Pure Colombia (2013)

Extended bunches

Pure Colombia (2013)
Chiquita bananas
audio-thumbnail
Pure Colombia
0:00
/0:14

We be passin blunts
They be passin judgment

Five blunts of that strong
Call that strength in numbers

AKs with Chiquitas
You shell-shocked like Adidas

Whoever find your body
Finders keepers

Yeah


In contrast to yesterday's post, the rhythm and rhyme scheme in this is all over the place, but again it all seems to work just fine. The thing I want to focus on is how his wordplay transforms one image to another, specifically from passing blunts to dropping bodies.

First, the way he splits up the word "pass" into two different meanings immediately creates two contrasting images in the listener's mind. One is of a group of friends just hanging out, and the other is of a group of haters with a lot of opinions. Then he takes the first image and expands on it further with "strength in numbers", presenting the idea that that group of chill friends is actually more like a militia that's ready for action.

The next bit is both descriptive and fairly abstract at the same time. He doesn't mention where the AKs are or who's holding them, but he does give an idea of what the end result of their presence will be. The clever bit in my mind is how he uses two well-known and innocuous brands to both reinforce and disguise his actual messaging. "Chiquitas" adds to the description of the AKs, making them more menacing, while "Adidas" almost downplays the actual reality of being "shell-shocked", which should be unpleasant no matter how you look at it.

The last part is my favorite, because while the lyrics are implying a tragic end to a life, the "finders keepers" and the slight humor in the "yeah" make it sound like it was basically just a prank. Like the responsibility for what just happened is just going to fall on some stranger. Out of sight, out of mind.