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"My Rap Flow's Militant ... " 1 + Let's Talk About the Intangible. The

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"My rap flow's militant... " 1 + Let's talk about the intangible. The undefinable, immeasurable stuff of it all­ the ether, if you will. The way He was light on His tongue; how the words came out, unforced, unpushed, each taking its time or none at all, depending on what the situation called for. He was a master of that elusive dynamic called Flow. His fluidity was so unparalleled that if He were water, He'd not only have flowed in the Nile, He'd have carried Moses to the Pharoah's daughter. + There was a high ease to His speech. He simply found the right language and used it. He didn't need esoteric references, polysyllabic words, or tiber-lyricism to get His point across. To this day, lesser MCs string words one after the other, oblivious to the beat or any intrinsic musicality, but His voice was like the saxophone in the John Coltrane Quartet-the star instru­ ment, but not at the expense of the whole. Take either version of "One More Chance," take "Hypnotize," take "Notorious Thugs," where He proved He could mimic Bone better than the braided Thugs them­ selves-Flow so nice it could curve straightened speaker wires and warp CDs.>> I. "Victory" from NO WAYOUTby Puff Daddy &The Family, 1997 The Flow was at once godly and ungodly. There was some- investment; we cheered for Him when He made it big because we thing else to it- something beyond, something cosmic, mystical, knew where He came from. "On the drug scene, fuck a football some grand design, some supreme intelligence; as if His rhymes team/Riskin' ruptured spleens by the age of sixteen/Hearin' the were waiting to be typed out, arranged, and beamed into outer coach scream at my lifetime dream, I mean/1wanna blow up/Stack space so the universe would know that there was waking life on my dough up/So school I didn't show up/It tucked my flow up/Mom this blue and green orb. That even in the deepest, darkest, most said that I should grow up/And check myself/Before I wreck myself, dilapidated and ignored corners of this globe, human beings disrespect myself/Put the drugs on the shelf?/Nah, couldn't see possessed the gift of imaginative thought. it/Scarface, King of New York , I wanna be it/Rap was secondary, A serious nod of appreciation has to be given to Sean Combs' money was necessary/Until I got incarcerated-kinda scary. "9 participation in the creation of the Flow. If He is the greatest MC hip­ Puff may have packaged the legend, but the Flow made it real. hop has ever seen , it's largely due to Puff's being the shrewdest As a storyteller, He was detail-oriented and emotional, with a keen capitalist the game has ever produced. Puff's incessant pursuit of understanding of the human condition. He could paint a picture pop fame and sales informed the choice samples of Diana Ross 2, with little more than particulars and props. "I can hear sweat trick­ Rene & Angela3 and Mtume•. And it was within such saccharine ling down your cheek/Your heartbeat sound like Sasquatch grooves that the Flow came to life. He conducted the Flow despite feet/Thundering/Shaking the concrete/Then the shit stop, when I musical setbacks which would mire His so-called competition in foil the plot/Neighbors call the cops/Said they heard mad trite observations about buckets· of ice and nubile princesses in cor­ shots/Saw me in the drop/Three and a quarter/Slaughter/Electrical doned-off, elevated corners of the club. Oh, He did such things too. tape around the border." 10 He just did them better: "Straight up, honey, really I'm askin'/Most of With the Flow, it wasn't so much the earth-shattering events, but these niggas think they be mackin'/But they be actin'/Who they the little things that happened along the way, and the way those attractin' with that line, 'What's your name? What's your sign?'/Soon things make you feel. "One day, she put 911 on the pager/Had to as he buy that wine I just creep up from behind/And ask what your call back, whether it's minor or major/No response, the phone just interests are/Who you be with? /Things to make you smile/What rung/Grab my vest, grab my gun/To find out the problem/When I numbers to dial/You gon' be here for pulled up, police was on the a while?