Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
For the record, this article isn’t my fault. I was minding my business the other day when I got a text from a fellow hip-hop head asking me if I’d seen this video of Da Baby doing a “freestyle” — we really need some rules as to what constitutes a freestyle — over Burna Boy’s single “Sittin’ On Top of the World.” The immediate answer was, “Of course not.” It’s a rare day when I’m enticed by a freestyle from rappers I don’t pay much attention to, but this one also happens to be over a beat for a song I think is terrible. Let’s be clear: the Brandy version of the song, “Top of The World,” was cool when it was released back in 1998, but I didn’t even love it back then. When Burna Boy dropped a version of the song earlier this year featuring 21 Savage that both sampled and used the same beat, I definitely didn’t like it. Point is, Da Baby over a beat I didn’t care for? I’ll pass.
The homie was like, “Just check it out and get back.” Since I know when somebody doesn’t say anything more than check it out, one of two things are on the horizon: either the rapper BODIED the joint and I will be impressed, or, more likely, shenanigans are afoot. In this case, it’s the latter and it brought me joy.
For 2 minutes and 42 seconds, Da Baby, (via a well-shot video) does a version of rapping over the beat that made me laugh. And since it brought me joy, I thought I’d welcome you to share in the joy for me, too, by pointing out four quick thoughts I had while watching and listening to this “freestyle.”
1. There’s…
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