2008 Woodie Awards
Your favorite rapperâ?TMs favorite rapper
Devin the Dudeâ?TMs jusâ?TM tryinâ?TM ta live
By: Jordan Selbo
Issue date: 3/10/06 Section: The Arts
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In the annals of Hip Hopâ?TMs greatest rappers, once in a great while there exists an eMCee thatâ?TMs dope based on sheer personality alone (Redman, Method Man or the self-proclaimed â?oeBlack Elvisâ?? Kool Keith come to mind). Lacking the technical innovation of a Rakim or the prophetic message of a Chuck D, these cats grab your ear almost in spite of (or maybe because ofâ?" big up NORE) the less-than-divine delivery or subject matter theyâ?TMre spitting. But coming across as vividly as Pacino in Scarface and releasing albums over time that show their struggle, triumphs and ultimately evolution, certain lyricists are less lyrical than spiritual, less larger-than-life than oddly familiar, less comfortable on world tours than in the local hood.
Straight out of Houston, Devin the Dude is just such a rapper. His sing-song delivery, a weird but nonetheless dope mix of laidback rhyming and 70s soul crooning, is heavily unique but hardly has the command of a Tupac or a Scarface (his fellow labelmate at Rap-a-Lot, dummy). In addition, his subject matter could (more or less) be summarized in three words: women, wine and weedâ?" not your typical crowd-pleasing fair, especially in the current rap culture of soap opera drama and bling-mania (but does anyone actually listen to G Unit for the lyrics anyway?!?). Despite allathat, the Dude remains my favorite rapper, the one whoâ?TMs albums stay in the 5-CD changer long after the newest joints are collecting dust in the corner. Why is this, you ask? The reasons are as simple and as complex as my relationship to this rap shit.
Simply put, the Dude is just real in the best way possible. Not in the silly â?oekeepinâ?TM it real!â?? sense of your typical studio gangsta, but real in the way you feel his pain, share his small triumphs, and ultimately leave out feeling like you know something of the man. And in a hustle where to reveal your true self on the M-I-C is as common as Reverend Run in Nikes, you gotta believe that candor is a special quality in rap. So when Devin raps about getting picked on as a kid for his busted-ass sneakers, or sings the praises of his broke down Lacville â?TM79, the urge is not to point and laugh, but smile and shake your head right along with him.
Straight out of Houston, Devin the Dude is just such a rapper. His sing-song delivery, a weird but nonetheless dope mix of laidback rhyming and 70s soul crooning, is heavily unique but hardly has the command of a Tupac or a Scarface (his fellow labelmate at Rap-a-Lot, dummy). In addition, his subject matter could (more or less) be summarized in three words: women, wine and weedâ?" not your typical crowd-pleasing fair, especially in the current rap culture of soap opera drama and bling-mania (but does anyone actually listen to G Unit for the lyrics anyway?!?). Despite allathat, the Dude remains my favorite rapper, the one whoâ?TMs albums stay in the 5-CD changer long after the newest joints are collecting dust in the corner. Why is this, you ask? The reasons are as simple and as complex as my relationship to this rap shit.
Simply put, the Dude is just real in the best way possible. Not in the silly â?oekeepinâ?TM it real!â?? sense of your typical studio gangsta, but real in the way you feel his pain, share his small triumphs, and ultimately leave out feeling like you know something of the man. And in a hustle where to reveal your true self on the M-I-C is as common as Reverend Run in Nikes, you gotta believe that candor is a special quality in rap. So when Devin raps about getting picked on as a kid for his busted-ass sneakers, or sings the praises of his broke down Lacville â?TM79, the urge is not to point and laugh, but smile and shake your head right along with him.
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