/l'm gon' go call my scene/Had to make the U-turn, make crew/You go call your crew/We can A serious nod of appreciation sure my shit was clean/Drove down rendezvous at the bar around two." 5 the block, stashed the burner in the Puff's sonic choices caused, no, has to be given to bushes/Stepped to police with the forced th e Flow to be that much bet­ Sean Combs' participation in shoves and the pushes/It didn't take ter. It also forced the content of the long before the tears start/1 saw my Flow to compensate for the fluff. the creation of the How. bitch dead with the gunshot to the When keys cascaded, basslines got heart/And I know it was meant for slinky or things otherwise became If He is the greatest M C me/1guess the niggas felt they had too friendly to the ears, the Flow to kill the closest one to me/And retaliated-"Remember when I hip-hop has ever seen, it's when I find 'em you life is to an end/ used to play between yo' legs? /You They killed my best friend."11 begged for me to stop because you due largely to Puff's being While most of His murderers know where it would head/Straight had somewhat noble motives­ to yo' mother's bed/Not the Marriott, the shrewdest capitalist the mouths to feed, vengeance to mete we be lucky if we find a spot next to game has ever produced. out, homes to protect-He could yo' sister/Damn, I really missed play the Flow against itself, creating the/Way she used to rub my back, idiosyncratic characters as memo­ 12 z~ when I hit that/Way she used to giggle when yo' ass would wig­ rable as Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield. From walk-on extras ~ gle"6-it got defiant, as if to say, "Play that on the radio. " to starring roles, His murder narratives are filled with loose can­ ~ When Puff wasn't around, things got worse. The Flow was nons whose being unhinged only made them that much more ~ untethered, the message unchecked, the anger unrepressed. dangerous and likable. Bit players like dark-skinned Jermaine13 Q "Biggie Smalls is the wickedest/Niggas say I'm pussy/1dare you and Two Tecs14 on ly existed as devices to push the Flow to an g to stick your dick in this/If I was pussy I'd be filled with end- their misfortunes would serve as catalysts to set the Flow in ~ syphilis/ Herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, getting rid a' ya." 7 motion. "He tells me C-Rock just got hit up at the Beacon/1opens w ..~ Or: "I'm hard/Jehovah said I was barred from the pearly up the door, pitiful/Is he in critical? /Retaliation for this one won 't be ~ gates/Fuck him, I didn't want to go to Heaven anyway... /Hail minimai/'Cause I'm a criminal/Way before the rap shit, bust a gat g Mary, fuck her/1 never knew her/l'd probably screw her/And shit/Puff won't even know what happened/If it's done ~ dump her body in the sewer. " 8 smoothly/Silencers on the Uzi/Stash in the hooptie/My alibi, any But Puff was around a lot. The Svengali behind Ready To Die, cutie/With a booty that done tucked Big Pop/Head spinnin', remi­ 'i the auteur behind the legend from whence the Flow would come, niscin' about my man C-Rock/Somebody's gotta die. "15 S2 ~ Puff crafted the picture which made Him wholly human. He came to As for His marquee actors, the fact that they emerged from § us broken, battered, hungry and lost. Unlike other gangstas who their debacles unscathed was usually a mix of stupidity and 8 were introduced to us successful out the blue, His was a story of chutzpah. There was Arizona Ron, the R&B-Ioving thug who ti: determination. We rooted for Him because there was an emotional ~ g 9. "Respect" from READYTOD/EbyTheNotorious B.I.G., 1994 2. "Mo Money Mo Problems" from LIFE AFTER DEATH by The Nomrious B.!. G., 1997 10. "Who Shot Ya" from "Big Poppa" 12-inch by The Notorious B.I.G., 1995 ~ 3. "I Love The Dough," IBID. 11. "Me & My Bitch" from READY TO DIE by The Notorious B.I.G., 1994 fE 4. "juicy" from READY TO DIE by The Notorious B.I.G., 1994 12. Marsellus Wallace's black-suited killers from Quentin Tarantino's PULP FICTION, 1994 w ~ 5. "Big Poppa," IBID. 13. "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)" from LIFE AFTER DEATH by The "' 6. "Fuckin' You Tonight" from LIFE AFTER DEATH by The Notorious B.!. G., 1997 Notorious B.I. G., 1997 g 7. Freestyle by The Notorious B. I. G., Mister Cee, 1994 14. "Everyday Struggle" from READYTOD/EbyTheNotorious B.I.G.
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