"Hit 'Em Up" by Tupac

“Hit ‘Em Up”

I was debating on whether or not to use this song,  “Hit ‘Em Up,” by Tupac. It is not a song you will be playing at Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, or at any formal function whatsoever. However, it is one of my favorite songs. 

I once left my iPod playing on shuffle mode in my car while I ran in to the grocery store and a female friend of mine was still in the car.  When I came back to the car, she said, “Man that guy was really mad, he kept saying fuck you.”  I could not help but laugh.  I instantly knew the song she was referring to.

This song was written right after Tupac was shot while in New York.  He wasn’t sure who shot him but thought that all of  the East Coast rappers where behind it.  “Hit ‘Em Up” was written with raw, powerful emotions behind it.  The lyrics speak for themselves.  The hook is “Hit Em Up,” meaning: I’m going to retaliate against you, I’m going to kill you, and I’m going to fuck you up.  This is not your ordinary rap song.

“That’s why I fucked your bitch you fat motherfucker.”  This is something that people might think, something people might even say to their friends, but never to a person’s face, or let the whole world know exactly what they did to another person.  Tupac did just that, he lyrically expressed how he felt about Biggie, Puffy, and Junior Mafia in one song.  What keeps me drawn to the song is Tupac’s uncensored thoughts of what had just happened to him. The song motivates people.  This song has been used by many athletes to pump them up before a big game, I use it to pump me up at the gym on a regular basis. 

While writing this blog I wondered if this song reflects who I am.  In some ways it does.  We all have this inner demon in us. We’ve all said “fuck you” to someone, or we have all thought it even if we haven’t said it.  “Why did you take my parking space? Why did you cut me off in the freeway?”  No I’m not going to go and hit ‘em up like Tupac wanted to do.  But we can all relate on some level.  I don’t like to be messed with, I think that nobody likes to be messed with, and this song speaks to me in that sense.

The song is full of lyrics and very little “hook music” meaning that the same thing is not repeated over and over again to keep a person singing the song.  That’s probably what I like the most about the song.

DJ Shadow "Long Stem"

Long Stem

Long Stem was my favorite song of the whole DJ Shadow album.  When I first started listing to the album I did not know what to make of it.  Most of the songs seemed to be ones that one would listen to while on some type of psychedelic drug.  I was almost ready to go and buy some mushrooms so I could continue listening to the rest of the album. 

Then Long Stem rose came on.  This was a song that I could listen to.  There are very little lyrics which made it all the better.  The song is a long one, hence the title Long Stem.  It put me in a nice tranquil place where I could relax.  The beginning seems to be a very long intro but in fact it’s the actual song.  I felt like I was watching a movie in the 70’s and something was about to happen.  I’m not sure where DJ Shadow found the beat to this but it would make for a great song.  There are two spurts of random lyrics

Then go, Back, Head, There, Decide....

I think he wants us all to stop and listen and decide.  We might be in the middle of making a decision we should just go back and decide.  This verse can be used in many different ways it just depends on who is listening and what they are going through at that particular point in their life.

I say parking tickets! you're crazy, i don't...

He says well, they have some outstanding warrents left on you

and they want to just solve them you know, whatever it'll be.

So they take me in on a chain down to long beach

and now they lock me up in the cell behind the courtroom in long beach

while i'm awaiting to be heard on my traffic offences! parking tickets!

I paniced, i'm thinking, oh my god, man, while i'm here, what's to stop them?

I mean what's really to stop them, oh, i assumed that maybe some day

my mother would realize that i should have gotten out! yeah,

she was nice, she would have known but still, what's to stop them?

and finally they called, so, they called, oh, man....scared

This lyric that he put in towards the end of the song really makes you think.  He put it towards the end for a reason.  I feel that it’s to make you again make a decision.  The person in question is talking about being taken to jail on some parking tickets.  Why didn’t he just take care of the tickets so he could avoid the whole scenario?  That’s what DJ shadow wanted to get across.  Why don’t we take care of small things before they become big issues in our lives.