"A Day in the Life of Benjamin Andre" by Andre 3000 (Outkast)
I met you in a club in Atlanta Georgia,
Said me and my homeboy were coming out with an album
You looked at me like, yeah right
But you gave me your number anyway you were on the talcum
Powder. Hows about them oranges?
Moved away from home to school with big plans
By day, studied the history of music
By night, to pay for that ****, you danced.
To get your pants was a mission impos-sible.
We were both the same age but I, suppose
Wasn't on the same page, but in
The same book of life so I paged you when
I felt that you were getting off of work,
Or either when you on your way to school,
We started hangin like Ernie and Bert,
And in my idle head Im thinking cool.
Just when I think Im goin down your shirt
You're hiking up your skirt now.
The events that followed
Had me volleyed if your hometown
Would be, heaven or hell.
The angelic nastiness you possessed
Made you by far the best
Therefore, hard to tell.
You dropped me off by the dungeon,
Never came in but I knew that you were wondering:
Now are these n****s in this house up to something
Sellin crack sack by sack so they can function?
W-w-well, yes and no
Yes we were selling it, but no is wasn't blow.
Cook it in the basement and move it at a show,
Grab the microphone and everybody yelled Ho!
Meanwhile the video starts playing
BET college radio in a van
Packed full of n****s with a blunt in they hand
And one in they ear, you know what I'm saying.
But, I kept your number in my old phone
Got a new chip flip with the roam-roam.
So it took me a minute to retrieve 7 digits
But I promised I would call you when I got home.
But when I got home I never did,
By the time I did, heard that you had a kid
By some n**** in Decatur who replied see you later
When he got the good news, that's life, s***.
Now Im 19 with a Cadillac
My father had a Lex, with the gold pack.
Got a plaque but Im living with my pop-pop
So I got a glock and a low-jack.
You kinda fast for that fella in class who used to draw
And never said much ‘cause half of what he saw
Was so far from that place you wanna be
That words only f***ed it up more, follow me.
Are you starting to gather what Im getting at?
Now if Im losing you, tell me, and I’ll double back
But keep in mind at the time “keep it real” was the phrase
Silly when said it now, but those were the days
When spring break, and Daytona,
And freak-niks, made you wanna
Drop out of college and never go back
Move to the south, but that ain't a Kodak
Moment, on went, myself and Big Boi, well you knew him as Twan
That's right you were around before this shit begun.
Well Twan had a daughter and sorta
Was made to mature before the first tour.
We hit the road like jack,
Laughed and cried
And drived it back with some ac.
Girls used to say, Ya’ll talk funny, ya’ll from the islands?
Without laughin, they just keep smiling
No, I’m from Atlanta baby,
He from Savannah maybe
We should hook up and get tore up,
And then lay down, hey we
Gotta go ‘cause the bus is pulling out in 30 minutes
She's playing tennis disturbing the tenants.
15 - Love, fit like glove
Description is like, 15 doves
In a jacuzzi catching the holy ghost
Making one woozy in head and comatose, agreed?
Enough about me, hows about you,
Hows the little kid?
She was about two the last time we spoke.
I haven't smoked or took a shot of drink
‘Cause I started the second album off on another note.
Now, that note threw some n****s in the hood off
But see I balled out, and before I falled out
I slowed my 'lac down to a nice speed
The brain is that fried egg I might need.
New direction was apparent
I was a child looking at the floor staring
So changing my style was like relief for the primitive beast
Yes I was on the rise, yeast was the street.
To make bread, never primary concern
Just to hop on these beats and wait my turn.
I'd meet Muslims, gangstas, b*****s, Rastas,
And macaroni n****s - imposters.
So on a trip to New York on some beeswax
I get invited to a club where M.C.s at
And on stage is a singer with some thing on her hair
Similar to the turban that I covered up my dreads with
Which I was rocking at the time
When I was going through them phases trying to find
Anything that seemed real in the world
Still searching but I started liking this girl.
Now you know her, as Erykah on and on Badu
Call Tyrone on the phone, why you
Do that girl like that boy you ought to be ashamed
The song wasn't about me, hm, that ain't my name.
Well young in love, in short, we had fun
No regrets, no abortion, had a son,
By the name of Seven, and he's five
By the time I do this mix, he'll probably be six.
You do the arithmetic, me do the language arts
Ya’ll stand against the wall blindfolded,
Me throw the darts, to poke you in the heart
And take you from the start
To one luxury transportationment, a Marta card.
Or either when your girlfriend that went to May’s
Momma or her daddy let her borrow the Benz because she smart
Or maybe if your neighbor does you a huge favor
And he sells you that rabbit that's been sitting in his yard.
You fix it up, you trick it out,
You give it rims, you give it bump,
You give it all your time ‘cause that's all you can think about.
