Honey Look, I'm a Monster Don

Hip-hop hath no fury like a Ghostface scorned

You know those really dramatic couples that do shit like throw each other's shit out the window and always have to take their beef into the public arena? One minute they'll be fighting and then the next, they could be swearing that they love each other? There was one down the block from me as a kid. The "wife" or "woman" or how ever we're describing her--she used to show up at this one building across the street and would start hollering at the "husband" or "man" or whatever he was. Is she in there? Fuck you, you piece of shit! Where's my son? They did the whole thing. It was always really depressing and uncomfortable, and I always wondered what the child produced by that relationship was going through.

On TV and in movies, these sorts of couples always live in poor, urban neighborhoods. Sometimes they're white; sometimes they're black; sometimes they're Hispanic. Usually, they're composed of two addicts; or a working girl and her pimp; or two people from around the way who used to be sleeping together; or two social misfits; or some substance-abusing husband and his estranged wife; or whatever. When times are bad, they're really bad--the yelling, the screaming, the fighting. Melodrama like someone putting a gun to his head. When times are good, the sex is constant, the emotion seems intoxicating. You get the drift, right?

Well, in hip-hop, these couples often comprise Ghostface and whomever he's rapping about. Sometimes, you get a track like "Love Sessions" or "Save Me Dear," an exaltation of a female companion who can hold her man down despite his dramatic mood swings and criminality. But other times, whoa--it's the maniacal, shouting-in-the-streets, does-Ghostface-have-to-choke-a-bitch near-hallucinatory reprisals. Witness "Wildflower," "Never Be the Same Again," or now, from Fish Scales, "Back Like That."

This joint is not some over-the-top, graphic verbal killing, so don't get it twisted. But it's the same spiteful, scorned, angered, hurt Ghostface that made "Never Be the Same Again" so appealing. Starks has that energy and sincere flow that makes you think he's capable of anything. That duality--his ability to seem so likable and yet so threatening; his ability to seem so absurd and yet so serious--is part of his appeal. And it's on full display here. Spine has the audio. Only this time, it's set to mid-tempo drums and comes with a pop hook sung by Def Jam singer/songwriter Ne-Yo. It sounds like the sort of track that could be a semi-hit on New York radio. We'll see.

A sampling:

(Intro)
Damn
Damn ma
We ain't even have to go through it like that
It wasn't really even that big, man
You know
No, that's a'ight, though
But anyway, yo, let me get that coat
Let me get those jeans
Let me get that rock on your finger
Oh, it's stuck? Then I'll take the whole finger then, man
Let me get those bags from Paris
And the puppies is stayin', yo

(Chorus)
Come through the block in your brand new Benz
Knowin' that me and that ni**a ain't friends
OK girl
Yo what I did was wack
But you don't get ni**a back like that
Flossin' around when I'm up in these streets
Knowin' that me and that ni**a got beef
OK girl
Yo, what I did was wack
But you don't get a ni**a back like that

(Verse)
...Fuckin' with him could bring bodily harm
And where you gon' hide in the streets when the body is gone?
If there's one thing I learned that
Never trust a female on no scale
You just confirmed that
Bounce to ya mama house
Pack yo' shit
I don't care if you cryin'
You's a ruthless chick
Gots to watch you
These eyeballs in my face will spot you
My girl cousins, they gon' rock you

More music:
- Sergio Mendes ft. Black Thought, Chali 2na, Will.I.Am, Debi Nova, "Yes, Yes Y'all"
I gotta say, I'm starting to get bored with this shit. What else y'all got?

Straight Bangin' Soul
Another Straight Bangin' mixtape...

1) The Bar-Kays, "Soul Finger"
2) Betty Harris, "There's a Break in the Road"
3) Tom Brock, "Nothing in This World"
4) Lou Rawls, "For What It's Worth"
5) Stylus, "Hangin'"
6) Instant Funk, "I Got My Mind Made Up"
7) Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, "What Can You Bring Me"
8) Lionel Richie, "Penny Lover"
9) The O'Jays, "Cry Together"
10) The Dramatics, "Be My Girl"
11) Ann Peebles, "Troubles, Heartaches, and Sadness"
12) Gladys Knight, "The Makings of You"
13) Melvin Bliss, "Synthetic Substitution"
14) Brotherly Love, "I Don't See You in My Eyes Anymore"
15) Eddie Floyde, "Check Me Out"
16) Isley Brothers, "Living for the Love of You"
17) Creative Source, "Pass the Feeling On"
18) The Meters, "Oh, Calcutta!"
19) Sly & the Family Stone, "I Get High on You"
20) Dionne Warwick, "You're Gonna Need Me"