Harlem World '88 -- the era when only the brave ventured north to understand a different neighborhood. A neighborhood much different then the red tour bus, Starbucks friendly, "Chicken Noodle Soup" wit' a soda-on-the-side Harlem. The Harlem when the community lost hundreds of young lives, the Reagan Harlem, or the cracked out Harlem. The conditions were ripe for young blacks to look up to someone or something for an answer. And to some that was the 5%'s. There's much knowledge to be learned on Lord Jamar's The 5% Album. An album that takes your brain and f---s wit it on some tracks that you're left confused about the messaged being leaked in your ear. Look at what is definition of blinging is in "Deep Space." It's a different era for most of us. To the New Yorkers used to the gleaming "Sex And The City"/"Friends" metropolis... the words of Lord Jamar give us a reminisce on the factors that made the city a breeding ground for hip-hop.
"The Streets, The Corner" is a prime example of the visual of the city's past. "She used to be a dime piece / back in 82' she was the sh--, then she got strung out on the sh-- / Now her beauty's drained from the cocaine...and I wouldn't f--- with her if she took three shower's." Grand Puba finishes off the track the way Brand Nubian get's out their message with an heartfelt earful.
"Advance The Game" takes on the flash and glam mentality of today's rap artists. 'You want to rhyme about jewelry, darn fool-ery now how the f--- is you schoolin' me? / You ain't got sh-- to say / You got the same sh-- to say that your man said yesterday. Let me guess your rims are twenty plus inches..."
"Deep Space," featuring RZA, is the most mind-boggling track. The handbook attached to The 5% Album is needed to get the full grasp of all the concepts dropped.
Some of the Five Percenters terminology gets dropped into Lord Jamar's lyrics. He describes his seed as a star. And even after reading part of his book attached to his album, some of his messages are bold lashes at Western societies. He compares supermodels to devils in one of his skits. Again, a bit extreme, but his message is heard loud and clear.
Love em' or hate em,' the Five Percenters are who they are. And in an era where hip-hop repeats cycles and trends, it's not understood where the Five Percenters might stand in the next decade. What's sure is that Lord Jamar drops an interesting combination with music and his mission to spread the word of the Five Percenters.
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