Dissecting Rap Songs, Vol. 1

I've noticed that popular rap songs from the past two or so years have gotten increasingly vague. This is smart on the rappers' part, because the lyrics could apply to anything, so anyone who likes rap can relate no matter what. I don't feel like searching for any billboard list at the moment, but here are two to start us off.

"Make It Rain" - by Fat Joe
The chorus of this hot joint goes, "I make it rain on dem hoes, I make it rain, I make it rain, I make it rain on dem hoes." Okay, I know rappers seem to have a lot of money, but I'm not sure if they can control the weather yet. Hmm. It could be a graphic metaphor for something you'd see a man do to a woman in a pornographic film.

Or it could actually be a veiled form of encouragement for young women to strive for a better life. See, Fat Joe feels really bad for prostitutes who walk the streets, putting their lives at risk every day and night. So he's praying that it rains really hard - I mean pours - so that the hoes (more properly hookers) are discouraged from standing in the rain and catching a cold. We all know that health insurance is hard to come by for a hooker. For this, I applaud Fat Joe.

"This is Why I'm Hot" - by Mims
This phat track has a chorus that bangs, "This is why I'm hot, This is why, This is why, This why I'm hot. I'm hot cuz I'm fly; you ain't cuz you not. This is why, This is why, This is why I'm hot." Kudos to Mims for really letting the listener interpret the meaning of his poetry.

So what does "this" refer to? Why would it make him hot? I'm putting myself in his brain, and I'm thinking that on the surface he wants us to gather that the song itself makes him hot, or cool, if you will. But how can a song in which you're saying the song itself causes the hotness in turn make you hot? It's like one of those snake symbols where the head is eating the tail. I know, confusing, right? So that can't be it.

Just spitballing here: he claims that he's hot because he is fly. Perhaps this is short for "flying," so it's hot while he's flying? Perhaps he has a fear of planes, and when he's forced to fly in one, his palms get sweaty. The part after this really throws me for a loop, however. "You ain't cuz you not." So, translated, "You are not, because you are not." That's slippery. He's correct, in that every time that I have heard this song, I have never been flying, but who is he to say I don't get hot when I fly? I just assume leave the double negatives to the Spanish language. Wait, maybe he's trying to bridge the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking cultures, and he's really making a statement on the current immigration situation in our country. Wow. That is brave.