Thursday, October 2, 2008

Shook Ones, Pt. II


"Shook Ones, Pt. II" by Mobb Deep thematically focuses on the designation between "crooks" and the "shook ones" of the title. However, the poetic devices in the first verse by Prodigy establish the mutualistic relationship between actions and words in rap and highlight one of the key strengths of the genre--an almost fanatical regard for the power of rhetoric.


Shook Ones, Pt. II (mp3)
Transcription of first verse and chorus (doc)

Full transcription (outside source)

A note on the lyric transcription. The spellings are my own. Because lyrics are rarely provided by rappers, I have transcribed a version different from most sources. This transcription begins each line with the word, or pause, that coincides with the main downbeat. Since the vast majority of the sentences in rap lyrics (and less so in song lyrics in general) begins on the upbeat, this format preserves the interplay between sentence construction and the underlying beat of the music samples. In fact, the most interesting manipulations of meter exist in the space between downbeats, but I will reserve a wider discussion of the various relationships in rap between meter and beat later, for a more in depth analysis. If desired, most internet transcriptions are loosely based on both end rhymes and the ends of sentences and are more conventionally readable.

The verse begins with rather bald descriptions of the violent capabilities of the narrator. He identifies with the "Mobb" (ln 4), referencing the group name; the "Queensbridge murderers" (3), pronouncing an aggressive regionalism; and the "crime family" (5), indicating a kinship with gang or mafia ideology. However, when the speaker drops the group identification and changes to a more considered use of imagery, rhyme, meter and metaphor, the rhetorical effect is significantly strengthened and lays down the foundation of a more intricate argument.

The line "Rock you in your face, stab your brain wit your nose bone." (7) is the first notable instance of multiple poetic devices. The imagery is particularly brutal, even despite the possibility of driving cartilage of the nose into the brain with a blow is largely a myth, although a popular one. Metrically this line is very singular. It is the first line in the song to have the first word of the sentence coincide with the first downbeat. This difference separates it from the previous lines and interrupts the flow of the rap. Also, notice that the previous line ends on the downbeat coinciding with "pose" (6) with no other words following. This pause is the first time that no syllables are pronounced on the upbeat and further isolates the proceeding sentence. Thirdly the next line "You all alone in these streets cousin." (8) begins not on the first downbeat of the sample but on the second, further isolating the previous line metrically from the beat. The line itself is also unique since it is the first that has all monosyllabic words. Furthermore, each of the four downbeats coincides with nouns or verbs have heavy vowel sounds: "Rock", "face", "brain", and "nose". The line is doubly end rhymed with the previous line by "nose" and the assonant "bone". By its rhythmic isolation from the other lines, and the solid, almost plodding word choice, this line is given particular focus. Generally in any metered verse, only the strongest statements and most declarative statements require these devices, and in terms of content they coincide with this image of dominance through violence.

Another example of this usage of meter and rhyme with imagery is in the lines "Your crew is/featherweight. My gunshot'll make you levitate." (20-21). The primary rhyme is between "featherweight" and "levitate". These words are both end rhymed, but the first syllables of each word, which are the primary stressed syllables, correspond with downbeats and the emphasis then becomes on a rarity in most western poetry--the front rhyme. These words are not just multi-syllabic rhymed pairs, but rather two sets of rhymes, front and end, that happen to be in two words, tying the two lines and two metaphors very closely. The first metaphor uses a boxing reference indicating the lightest weight class, and by association, alludes to the trifling or unimportant. This metaphor then heightens the second's image of "my gunshot'll make you levitate". A popular misconception on gunshot victims is that they are lifted off their feet from the force of impact. The previous "featherweight" adds the extra power and coherency the line Also, the word "levitate" connotes being suspended in air rather than flying back and "feather" adds to the airiness of this particular image. The image becomes slowed, suspended here, becoming a dynamic and, importantly, fixed mental picture--which I consider to be a primary goal of imagery and metaphor--through the employment of meter and rhyme.

The song has further examples of poetic constructions to give a beautiful vibrancy, if it can be called, to the extremely violent images. Think of the multiple images brought to mind in lines 13-14, "Cowards like you just get their whole body/laced up with bullet holes and such", and the transformation of experience in lines 29-31, "When the/slugs penetrate you feel a burning sensation, getting/closer to God in a tight situation" by the use the enjambment alone. However, rap, especially gangsta, is rife with equally powerful and brilliantly conceived metaphors. In "Shook Ones, Part II", the aggression and violence in the verse by Prodigy operates on a still higher level that separates it from the majority of lyricists "who wanna profile and pose".

