Mainstream rappers like P. Diddy and Ja Rule will always have you believe that the gangster life is such a joy. Women, money, cars, liquor, partying..."I mean, what else would you want?" they figure. However, the mainstream rappers have always been met with criticism from other rappers like Common (who said in Rolling Stone that rappers need to be "more responsible" and stop singing about "bling-bling"), Nas ("Last Real N**** Alive" and "I Can") and Brooklyn native Talib Kweli, who provide another side- the dark "reality" of street life.
Kweli's song is no exception. While not a song that directly slams the mainstream "bling-blingers", it is still an intelligent and moving song about street life, depicting a harsh world where one has to hustle (sell drugs) just to "get by". It's also told with Kweli's traditionally powerful and overwhelming flow and is coupled with an equally stunning beat. It provides a stunning and riveting dose of reality on the bling-bling world, single-handedly destroying it, and, in the process, becomes rap's best song of 2003.
-DG