OG? I think not.

OG .. for those of you reading that are not up on your gangster rap lingo .. means Original Gangster. This is supposed to incite visions of the hard core, old school gangsters that don't take any shit from anyone. Tough, street smart, infamous. Most of todays rappers like to put themselves in this category. So why do I bring this up? No, I have not decided to forgo my current job for an aspiring rap career. Here's why:

My alarm clock is set to blare the local "hit music" station because it is the only station that comes in real clear on my ancient POS clock radio. It used to work with CDs, but hasn't in years now so I am stuck with the pop/rap that is popular at any given moment. It's job is to wake me up, and it does that so I haven't replaced it. Now most mornings I don't even hear whats on and just turn it off and head for the shower. Every now and then there is a song that I actually like on there and I will listen for a minute or two before I get up.

So my alarm goes off one morning last week and what comes on but Daft Punk. If you are unfamiliar, you can go here to read about them. I listen to just about every kind of music and this is one of the techno/house/dance type groups that I enjoy. Was turned on to them many years ago and have enjoyed them ever since. They have a song called 'Harder Better Faster Stronger" which is a great track if you enjoy that kind of music. When it came on the "hit music" station I was quite surprised. For one thing, its not a new song and its also not by a group anywhere close to mainstream or pop culture. Still .. pleasantly surprised at my wakeup I listened as the song had just started.

I noticed right away, that the song was not quite the same as the original album version. This didn't bother me however as those kind of groups are often remixing their tracks. I was enjoying the version as I was slowly waking up and then got a shock. Suddenly someone was rapping over the remix and adding his own chorus on top of Daft's. Now I listen to all kinds of music and while surprised, I gave it a listen. In my half awake state, I didn't catch all the lyrics, but the overall flow of the song wasn't half bad. I let the song finish and went about my morning routine and headed to work.

The song stayed with me and had piqued my curiosity. What was this song? What rapper had taken a great Daft Punk track and put his lyrics to it? I had to know. With a tiny bit of the chorus he had added in my head, I did a search for the lyrics and quickly found the answer. The song is called 'Stronger' and is done by Kanye West. Now I don't really follow rap music, but I know he is on the cover of magazines and is one of the superstars of rap these days. I decided to give the song another listen and see if I still liked it now that I was awake. I love remixes, live versions, and acoustic performances of songs, so I had a open mind still.

So here I am .. enjoying the intro again which is essentially the original Daft Punk song just remixed a bit. Then the rap lyrics start and my amusement with this song came to a screeching halt. Let me explain. No .. let me put the lyrics here for you to read for yourself. This is from a website on lyrics so I am sure its not 100%, but its certainly close enough for you to get the picture:

Damn, they don't make 'em like this anymore,
I ask 'cause I'm not sure,
Do anybody make real shit anymore?
Bow in the presence of greatness'
Cause right now thou hast forsaken us.
You should be honored by my lateness,
That I would even show up to this fake shit.
So go ahead, go nuts, go ape shit,
Especially in my pastel, on my bape shit,
Act like you can't tell who made this,
New gospel, homey, take six, and take this, haters.

So essentially what Kanye is trying to convey here is that he is about as cool as they come. He is the real deal. A true O.G. We should be honored that he even showed up to rap to us today and bow to his greatness. Now this is pretty standard fare for rappers. Nothing ground breaking or truly original. So why do I point this out? Lets skip down a few lines in the song and you will find this section:

I need you right now,
I need you right now.

Me like it.

Regardless of what the lyric site says .. this line 'me like it' is actually 'me likey'. Its at 1:35 in the song. Go here and listen for yourself if you don't believe me. I'm sorry, but you cannot be all badass, OG-like, telling people they should bow down and worship you for showing up to their 'fake shit' and then drop a line like 'ME LIKEY'. Bad form Mr. West. Bad form. So now, because of that line alone, I cannot stand this song and am now pissed that he has butchered up a good Daft Punk song with the tragedy that is his version. The original is here and far better.

To you Mr. Kanye West please stop 'frontin' dawg'. You can't show up in a video with those rediculous shades and sing lines with the lyrical genious and streed cred of "Me Likey" and expect to get my mad dope bomb props G.

And thus concludes todays lesson in how to NOT be an Original Gangster. If anyone gets the movie reference for the line "mad dope bomb props G" .. then you have moved up a notch in my book as it is one of my favorites.