Decoded (9 page)

But if you get caught up in the hook of the song, you miss something. Because between the incendiary choruses—on top of the guitar and cowbell Rick Rubin came up with—is a not-quite-true story. The story—like the language used to tell it—has multiple angles. It’s a story about the anxiety of hustling, the way little moments can suddenly turn into life-or-death situations. It’s about being stopped by cops with a trunk full of coke, but also about the larger presumption of guilt from the cradle that leads you to having the crack in your trunk in the first place. But forget the sermon: This isn’t a song written from a soapbox, it’s written from the front seat of a Maxima speeding down the highway with a trunk full of trouble.

The year is ’94
¹
and in my trunk
²
is raw / in my rearview mirror is the motherfucking law / I got two choices y’all, pull over the car or / bounce on the double put the pedal to the floor /
Now I ain’t trying to see no highway chase with jake
³
/ Plus I got a few dollars I can fight the case / So I … pull over to the side of the road / And I heard “Son do you know why I’m stopping you for?” /
“Cause I’m young and I’m black and my hat’s real low?
⁴
/ Do I look like a mind reader sir, I don’t know / Am I under arrest or should I guess some mo?” /
“Well you was doing fifty-five in a fifty-four
⁵
/ License and registration and step out of the car /
Are you carrying a weapon on you, I know a lot of you are”
⁶
/ “I ain’t stepping out of shit all my papers legit” / “Do you mind if I look round the car a little bit?” / “Well my glove compartment is locked, so is the trunk and the back / And I know my rights so you go’n need a warrant for that” /
“Aren’t you sharp as a tack, some type of lawyer or something
⁷
/ Or somebody important or something?” / “Nah I ain’t pass the bar but I know a little bit / Enough that you won’t illegally search my shit” / “We’ll see how smart you are when the K-9’s come” /
“I got 99 problems but a bitch
⁸
ain’t one” / Hit me

Yessir! / Just the sound of his voice is a hit! / Y’all niggas got me really confused out there / I make “Big Pimpin” or “Give It 2 Me,” one of those … /
Y’all hail me as the greatest writer
¹
of the 21st century / I make some thought-provoking shit / Y’all question whether he falling off / I’ma really confuse y’all on this one / Follow … / When them tops come down, chicks’ tops come down /
Like when them shots come out make cops come around
²
/ When the blocks come out I can wake up a small town /
Finish off the block
³
then I make my mall rounds / When them stares get exchanged then the 5th come out / The tough guy disappears then the bitch come out / “That’s him”—I’m usually what they whisper about / Either what chick he with, or his chip amount / Cause I been doing this since
CHiPs was out
⁴
/
Watchin Erik Estrada baggin up at the Ramada
⁵
/ Table full of powder, AC broke /
’Bout to take another shower on my 25th hour
⁶
/
Spike Lees
⁷
everywhere, game or the flight / You might see me anywhere, day in the life / Only thing changed the tail number on the flight / I can touch down and take off the same night / I’m so bossy / Bitch get off me / Trick get off me / You can’t get shit off me / I’m so flossy /
No sixes on Sprees
⁸
/ laid back, Maybachs / Don’t even talk to me! / [
first verse
] This is that ignorant shit you like /
Nigga, fuck, shit, ass, bitch, trick, plus ice
⁹
/ C’mon, I got that ignorant shit you love /
Nigga, fuck, shit,
maricon, puta,
and drugs
¹⁰
/ C’mon, I got that ignorant shit you need / Nigga, fuck, shit, ass, bitch, trick, plus weed / I’m only trying to give you what you want / Nigga, fuck, shit, ass, bitch, you like it don’t front /
They’re all actors
¹¹
/ Looking at themselves in the mirror backwards /
Can’t even face themselves,
¹²
don’t fear no rappers / They’re all weirdos, DeNiros in practice / So don’t believe everything your earlobe captures / It’s mostly backwards / Unless it happens to be as accurate as me / And everything said in song you happen to see / Then actually believe half of what you see /
None of what you hear even if it’s spat by me
¹³
/ And with that said, I will kill niggas dead / Cut niggas short, give you wheels for legs / I’m a K-I-double-L-E-R / See y’all in hell /
Shoot niggas straight through the E.R.
¹⁴
/ Whoa—this ain’t BR, no / It’s SC, CEO, the next Lyor? / No, the next leader of the whole free world / And the first thing I’ma do is free Sigel, go! [
third verse
]I missed the part where it stopped being about Imus /
What do my lyrics got to do with this SHIT?
¹⁵
Scarface
the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me /
Still that ain’t the blame for all the shit that’s happened to me
¹⁶
/ Are you saying what I’m spittin / Is worse than these celebutantes showin they kitten, you kidding? / Let’s stop the bullshittin / Till we all without sin, let’s quit the pulpitting /
Scarface
the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me / Still that ain’t the blame for all the shit that’s happened to me / Let’s stop the bullshittin / Till we all without sin, let’s quit the pulpitting, c’mon! / This is that ignorant shit you like / Nigga, fuck, shit, ass, bitch, trick, plus ice / C’mon, I got that ignorant shit you love / Nigga, fuck, shit,
maricon, puta,
and drugs / C’mon, I got that ignorant shit you need / Nigga, fuck, shit, ass, bitch, trick plus weed / I’m only trying to give you what you want / Nigga, fuck, shit, ass, bitch, you like it don’t front

I
met Bono years ago, in the cigar room of a bar in London with Quincy Jones and Bobby Shriver. I’d spent most of the night quizzing Quincy about
Thriller,
the greatest album ever made. Quincy graciously answered all of my detailed questions, questions he’s probably asked four times a week, and then gave me a history lesson about his days as a jazz musician, telling stories about touring Europe in the fifties and sixties with Dizzy, Miles, and Ray Charles.

Bono was beaming and laughing the whole time. I liked him right away. I knew who he was, of course, as a musician and philanthropist and human rights activist. I knew U2’s hits like everyone else on the planet, but I was completely unprepared for what a genuine, humble, and open person he is. Bono’s got such a pure soul and positive energy—his eyes almost literally light up and dance when he’s excited. He’s one of those people who always seem hungry—for new information and experiences, and then impatiently generous to share the things he’s consumed.