PUYL Favorite Song: Kendrick Lamar - Westside, Right On Time (ft. Young Jeezy)

As with Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar didn't let the fact that he had a stellar album coming out hinder him from releasing additional quality music this year.  One day in August, two Kendrick tracks surfaced: the first had him featured alongside Frank on a Mann song, and the second was his own featuring Young Jeezy.  Of course, I was much more excited to hear two of the year's brightest stars collaborate rather than a song featuring a not so young trap rapper.  To my surprise, it turns out that the latter is actually far better.  Granted, it is Kendrick that carries the song, but he raps out of his mind.

Canei Finch flipped How Love Hurts by The Sylvers to give the beat an old school feel.  This was probably a nod to past hip-hop artists before Kendrick proceeds to declare his arrival and the arrival of all the young rappers today.  He acknowledges both coasts, east and west.  This is a new era in hip-hop because the new artists have grown up on it, but they aren't reflecting their influences and idols in terms of rivalries and beefs.  There seems to be mutual respect among the various crews from around the country such as TDE, OF, A$AP Mob, and Beast Coast.  I think this probably stems from the common understanding of what it takes to rise in today's music climate, and the transparency of artists' methods.  These guys see what their peers are doing every day thanks to the Internet.  Back in the day, long lasting and violent beefs could erupt from a few underhanded slights in a song.  Now, it's just comical and pathetic when rappers try to start calling out each other and creating enemies.  

It's worth saying again, Kendrick is a technical master when it comes to spitting bars.  He winds his way through the song, weaving in alliteration and internal rhymes while fitting those words into ever shifting rhyme schemes.  It's impressive to say the least.  Let's take a look at all the interesting wordplay in his last verse:

1. All I ever wanted was a dollar bill and hundreds
2. And my teacher as my woman, when she smiled I stick my tongue in
3. Plus some cartoons and some cereal, Snoop Doggy on my stereo
4. Some British Knights or LA Gears with glowing lights or Perry Ellis jacket
5. I would love a swapmeet full of Chevrolets in candy paint
6. That's wet with Tammy on the bumper, can I hump her? Poppa tell me yes
7. A DPGC concert and a DJ Quik song on cassette
8. Twenty years later, "Hi hater, I'm the fucking best"

First off, he adds an 'h' sound before 'ever' in Line 1 to match with the subsequent 'hundreds'.  He pronounces 'wanted', 'hundreds', 'woman', and 'tongue in' so that they all rhyme.  In Line 3 he exaggerates the syllables and closes the vowels so that 'cereal' rhymes with 'stereo'.

For Lines 4-6 the rhyme scheme follows A, A, B, C, B, C, D, D, C.  Seriously?  The rhymes (some of which he created) are 'Knights' to 'lights', '-cket' to 'candy', 'ChevroLETS' to 'wet' and 'yes', and 'bumper' to 'hump her'.  Also, he sets up a comparison between 'British' and 'LA' which reemphasizes his global appeal.

Lines 7-8 match the sounds of 'DPGC' and 'DJ Quik'.  'Song on cassette' rhymes with 'I'm the fucking best'. and he throws in the internal 'later' to 'hater' rhyme for good measure.  Genius.

Download: Kendrick Lamar - Westside, Right On Time (ft. Young Jeezy)