Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The "Arab Money" Video Has Arrived!



And it's even more offensive than we could've ever dreamed! Rik Cordero gets a lifelong wack video pass for this one. Check out how he's got Khaled in here to cosign and immunize Busta against accusations of racism. That's lovely. They even brought in Arafat's ghost to gamble with Busta 'cause the real Arafat is dead. Amazing. (See above at 1:53.) A strange Arab billionaire sitting on a throne in a castle on top of a hill invites Busta and Ron into his world just because. Really, really solid. When Busta and Ron walk into said castle, their dusty garments are magically transformed into crispy new duds. Ah, the power of petro dollars. As for the song itself, it's a failure because boring Busta is the wrong man for the hilarious concept. Browz should have injected Cam with Busta's steroids and hoped they returned him to Best New York Album Of The Past Five Years form (see below), because he really could've made this song into something so much more. Even Kells could kinda sing-rap the thing into classic status. (He can rap, you know. See this video at 2:44.) But that's okay because this video has totally made up for the failings of the actual song. Now we just need an iPod compatible version so I can walk around Durham laughing at this shit.

ADDENDUM: Oh shit. I didn't notice the first time that Ron changed it from "A-rab" money to "Ar-rrrab" money. I guess that's supposed to be less offensive or something. Weak!

10 comments:

Charlie Hustle said...

If the conservative crowd got their panties in a bunch over Rachael Ray rocking the PLO scarf, imagine what they'll do when they see wheover the fuck it is rocking what I'm gonna call the Arafat Baseball Cap.

I'll say this: best use of Auto-Tune I have heard so far.

Expect a fatwa directed at Busta Rhymes any day now. And DJ Khaled is the new Salman Rushdie.

Jordan said...

So this video was the last thing I watched last night before going to arabic class this morning. Needless to say, I spent the whole class period trying not to hum this or just crack up.

Asher said...

Best use of autotune in a rap song - I might have to go with The Critics' Most Hated, Mr. Jackson, on Rider Pt. 2. Dude's always had such a knack for hooks, it's a shame his spit game went so far south. There's something so great about the "whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa" that opens the song, it's like he's simultaneously mocking rappers who sing while really catchily singing himself. The beat's also nails. And even the video's interesting, you don't know whether to take their silly military uniforms seriously or whether they're making fun of themselves.

Charlie Hustle said...

"I might have to go with The Critics' Most Hated, Mr. Jackson, on Rider Pt. 2." - I actually thought that when I had originally reviewed 'T.O.S.' "Arab Money," though, really uses Auto-Tune the way I feel it SHOULD be used, as an ancillary effect, not the main show.

DocZeus said...

"Check out how he's got Khaled in here to cosign and immunize Busta against accusations of racism. That's lovely."

Well, c'mon. Isn't the entire Miami rap scene only around to cosign and immunize Khaled's bullshit and copious use of the "n-word?" I mean, a favor for a favor, no?

Asher said...

I don't know - Fat Joe does it and he's of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Israel's a lot closer to Africa than Puerto Rico. Like if we're going to let Hispanics do it, why not Palestinians? Politically it makes sense. The interesting thing about this comparison is that Khaled was originally TS - now of course he's more relevant than all of TS combined. As unfortunate as that may or may not be. I guess I always felt that TS is to New York rap what Khaled is to Miami. Basically just a supply of hot beats for Jada et al. to use on their mixtapes (see "40 Bars of Terror").

Charlie Hustle said...

GawdDAMMIT - I wanna hate this song so bad. And yet for the last 12 hours, I've been walking around going "Shalla-hilli-la-hemmi-ba'a-la'a." Damn you, Bussa Buss...

Charlie Hustle said...

To truly appreciate it, you have to watch the video, I think. While the obvious interpretation/metaphor is that Busta's getting money LIKE a rich Arab, the video's got the Arafat cameo followed by a version of the chorus-dance that I can only classify as "the Gaza Strip RPG Dance."

DocZeus said...

Personally, I think Fat Joe's usage of the n-word is just as problematic and quease inducing as Khaled's. But to be absolutely fair, Fat Joe paid a lot of dues over the years and Khaled has not.

I think Khaleds participation in this video just goes to show how sad and desperate for acceptance the man is by the hip hop community. It reeks of the fat kid willing to humiliate himself for amusement of the popular kids in order to fit in at school.

Charlie Hustle said...

It's not so much that all Arabs are being stereotyped (although the "security on camel-back" line comes damn close), as much as it is the shocking lack of attention paid to any sort of distinction between wealthy Dubai business magnates vs. shady rich worrying-connections types, vis รก vis the Arafat cameo and "takin' trips to Baghdad dummy/Where I'm used to stackin' chips and countin' A-rab money."

I'm not even saying that the above is what Busta intended. It just kind of strikes me as funny that they showed this video to the label, and the only suggestion anyone made was, "Uhh, can we change A-rab to Arrrrrab?"