Thinkin of a master plan...

This post has been a long time coming, but I'm finally getting around to it. I wish to pay my respects today to one of hip-hop greatest songs: Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" from the eponymously named 1987 album (don't worry, '87 was a long time ago for me too!).

At the cost of sounding random, let me provide you with some background to put this post into context: One of the few luxuries I've had in my year off has been to work out at my gym during off-peak hours. Seriously people, there's no telling how nice it is not having to deal with the throngs of people sweating and grunting around you , or having to wait in the bread line--U.S.S.R style--for the right equipment or set of weights. In the last couple of months, I've been able to just zone out, listen to my tunes and do my thing at my leisure... and yeah, those abercrombie abs are coming along just fine, why do you ask?

At any rate, almost every time I hit the gym my iPod will shuffle through 12.29 GB of hip-hop and start bumping "Paid in Full", and it just gets me pumped. Whether it's the LP version, or the masterpiece "Mini Madness - The Coldcut Remix" version, the song is off the hook.

I'm pasting the lyrics below, and if part of it sounds familiar, well it should. Know that the song, beats and lyrics have been continuously cribbed by other artists, even to this day. That scene in Old School where Snoop kicks off the houseparty? Paid in Full, baby. That beat Biggie uses during his solo on Get Money? All Paid in Full. Why? Because when this song came out it was a manifesto of rap's ethic, and the album itself went on to be one of hip-hop's greatest.

Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great!  so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Tightness. As an aside, my Bengali-half particularly relates to that "plate of fish line". Yummy.

Seriously though, why is it that rappers nowadays have to tell you why they're hot more than 8 times in the chorus to make it stick?? As Rakim says: "It ain't where you from, it's where you're at".

Bonus: I found the Coldcut Remix on YouTube. Take 3:46 minutes and take it all in.