This is the song I think of when I think of the best Midwest rap and Chicago elite MCs. I love how simple it is, focusing on the rhymes. I love the silence in between his lines that Denizen Kane leaves. This reminds me a lot of Billy Collin’s poem “Introductory to Poetry,” but for an older audience. It’s unabashed. It’s bold. It’s declarative. It takes a stance. It tells a story, then it groves with that trap set and guitar working together. It’s a man who sounds short who puts himself up on a podium, someone to look up to. It’s humble and defiant at the same time.
He takes some hip-hop vernacular that doesn’t jive with traditional rules of English and derives a space for himself and others outside of the rules of the language for expression. He shows that the context of the way he speaks can mean more than grammar mistakes.
That's right bad boy, I am, I is, I be, fuck you
I can speak about myself and rhyme in couplets if I want to
I am, I is, I be, I do, I self, I delf, I solo, I dolo, is, is, is, is, I, I, I
Denizen Kane
I also love his confidence throughout which mostly furthers the above point by talking about himself just speaking in a beautiful way. He relates that very grammar with American race relations and urban culture. He says fuck you to the “experts” without swearing.
See Miss Liberty stagger with evictions falling out
I tap with two tongues against the inside of my mouth
Had a date with assimilation, but I stood her ass up
And made love to the multi-color features brimming in my cup