September 3rd, 2009 7:07am
Getting Fed Lead Burgers
Raekwon and Ghostface Killah “Penitentiary”
The rapid repetition of that one treble note freaks me the fuck out. In context, it puts you the hyper-alert, paranoid state of mind of Rae and Ghost’s characters in the story. It gives you the feeling that something awful and violet could happen at any moment, whether you’re the victim or the one inflicting the pain. The sound is an adrenaline trigger, but there’s no adrenaline rush in the positive sense. If anything, you feel a bit sick. It makes the rappers sound more desperate, and less like admirable tough guys. The entire point of the Cuban Linx records is to romanticize crime, but this is so grim that it comes across more like some kind of “scared straight” narrative.
Buy it from Amazon.
9/3/09 3:53 pm
Jay-Z lost
9/16/09 7:47 pm
There’s no doubt that this is one of the better tracks on the album, but I would have chalked that up to the verses rather than the beat. Though the production is good, it didn’t really dazzle me like some of the others. Black Mozart, for instance, is a far more interesting track. Unfortunately, Black Mozart is hurt by a subpar hook and weak guest verses, whereas Penitentiary contains some of the album’s best lines. Even though Black Mozart’s sample is immediately identifiable, Rza flips it so that it comes off more Ghouls ‘n Ghosts than Godfather.
From my perspective, Surgical Gloves is the album’s most impressive song. Alchemist samples Castle Walls brilliantly, and Rae’s delivery and wordplay are flawless. It’s probably one of the year’s best produced tracks, and one of the few tracks on the album that contains stellar verses throughout, as well as unique production.
12/1/09 12:10 am
[...] because the members of Animal Collective asked him to. The group is a big fan of the rapper’s vivid crime tales and languid, confident flow. What most people do not know is that AC gave Rae their blessing over [...]