Friday, December 5, 2008

Arab Money - an "Ode To One Of The Most Beautiful And Richest Cultures In The World"



Now I'm cool with 'Arab Money,' but in the words of DMX, motherfuckers can't be serious! Watch the first two minutes, cool story about how he got himself on so many records back in the day, but he gets to 'Arab Money' at 2:01. Busta says that (this is all very close paraphrase or direct quotation):

  • It was needed at this time to give an ode to one of the most beautiful and richest cultures in the world, and that's what 'Arab Money' is
  • He's Islamic and took something from "seeing the Arab culture exemplify this and do this for so long" - what 'this' is is left unclear, but I have a feeling it has something to do with getting A-rab money
  • By no means was he trying to do anything else with this record but just give an ode to the Arab culture
  • 'Arab Money' is also about a new perspective - instead of trying to "get rich or be rich," get wealthy! Incorporate wealth in your lifestyle, folks.
  • With the recession, people's faith has been lost not just in the economy, but in God.
  • When you see so many CEO's getting bailed out, you realize that rich is the new broke. This, Busta explains, was the "real honest perspective that we were coming from with the record." The get your money out of financial services, find an oil field in your backyard or marry someone who did perspective. Preferably a hot A-rab and not a hot Tex-an. (That wasn't a paraphrase, just my inference.)
  • Busta suggests he's some sort of social prophet, talking about some "far-fetched shit" that you thought would never come to fruition on his records, but now you take that shit a little more seriously, huh? Dontcha? I mean, it was Busta Rhymes who predicted the New World Order back on his first album and said our seeds would all get bar codes. See, that shit actually happened. Or wait.
Basically, just another reminder that rappers are incredibly stupid people. I mean, he sincerely thinks he recorded an ode to the Arab culture that encourages people to look past being rich and become wealthy. A record that also somehow bears on the recession and people's faith in God. Busta - rich people play golf too. You don't have to be wealthy to do any of the shit you're talking about. Those CEO's getting bailed out, they're a lot wealthier than you. And no, this song isn't an ode to jack shit. Fun record though.

8 comments:

bding7 said...

that dmx interview was golden.

"When you see so many CEO's getting bailed out, you realize that rich is the new broke."

so if we follow this, along with the great saying that "30 is the new 20," would that make someone like me a modern day oliver twist or something?

Asher said...

No, because you're not trying to get rich, you're building wealth! See the difference... yeah, me neither.

Charlie Hustle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charlie Hustle said...

"With this album, we're gonna be talking about shit that we all have the opportunity to pay attention to... because we're all looking at the same shit..."

I defy anyone to a) crack this beautifully circular logic or b) tell me what the FUCK he's talking about, and how "Arab Money" fits into the Busta Rhymes Dionne Warwick Psychic-Via-Single Hotline.

When exactly did his Terminator 3 scenario from the "ELE" intro come true...? And did he fuck Janet Jackson yet?

Still can't front, though; the song is retarded catchy. Like bird-flu catchy (not the MIA song... '20 Dollar' is my shit when it comes to MIA).

Charlie Hustle said...

The problem with his characterization of the song, though, is that he's trying to say it's a heartfelt tribute to a beautiful culture, but if he had ACTUALLY made what he's talking about, we'd all be dissing it as some gay-ass track and asking aloud if Busta has a closet fetish for men in robes.

There's also a very Karl Rove-ian aspect to the way he just sort of skips over the Arafat reference and the moderately-terrorist imagery. Perhaps a combination of Rove-ian political machination and a dash of Mel Gibson trying to explain his slur against Jews by saying he was drunk.

"See, what I MEANT by security on camelback was..."

Asher said...

What I think he means is that, like, in the past he talked about shit that no one was paying attention to, but right now we're all paying attention to the shit he's going to be rapping about (namely the economy). Of course, this all requires you to believe that when he raps about going golfing in Dubai, it's really some kind of oblique commentary on the recession and the relative merits of wealth and rich.

Charlie Hustle said...

Actually, the more I listen to it, the more it sounds like he was puffing L's the night before while watching Chris Rock and then tried to explain the song while incorporating Rock's "rich vs. wealth" bit... only without the Shaq jokes... or any cogent political commentary.

Charlie Hustle said...

BREAKING NEWS: Iraqi MC Narcicyst records diss track response to 'Arab Money'