And that's as far as I got
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjjHtSwFPnU
Throughout its history, hip-hop music has been generalized into an exaggeration of a certain lifestyle. Rappers and MCs often often speak about subjects such as male superiority and increasing wealth, while trying to maintain their “hood” or “ghetto” image. These songs usually appear to be false images, and candy-coated party beats keep the lyrics bouncing from verse to verse. When the hip hip duo Outkast released separate solo albums in 2003, Andre 3000 (one of the two members) conceptualized his music and lyrics in a way that didn’t just formulate songs, but delivered messages through words and complementary background. “A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre”, the final track on Andre’s solo album, wraps things up by delivering a condensed autobiography laced with images, paradoxes, unique flow, and many other poetic devices normally absent from hip-hop music.
The song’s structure immediately places it within its own distinctive realm. The background beat consists of muted snaps and light bass, separating it from usual booming hip-hop percussion. Squeaks and scratches are heard every now and then, bringing an off-kilter swing to the song’s traditional 4/4 meter. Andre’s lyrics are also presented in an unorthodox style. Rather than delivering traditional couplets of lines (A/B A/B), Andre weaves a rhythmic flow through turnaround rhymes and off-rhythm rhymes. Rhyming words are found in groups of 3 or suspended 2’s, stopping the listener from just “bouncing” through the track, “ Enough about me, hows about you, how’s the little kid? She was about two the last time we spoke.” This warped flow grabs the audience’s ear, commanding them to listen intently. Even when four lines take on a normal rhyme pattern, Andre twists it by pausing or emphasizing words that normally wouldn’t be “But, I kept your number in my old phone/Got a new chip flip with the roam-roam./So it took me a minute to retrieve 7 digits/But I promised I would call you when I got home.”
Andre 3000 utilizes abstract vehicles and devices to highlight the difficulties he experienced in his life. The first subject is a girl whom he met in a club, the first of two girls in the song. He describes her immersion in her own appearance, “But you were on the talcum powder”. The pause after “powder” breaks the rhythm of the song in a unique way. When talking about their growing relationship, Andre incorporates an allusion to Sesame Street, “Or either when you on your way to school, we started hanging like Ernie and Bert.” The well-known reference strengthens Andre’s portrayal of his early life, and adds credibility to the intensity of the feelings he had for the girl from Atlanta. Andre’s utilization of paradox draws contrasts between certain things, drawing attention to points that receive reinforcement, “The angelic nastiness/Made you by far the best/Therefore hard to tell.” The song’s title, “A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre”, is a creative construction of paradoxical elements. The alternation of “life” and “day” refers to Andre writing down his life story over a day’s course. He also reverses his first and last names, toying with expectations of the song’s content. Towards the song’s end, Andre 3000 draws a comparison between yeast and the metaphorical “streets” that refer to the path of his future, “Yes I was on the rise, yeast was the street to make bread, never a primary concern”. The fusion of streets and bread displays Andre 3000’s confidence in himself, and his creative direction.
The second girl in the song is Erykah Badu, Andre’s present wife and mother of his son, Seven. The imagery of Erykah’s hat, described to be similar to Andre’s, foreshadows their convergence and relationship together, “And on stage is a singer with some thing on her hair, similar to the turban that I covered up my dreads with.” Through all the choppy flow and off-rhythm rhyming techniques in the song, Andre bookmarks his story with Cadillac references in both the beginning and end. At the song’s start, “Now I’m 19 with a Cadillac”, Andre treats the car as a welcoming present. The new lifestyle goes hand-in-hand with his car and fortune. At the song’s end, Andre 3000 poses a situation with the listener’s girlfriend borrowing a Benz, “Momma or her daddy let her borrow the Benz because she’s smart.” This contrasts Andre’s accumulation of fortune with some people’s easy road to wealth.
Through all of his attention to detail and description analysis, Andre 3000 subtly promotes the unreliability of language. Masked by the eventful life story, the theme makes appearances through Andre’s struggles with conveying speech perfectly. “Girls used to say, Ya’ll talk funny, ya’ll from the islands? Without laughin, they just keep smiling.” This line highlights girls’ misinterpretation of Andre’s accent, and promotes the idea that language is sometimes futile. The concept also includes the girls’ obliviousness to the rapper’s intentions, as he lies to them and, in a way, takes advantage of them. Another supporting idea comes through Andre 3000’s description of a man who “Never said much ‘cause half of what he saw was so far from that place you wanna be that words only f***ed it up more, follow me. Are you starting to gather what Im getting at? Now if Im losing you, tell me, and I’ll double back.” The man has trouble describing things he saw for fear of convoluting them with words. The selection conveys the idea that language would be inadequate in this situation, and Andre caps it off by questioning the listener’s ability to understand him. Andre 3000’s powerful description of his life story, combined with an underlying theme, unorthodox poetic devices, and unique structure, melds into a beautifully crafted mixture that rises above average hip-hop.
