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Amplified Observations: Topical references in rap songs pay off in the short-run, often falter in the long-run

Tweets and rap lyrics aren’t that different. Both are concise, sometimes witty statements and both have an equal chance at aging poorly. 

Certainly rap music has evolved in sound and aesthetics since the time of Big Tymers or Dem Franchize Boyz. Modern rap is more abstract, more minimal and often more visceral. Most words in a Migos-style triplet “Versace” flow go misunderstood, but ultimately, the feeling is the same. 

Although constantly-renewing rap tones make the music style a time-impervious chameleon, the quick paradigm shifts can render lyrics obsolete. With time, topical references grow stale to a point of irrelevance where the listener has to consult the internet to find out their meaning. 

That’s not to say that all songs with dated lyrics are bad songs, just like how vinyl records haven’t lost their cool factor yet. 

When Twitter increased the character limit of tweets from 140 to 280 earlier this month, it might have overlooked some unseen consequences. It’s great to have extra space to write, but did the company realize it would be pushing Jay-Z’s 2013 song “Tom Ford” into obsolescence? The lyrics in question come in the second verse when Jay disdains “hashtags and retweets” in favor of “140 characters in these streets.”

What a shame, that lyric will now be paired with the Classical Age of Twitter instead retaining the punch it initially delivered. The song, however, remains just as hubristically swag.

In another case, Young Thug, on his acclaimed 2015 mixtape Barter 6, committed two careless references that held up for less than a year. 

For Thug, the more glaring sign of poorly-aged lyricism is a line from “Check” that goes “I promise I won’t ever quit/bitch, I’m Kobe.” Subsequently, Kobe Bryant would retire the next season in 2016 and the lyric would adopt a less commanding statement. 

But on the song “Dreams” he takes the big risk of dropping a technology reference, almost as volatile as the sports reference. In the first verse, he raps the line “PS3/I’m not playin,” even though the PS4 had been released at that point of release. It feels pointless to rap about expensive jewelry when you’re gaming on an old console. 

Life in the 90s feel even more detached. Notorious B.I.G. also fell victim to console abandonment with “Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis” on “Juicy.” And Ice Cube’s pager might still be blowing up, but no one else’s is, and the Lakers haven’t beaten the SuperSonics since before 2008. 

Like technology and sports, politics are subject to change as well, but a politician’s public stature usually remains the same after leaving office. Wu-Tang Clan’s name-drop of the late vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro from 1993’s “Clan in Da Front” might have sounded better at the time, when most people didn’t learn Ferraro’s significance from a history class. 

And there’s always the strange case of Mac Miller’s 2011 Billboard-charting hit “Donald Trump,” penned before Trump’s presidential campaign. The song’s title led to a dispute between the two parties and to Miller to publicly denounce Donald Trump. In an interview with Complex, he said he could have easily used someone like Bill Gates, which probably would have been a safer choice. 

But if rap is a game of risks, then outdated lyrics are simply risks that didn’t pan out. There’s nothing wrong with taking a chance every once in awhile and it’s difficult to predict the culture’s future, especially in sports, tech and aspiring office-holders. Listeners puzzled by lyrics will always look them up, it just delays the line’s impact. 

As long as the meaning remains clear, and you don’t confuse the cello with a woodwind instrument, topical references can withstand the test of time, but they can also join the ranks of JNCOs and the Walkman.  

Luke Furman is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you like topical references in rap? Let Luke know by tweeting him @LukeFurmanLog or emailing him at lf491413@ohio.edu. 

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