Mr. Midas walks us through his five favorite hip-hop rhymes of all time, from Jay-Z to Snoop Dogg.
Editor’s note: Five Rhymes is a new and regular feature on Reverb in which Ru Johnson asks local and national rappers to go through their five favorite rhymes and the impact those verses have had on the industry, the world and their own lives.
You might like your hip-hop full of boom bap and verbose lyricism, or you might dig your rap loud, full of bass and with tons of swag. No matter where you fall on the hip-hop spectrum, you know where your favorite rapper’s influences come from. Rapping is more than rhyming words, itap an exercise in storytelling. Some of the greatest orators of our time have chosen to display their talents woven through grimy production and crashing drums. From Tupac, to Notorious B.I.G. to Eminem, Jay-Z and others, some of our best examples of urban life were told from their voices and their stories.
is an MC who hails from Long Beach, Calif., and now resides in Denver. His influences include Jay-Z, Tupac and Snoop Dogg — all artists who have helped Midas hone his own skills. In advance of his headlining show at Larimer Lounge for the “Bring Some to Share Tour” on Feb. 7, we explored the world of his favorite five rhymes.
Cause even as a crack fiend, Mama / you always was a black queen, Mama
/ I finally understand / For a woman it aint easy tryna raise a man
“This line hit home because it describes my life growing up. After all the years of ridicule and what not, this made me feel better.”
With so much drama in the LBC / itap kinda hard being Snoop D O double
G/ But I, somehow someway / Keep coming up with funky ass shit like
every single day
“I’m from Long Beach. For years nobody even knew where Long Beach was and overnight it became a household name. This line I believe, had the most to do with it . The city has never been so alive. I was so young when “Doggystyle” came out and didn’t even understand the content but by the looks on my uncle’s faces from the neighborhood I knew we had something.”
No school books they use that wood to build coffins/ Whenever I’m in
the booth and i get exhausted/I think what if Marie Baker got that
abortion/ I love ya Ma’
“Game is a beast. Every line he spits seems to be a metaphor. He says a lot of fly shit but this is one of the realest. If Mama gets that abortion then we never know who Game even is. Mama could’ve done 1,000 things wrong but she still is Mama and she still is the reason you are even here.”
I read between the lines of your eyes to your brows/ your handshake
ain’t matching your smile/ I’ll holla, you n****s foul
“Short line but this is paranoia at its finest. Street shit at its highest level of authenticity. Who can I trust? Is he/she who they say they are? Will I make it out? This is nostalgic.”
While I’m watchin every n**** watchin me closely/
My shit is butter for the bread they wanna toast me/
I keep my head, both of them where they supposed to be/
Hoes’ll get you sidetracked then clapped from close feet/
I don’t sleep, I’m tired, I feel wired like codeine, these days/
A brother gotta admire me from four fiends away
“Ok first of all lemme say that I hated Jay Z when he first came out. I absolutely hated his brashness and cockiness. I’m from Long Beach. How dare he make 22 Two’s and still ask for my support. A friend of mine made me listen to “Reasonable Doubt.” I can’t play that CD without playing this song at least five times back to back. Once again, it was a rough part of my life and I had this sort of paranoia about life. I was one foot in the streets and one foot trying to separate myself from everything and everyone. Jay raps like itap a conversation. This song made me want to rap like him. He painted a picture of a really smart dude trying to make it on the streets and with all odds stacked he never let it deter his mindset. I get goose bumps just thinking about the instrumentation. Classic.”
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Ru Johnson is an arts and culture music writer living in Denver. You can follow her on Twitter here.