The song does not only contain specific images of physical violence, but is fully interspersed with the references to speech, words and their definite rhetorical effects. Within the first lines the word "Infamous" serves not only as a reference to reputation--often conveyed by word--but also as a reference to the title, or label, of the album which contains the song. The line is followed by "you heard of us--official Queensbridge murderers" (ln 2-3). Again the power of words is displayed in "heard" and "official", defining authority without necessitating its direct exhibition. In the logic of this opening, reputation alone is almost enough to dissuade challenge.

This theme is extended further in the work. In lines 14-15, "Speak the/wrong words man and you will get touched" and in lines 17-19, "Your/simple words just don't move me. You're minor, we/major." The first quote makes the direct correlation between words and their consequences. The "wrong" statement is enough to instigate reprisal. Again, a trait of rap (it also can be interpreted as a weakness of the genre) is a hyper-awareness of threat and a need to answer challenges. The second line seems contrary to the first since the "simple words just don't move me" would imply that action is not warranted. However, this quote begins the new argument within the work that equates violent actions with words themselves. The construction of the two sentences in lines 17-19 create a parallel between "your simple words" and "me" and the designations of "minor" and "major". Here, the sentences suggest that the words, or rap, of the speaker serve as proxy for the speaker himself. Again, the speaker uses meter to highlight the difference. "Minor" and "major" are on downbeats, but "major" is emphasized since it falls on the first downbeat of the next measure. This simple poetic device is enough to symbolize the difference.

The equivalency of words with action develops further by another use of parallel construction, "Another nigga deceased, another story gets told" (23). The two parts of this phrase do not have a grammatically causal relationship, but a rhetorical and metrical one--the repeated use of "another" and the downbeats falling on the both subsequent nouns. Thus, this phrase becomes unsettling because it makes a direct association between killing and words used, as if they are interchangeable.

The final lines make this association completely explicit: "take these words home and think it though or the/next rhyme I write might be about you" (32-33). The many previous examples of violence actions have already been in "rhyme" and, with the rhetorical strategy of making words--specifically the usage of words--equivalent to the violence they contain, explicit violent images are, finally, no longer necessary.

This conclusion then adds immediate force to the following chorus. The "next rhyme" is ostensibly "Son they/shook cause ain't no such things as halfway/ crooks" (34-36). The chorus begins on the final upbeat of the last measure of the 32 bars of the verse and becomes rhythmically and thematically linked to the final line. This chorus is justly one of the most famous in rap and is referenced continually in this genre that reveres rhetorical and poetical skill.

This song is filled with violence and almost exultant brutality. Is it condemned to just be an exemplar of one of the three thematic pillars of gangsta rap--violence, materialism, and misogyny? Take another look at the final lines of the verse, "take these words home and think it through/or the next rhyme I write might be about you". For a rhetorical strategy of equating words with direct violence, the italicized words seem to refer more to reflection and, more importantly, craft. The lines serve as a warning, but also as something much more. "Words" and "rhyme" are, by definition, associative. The craft of the lyrics blurs the designation between reference and referent. Violence and words have been shown as equivalent; however this relationship works both ways.

The word "rhyme" is often used, in context, interchangeably with rap or poetry in general. The final two lines have multiple references to deliberation and thought, which is apparently contrary to direct action. Rhymes require at least two objects to exist since it is an associative construction. Writing rhymes requires time, skill, and craft--not only the immediate propensity to act. By threatening to write the "next rhyme", the speaker acknowledges the skill of writing verse and shows its potential ability to be as effective as action. If violence and rhetoric have been shown to be interchangeable in these lyrics, then words can become the proxy for violence and by extension, action. This relationship is more than a symbol/object association because both come to exist in this work on a equal level. Words become invested with immediate force and life. Violence becomes symbolic, but craft transforms its negative power and connotation into the sublime dynamism of art. Rap and Hip Hop as a whole are based primarily on the symbolic contest. The normally negative aspects of competition are marginalized because the craft of rap renders easy arguments, like open violence, moot and ineffective. Very few art forms have this crucible where artist, audience and critic are coeval and are so closely tied with the immediate performance of the artwork itself. This relationship highlights the inspiring capability of rap to elevate discourse to the level of art and action.

However, this elevation is brings its own dangers, equating words with action and vice versa. Listen carefully to the first line of the next verse by Havoc. Also, instead of considering both elevated, some consider both reduced--words as merely violent. "Shook Ones, Pt. II" was released in 1995. By 1997, both Tupac and Biggie were dead.

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