Beat the Shit (2012)
BRRRR
--
Dick-in-a-booty ass nigga
Die-quick-in-a-movie ass nigga
Extra-fruit-in-the-smoothie ass nigga
Get beat like a drum, music class, nigga
BRRRR
Life is a gamble
Dyin is your best bet
Got a scope on the pistol
Give yo ass fresh breath
--
This song came up pretty early on my journey, but it taught me something important about both Wayne and rap in general. I like to refer to it as the musicality of gunplay. No, not the other person on the song, though props to him. I'm talking about the way rappers imitate and incorporate the various sounds of gunfire in their music. I've heard others do it, but the way Wayne compared the sound of something like an Uzi to a drum line made it click in my mind; the sound of gunplay has linguistic and artistic value. Granted, rap is pretty much the only art form that incorporates it, but it's fascinating nonetheless. These days, that music class line is still my gold standard for this phenomenon.
Two other things that stand out to me here are the playground-tier insults at the beginning, and the wordplay at the end. As far as the insults, comedy aside, I like how the beat fades away in that section and sets the stage for the drumline. Just fire. It also reminds me of Redman roasting that prof in How High. As for the wordplay on "scope", it's another example of Wayne translating the mundane into the violent, and I'll never stop pointing those out. Giving someone fresh breath now means killing them. I want to clap every time.