Oceans

That Magna Carter is coming, y'all...

Lyrical Exercise

This is brilliant.

From Gothamist:

Previously, street artist Jay Shells has taken on etiquette of all kinds, from human behavior to animal behavior to subway behavior. But now he's back with something totally different, albeit still in his signature sign form: Rap Quotes. The idea is simple, and the result is sort of amazing: he has taken rap lyrics that mention specific locations around New York City, created signs with those lyrics, and has installed them at their appropriate locations. Animal has video of the installation process of the signs, which feature lyrics from Kanye, Jay-Z, GZA, Mos Def, Nas, and more.

Speaking as someone who hasn't spent much of any time in New York, there have been many occasions when I've tried to visualize the settings of the stories my favorite lyricists were telling through my speakers. Shells' art project satisfies that craving in a beautiful way. I've included a few pictures here, and Gothamist has another four on their page. You can also go to The Rap Quotes Twitter feed for even more.

Fanute the Coup

French Montana gave Life + Times a look inside the lyrics to his verse on Rick Ross' "Stay Schemin'".

The Top 10 Wackest Rap Lyrics of All Time

As voted for by Facebook users, that is. Some of the user comments are hilarious; click here to see the full list (can't say I disagree with the top 2, either). Nos. 10 through 6 are below.

From Funk Jelly:

10. Nice n' Smooth.
Ay yo, Dizzy Gillespie plays the sax
Miles Davis played the drums, Charlie Mingus played the piano, and Charlie Parker played the xylophone!

9. Coolio
If you got beef, then eat a pork chop.
Beef: it's the other other other other white meat!

8. The Rappin Duke
Titwillow, titwillow, titwillow, etc., etc.
Not only was this song one of the dumbest ideas ever, but he's dissing Kurtis Blow and Run DMC. Now Kurtis Blow, Run-D.M.C. You haven't heard of rap, til ya heard it from me I'm the baddest rapper in history And there'll be no more, after me. In the 80s, when bad = good, this line was a joke. Now that bad = bad again, Duke was right on target, pilgrim.

7. Paul Wall
I'm crawling similar to a ant cuz I'm low to the earth
People's feelings get hurt when they figure out what I'm worth
How much will you be worth once people shoo your little ant ass off of their plate of potato salad?

6. Nice n' Smooth
My rhymes are stronger than ammonia
I'm a diamond, you're a cubic zirconia
You guys made this list twice, and you've earned it. We're considering you for a lifetime achievement award for dumb lyrics.