Being in media, you rarely have time where your brain is truly free to think of things outside of your whatever you are working on.
When you work in online media, it is even worse because you have to be connected to your phone, laptop, tablet or whatever technology you can get your hands on to keep up to date on things.
I got a pocket of time where my brain was literally free of anything besides my own random thoughts (which can be a dangerous thing) when I drove from Comic-Con in San Diego to LA for the ESPYS.
During my drive “Renegade” popped up on my playlist. I’ve heard the song 1000 times before, it is one of my favorite songs ever, the reason being, I think Eminem’s 1st verse is one of the greatest verses in the history of rap (currently sits at #2 on my list behind Inspectah Deck’s verse from “Triumph”).
Most people remember the song because they feel that Eminem outshined Jay and considering Jay is one of the greatest rappers of all-time, people remember any time he is beat on a feature.
But as I made my way to LA, maybe for the first time I really LISTENED to Jay’s verse, not just heard it or anticipated EM’s verse. When I listened, I realized we have underrated this verse for many many years.
Why did it hit me differently than the other 1000 times I listened? I think because where I am at in my career it mirrors a bit of what I am going through or have went through with BSO, than when it was initially released.
Here is my new breakdown of the verse:
Motherf*ckers –
say that I’m foolish I only talk about jewels (bling bling)
Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?
When he speaks on do you just listen to music or just skim through it, it is very similar to people who complain we don’t do enough sports, but ignore we cover more sports than any independent sports site in the country and it isn’t even close. When I say not close, I mean we have covered 50+ live sporting events as credentialed media in 6 months, I doubt you will find any independent sports site who has covered more than 5, but people think we ONLY talk about Draya and Russell Wilson’s sex life (broke that story by the way and then every mainstream media outlet picked it up). People skim BSO, don’t actually SEE what BSO is doing, because those who do, would see a multifaceted media site that is different that almost any other site out there.
I wanted to help others, break down barriers and infiltrate a genre that is controlled by 90% older whitemales. That is hard to do, you have to do things outside of the box, but even for those who hate, especially if they are trying to get into the industry, regardless of what they think of me, I am doing certain things so it is easier for them than it was for me.
See I’m influenced by the ghetto you ruined
That same dude you gave nothin, I made somethin doin
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 roasters, from botched robberies n*ggas crotched over
Mommy’s knocked up cause she wasn’t watched over
I am from the North Side of Saint Louis, MO. Ferguson style things has been happening since I was in diapers, I wasn’t supposed to graduate college and I certainly wasn’t expected to take a site that was originally created on Yahoo Geocities to getting air time on ESPN. But, what I did was take what everyone was talking about and I gave it a different a voice, a different point-of-view so to speak. I refused to be put in a box, always try to see the different angles and give people what they want but with a twist.
My mom was single mom, who literally gave up everything she liked to do to raise me. My cousins, some of my best friends were drug dealers, gang members and etc. This isn’t a productive environment to have hope in, but I did because of my family, so I am forever grateful for that.
When he speaks of penetrating the pop culture, that is similar to me taking on Mainstream media and making them see how WE see things. When I say we, I mean all of you, we changed mainstream media to be the way WE wanted it to be. Essentially, we turned sports into something cooler by bringing it closer to the block and farther from corporate america.
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 ridin ’round
hidin down duckin strays from frustrated youths stuck in they ways
Just read a magazine that f*cked up my day
How you rate music that thugs with nothin 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 worth; you lose your tie and your shirt
When speaking of stepping in his pants, walking in his shoes, I can totally understand that. I went from evictions notices, repos, negative bank accounts, credit score looking like a batting average and a future that was pretty bleak to people coming up to me on the street saying I am inspiring them to follow their dreams. That is a pretty dramatic leap in 5 years, so you really can’t tell me how I should be representing the brand. What I try to remember is that a lot of times people who are negative are louder, especially behind the comfort of their computers. It is one of the reasons I like to go out and talk to real people, not their Twitter Avis. You can then have discussions on what is going in media that are productive.
I have been in this industry for 10 years, I have been around music and sports since I was 16, I try to explain things in a way that you simply not going to get on ESPN.com. I don’t have to still be IN THE HOOD, to know how these young guys think, because I was that young guy once and as I’ve gotten older I’ve surrounded myself with young people like Kel Dansby, Mark Gunnels, Quierra Luck and more on my staff. How can a 60-year-old white man relate to DeSean Jackson or Jameis Winston? Doesn’t mean their opinions are invalid, but you should have more than ONE mainstream opinion.
I don’t measure my success by how much money I have (it isn’t a lot), I measure my worth on how many people I can help and how much hope I can give. I measure my success on how happy I can make my family, my daughter and friends. People ask me why I don’t react to some of the negative things thrown my way, my answer is always the same, I didn’t sleep well for years because I feared someone would be banging on my door to evict me and my family, a Twitter troll certainly isn’t going to cause me to lose any sleep.
The paranoia never goes away, but that is what motivates me to keep working.
It isn’t Jay Z’s greatest lyrical verse and it doesn’t change the fact I could do a similar article on Em’s verse, but the fact the verse is sort of lost in the mix because of Em’s verse, I thought it would be interesting to break it down, because the life lessons maybe have a greater impact than we thought. I know for me personally it is more relatable and frankly that is why I love Hip-Hop because the truly great artist can paint a picture for you and you can apply to any walk of life.
It will go up on my wall, next to Jay’s 2nd verse on “Moment of Clarity” which I do believe is his greatest verse of all-time.
*UPDATE*
By popular demand…..
FLIP THE PAGE FOR JAY Z’S SECOND VERSE BREAKDOWN….
