For this week's 10 Spot, I chose the latest Fabolous mix tape, The Funeral Service: There is No Competition 2 (which you can download/stream for free at livemixtap.es/tinc2). As rap free-spirits Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Kid Cudi continue to expand the genre toward pop, dance and other sounds, it's refreshing to hear a rapper (let alone a New York rapper) excel at the prototypical jackin'-for-beats mix tape blueprint.
As with most mix tapes, there's some filler and too many guest verses, but TINC2 is a must-download (pretty easy when it's free) thanks to Fab's lyrical potency. The tape is obsessed with metaphorical death; the idea that Funeral Fab's verses have the ability to kill lamer rappers. In this sense, the bodies continue to pile up with each 16 bars (to the point of hanger-on Freck Billionaire announcing, "He wasn't lying. There is no competition left. There's nothing but dead rappers everywhere. Fake chains all over the ground, everywhere" on "Roger That").
If you need more convincing, I've picked my five favorite Fabolous lines after the jump. (This seems to change all the time, but that's an indication of the quality.) As with a lot of rap lyrics, these lines aren't necessarily SFW. Oh, well.
1. "I'm Raw"
B---h, I'm raw
So you hearing that any n---a out-cook me
is suspect as R. Kelly with girl scout cookies
When you talking to a pro, watch your mouth, rookie
Go in your s--t and have your teeth playing mouth hooky
2. "Roger That"
Shorty say what it do is what I make her do
Get her on the first shot
Yeah, I one-take your boo
Now she need the Black Mamba badder than the Lakers do
I DDT the p---y, I'm Jake the Snake to you
I put 'em in the coffin, I'm in the Undertaker, too
She met the god, now her man gonna meet his maker, too
3. Oh Let's Do It
I'ma kill 'em dead, come and get the bodies up
B----es tryin' to kick it, like they just took karate up
They talking some Christmas s--t, saying what the f--k they want
Need to call the next n---a who care about what the f--k they want
Hung up on that hoe, bruh? Save that talk for Oprah
When I spit, I kill s--t, should have been a cobra
4. It's Goin' Down
It's goin' down, 12 o'clock ball drop
We push 9-11s but we don't call cops
I'm Paul Blart, n---a
All I do is mall cop
Being fly is gonna be the death of me
Check my autops
5. "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley"
Beamer, Benz, or Bentley? Life's full of decisions
If hating was a crime, you would do life up in a prison
The spiteful competition knows they wouldn't have a shot at eating
if they had a rifle in they kitchen
BONUS BECAUSE IT'S FUNNY: "My s--t bananas / like a monkey number two"