Driving into work this morning, I was flipping through radio stations. Sports talking about basketball, NPR talking about guns. Not much doing. Then I got to HOT 97 and my day took a turn*.
Jay Z had up and released a new song, “Open Letter,” a response to critics of his trip to Cuba and clarification about his future with the Brooklyn Nets. The track, produced by Timbaland and Swizz Beats seemed to have come out of nowhere. To say the morning DJ’s on HOT 97 were excited is a massive understatement. They were playing the track on a continuous loop. When the song wasn’t technically playing, they were playing the music to it and talking about how dope it was. I had no idea where the song began and where it ended. I couldn’t even tell how many verses it was (two.) They even woke up poor Swizz Beats to talk about how the track came to be
Plain and simple, it’s an awesome song.
http://soundcloud.com/life-times/jay-z-open-letter-1
Here’s my five favorite lines from the song:
“I’ll turn Havana to Atlanta”
I’m not totally sure what this means. Part of me thinks (hopes) this is a Walking Dead reference. But it’s doubtful. Either way, it sounds cool as hell.
“Get too much bread they try and jam you.”
This isn’t something I can relate to, but I feel your pain, sir. No one likes to be jammed.
“Politicians never did shit for me. Except lie to me, distort history.”
Amen, HOV.
“Wanna give me jail time and a fine? Fine. But let me commit a real crime.”
Not to get too nit picky, but Jay, if you went to Cuba without the proper go ahead, that kind of is a real crime. But you did go with the proper go ahead, so we should be good.
“Obama said ‘chill, you’re gonna get me impeached.’ You don’t need that shit anyway. Come chill with me on the beach.”
My favorite line for so many reasons. The first being, if that were Obama’s exact wording to Jay about the situation, that’s amazing. Also, did Obama call Jay about this? Or was it via text? Facebook message? Direct message on Twitter? How close are Jay and Obama? And then there’s Jay’s advice to the Obama, who by the way is PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, which is basically advice I’d give my wife after she’s had a tough day. If anyone had doubts that Jay Z lives a different life than the rest of us, then this song should finally convince them.
Traffic sucked this morning, but this song got me through. So thanks, Jay.
Photo: Okayplayer.com
*totally unrelated- but check out the top 5 headlines on Hot 97’s front page. I find the inclusion of number five hilarious.
- Mona Scott-Young Reveals She Started From The Bottom + Mona And Ebro Argue About Ratchet Reality TV
- New Music by Jay-Z – Open Letter
- Give Us Your Thoughts On Jay Z’s New Song ‘Open Letter’
- Fabolous Ft. Chris Brown- “Ready”
- North Korea Moves Missiles Into Upright Firing Position
Categories: Music
Giddy Up America 
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