In “Passin' Me By,” The Pharcyde refer to the aphorism of someone being “out of your league”—no matter how much you long for someone, it doesn’t mean that your wish will come true.
The song is the second single from The Pharcyde’s debut album, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde.
It peaked at #1 on the Hot Rap Singles, #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts in the spring of 1993. Later, Pitchfork Media included the song at #41 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90’s.
On October 23, 2002, Kanye crashed his car and fractured his jaw. The “Through the Wire” title comes from the fact that Kanye recorded the original version while his mouth was still wired shut. The track samples Chaka Khan’s “Through The Fire”.
“Through the Wire” became certified platinum on November 20, 2018.
“Hind’s Hall” (stylized as HIND’S HALL) was released by Macklemore through social media on 6 May 2024.
The track broadly addresses the State of Israel’s attack on Palestinians in Gaza which began in October 2023. The attack, which has caused tens of thousands of casualties, overwhelmingly civilian, has been widely characterised as genocidal, including as plausibly amounting to genocide by the ruling of the International Court of Justice in South Africa v Israel.
More narrowly, the track addresses the 2024 encampment movement which took shape around the world in protest of other states' response, or lack of response, to the Israeli attack. Macklemore, who is based in the United States, particularly criticises US institutions' coercive, brute-force, often militarised response to student protesters using their (nominally) guaranteed rights to free speech.
“Hind’s Hall” is named in reference to Hind’s Hall, a building at Columbia University in Manhattan known as Hamilton Hall prior to its takeover by student protesters. The building was named in reference to Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl murdered by Israeli occupation forces. Hind’s fate is known because the civilian car she was riding in was disabled by an Israeli tank, killing most of her family and injuring her, whereupon her cousin placed a call to Palestinian emergency services crying and begging for help before also being killed. Hind subsequently spent three hours on call with Palestinian emergency services, allowing an ambulance to be dispatched and reach her. Upon its arrival, that ambulance was destroyed, and its crew and Hind were murdered, by the same or another Israeli tank.
Hind’s call was leaked online and instantly became a focus of widespread notoriety due to the cold, calculated nature of her and her family’s murder — Hind and her cousin’s calls and evidence from the scene consistently indicate Israeli forces were in the immediate vicinity and in visual range at the time of each killing, meaning there is no reasonable chance the Israeli tank crews did not fully realise what they had done. Moreover, the Israeli tank destroyed the ambulance after Israeli forces had provided the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Gaza Health Ministry with a “guarantee” of safe passage and the ambulance had proceeded along a route laid out for that purpose. In addition, after the killing, Israeli spokespeople chose to lie about it and attempt to cover it up.
The song also features a sample from “Ana La Habibi”, by legendary Lebanese Arab singer Fairuz, to fit the theme of making a song for Palestine. Fairuz has also been vocal in her support for Palestine over the course of career with the album Jerusalem in my Heart, featuring the single “Zahrat al Madaen”, which became a pan-Arab anthem, releasing only two weeks after the 1967 Six-Day War.
This is Raekwon’s response to 50 Cent’s song “How to Rob”. In the song, 50 cent talked about robbing different rappers. Specifically, he said he would rob Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, RZA, and Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Catch Rae, Ghost and RZA for them funny ass rings.
I’d rob ODB, but that’d be a waste of time
Probably have to clap him, run and toss the 9.
Raekwon responds to 50 cent by threatening to kick his ass and by insulting him
50 fantasizes robbing the era’s biggest of rapper and singers; many of his targets clapped back (and 50 appreciated the publicity!)
Although he’s fully famous now, 50 still engages in “beef marketing” (e.g. a blatantly corporate scheme with Kanye West and silly jabs at Jadakiss and Fat Joe)
Two excellent commentaries on the song:
From Combat Jack
From Trackmasters
And as said in Beef (2003):
?50 Cent’s “How To Rob” mocked a new phenomenon. An MC dissing dozens of artists, who take his threats seriously and his disses personally.
This single off 50’s first (unreleased) album Power of the Dollar came out in 1999 and made him almost famous.
Kendrick Lamar and Drake have allegedly removed copyright stipulations from the diss tracks aimed at each other as the rap rivals' war of words continues to grip social media.
The current war of words got into full swing in March, when Lamar released "Like That," a cutting response to the Drake and J. Cole track "First Person Shooter."
This can lead to the sound being removed from the offending clip, the video being taken down altogether, or potentially lucrative advertising revenue being diverted to the record label.
Canadian musician and actor Drake denied this in his May 5 track, "The Heart Part 6," claiming that he and his associates had purposely planted misinformation to trick Lamar into using it during their battle.
Drama between the two once again kicked up in late March, when Lamar hopped on "She's Like That," a track from Future and Metro Boomin's We Don't Trust You album, which was perceived as containing disses aimed at Drake.
After hearing Lamar's verse on the track—which includes lyrics directly slamming Drake by referencing his song "First Person Shooter"—Drake dropped "Push Ups" on April 13.
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Yeah I don't really listen to Macklemore much. More of my partners thing, and like you, I listen to Doom, Kendrick, Tyler the Creator, old-school Kanye before he lost it, Wutang Biggie, etc. He rhymes pretty well and has some pretty sick raps. Seattle home town hero.
Macklemore has these conscious rap lyrics regularly on his albums somewhere between the more radio friendly songs. I mean they had "same love" back on The Heist album, "White Privilege II" on This Unruly Mess I’ve Made album and there probably are more than I can think of.
I have not followed him closely in recent years but I guess most of his music is still stylistically poppy which I personally am not a fan of.
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