12:46 PM
3
Deservedly #1. The remix disc of this track released by Ninja Tune is very worthwhile, too.
Posted by segal on March 11, 2009 at 12:58 PM
4
@3:
Richard Devine obliterates this song and rebuilds it into something amazing. I'm not a fan of Richard Devine, but his remix is outstanding. That being said, listening to ten consecutive remixes of the same song can get a little boring.
Posted by cosby on March 11, 2009 at 2:25 PM
5
@4
You would think so, but I find there to be enough variation in approaches to keep the album interesting.
Posted by segal on March 11, 2009 at 3:27 PM

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