Dear Family (Part 2)

2/15/12

Family,

What’s up, my people. I hope everyone is good. I’m just chillin in my cell, listening to the radio. Yesterday was Valentine’s day and it was my homeboy Jason’s daughter’s birthday, so he made a homemade cake to celebrate. Prison cakes aren’t like freeworld, they’re more like brownies, kind of flat but really good.

I got a great letter from Incandesio, which included the Cold 40 and letter I wrote, that she posted. You guys commented on that and she sent me some of those. Your love is amazing and I feel so blessed to receive it. Your comments reminded me of how important it is that I write you regularly. I used to do that in spurts, on our Dope House site, but then I got in trouble and fell off. They found MP3 player in my cell and I was shipped to High Security Segregation.

I hope to be out of here soon, hopefully in April which is when I’m up for review. In H.S.S. there’s no pay phones, no contact visits, no special visits – like if a news reporter wanted to interview me, no televisions, no outside recreation where you can play soccer or handball or basketball with other people. We play a basketball game but it’s strictly on shooting skills, there’s no offense or defense. I’ve talked about all this before, so let me move on. But if you guys have any questions about my day, just ask. Incandesio sent me some questions so I’ll get to those after I write you.

I wrote you guys a Cold 40 this morning so I’ll be putting that at the end of this. The tricky thing about the 40’s is how you should deliver them. Verses are delivered in different ways, according to how they were written and meant to be delivered.

As you know, I call these verses Cold 40’s because they are forty lines long. “Lines” also means “Bars” so Cold 40’s are forty bar verses.

Each line (or bar) has four beats. You know when you listen to a song and bob your head to the beat, well, you’re bobbing your head to the beats in each bar. For example, let’s go to the first two bars (or lines) of the song “Mary-Go-Roud:”

1                2         3                  4
Saggin my Dickies smoke like a hippie

Smells so good when she get wet and sticky

I underlined the letters that land on each beat of the bar. These are the spots where your head bobs. So if you never heard this song, you would still somewhat know how it should be rapped (or delivered) just by knowing the letters that fall on the beat. Notice how each bar has four letters that are underlined. That’s because, as I’ve said, there’s four beats on every bar.

So now let’s go to the last Cold 40 I wrote. I’ll write down the first four bars and underline the letters that land on the beats of each bar.

        1                2                   3                  4

Los crumble the borin so they mothers will mourn

I’m just sorry that my gift is so troubled and torn

rollin thunder was norm, see I come from da storm

still I’m fuckin comp like they fuck sluts on a porn

On the first two bars of “Mary-Go-Round”, the first letter of the first word on the bar starts on the first beat. But in the Cold 40, there’s a word or two that’s delivered before the first beats comes in.

Another example of a word or two being delivered before the first beat, is on the song “Wizard of O.Z.” which is on the same “Hustle Town” album as “Mary-Go-Round.”

“Wizard of O.Z.’s” first four bars are these:
                                                       

         1             2                   3         4

It was plain to see since the age of three

One day dopefiends would be paging me

I got crunk in the game niggaz knew my name

Hillwood the place I gained my fame

Notice how, when listening to this song, your head bobs on the letters of these words that land on the beats of these bars. So in reality, if I went through my Cold Forties and underlined each letter that lands on the beats, you would better understand how the verse should be delivered. It’s going to be great when I get out of H.S.S. and be able to use the payphones. I’ll be able to flow every Cold 40 to you, and then you’ll know exactly how it should go.

You know, I get letters from guys that want to rap and get into the rap game, and they send me their verses, and I’m like, “I can freestyle this shit.” It’s no disrespect to them but let me explain some other things since I’ve opened up my SPM School of Rap.

For you people that inspire to be rappers, check this out. First of all, you can’t just make “cold” and “bold” rhyme, or “fought” and “caught”. If you’re only going to make one syllable rhymes, then the line better be a bad ass metaphor. A metaphor is like if I said:

“Then I hit the pen like a nigga went bowling”

I’m saying I went to the penitentiary, but since “pen” also sounds like “pin” as in “bowling pin”, I use this metaphor. But even when I do metaphors, I often make multi-syllabic rhymes to add even more skill. Let’s go to the last Cold 40 I wrote, before the one at the end of this letter. It’s called “Like Brothers.” Let’s take a look at the first six bars:

Los crumble the borin, so they mothers will mourn

I’m just sorry that my gift is so troubled and torn

rollin thunder was norm, see I come from da storm

still I’m fuckin comp like they fuck sluts on a porn

mothafuckaz was snorin, while I stung in the foreign

made a couple hundred thousand on dat Cullen and Orem

I’ll stack these rhymes on top of each other to see them more clearly:

crumble the borin

mothers will mourn

troubled and torn

thunder was norm

come from the storm

sluts on a porn

‘fuckaz was snorin

stung in the foreign

Cullen and Orem

In this set of rhyme schemes I use the soft “u” sound in the first words, and end it with the “or” on the last words. It’s a combination of the soft “u’s” and “or’s”.

You can even make whole sentences rhyme if you think hard enough. Let me just try to think up an example:

<><><> <>

Flow	so	throwed	make	ya	slap	ya	own	momma
Los	don’t	know	may	be	crap	in	Joe’s	sauna

As you can see I made seven syllables rhyme with seven syllables on the next line. Of course the overall rhyme wasn’t the best. Crapping in Joe’s sauna is disgusting, and I only did it cause I was drunk. No, I’m kidding. But multi-syllable rhyming, or at least compound rhyming, is a fucking must if you want to get somewhere. And I don’t mean bullshit like:

Raisin

blazin

chasin

facin

pacin

nation

placin

That’s not multi-syllable or compound rhyming. What is – is something like this. It sounds the same but has much more skill:

day's  grim

break limbs

ain't   him

fake   chin

great  gym

waist  slim

brain dim

pain   win

late    swim

This is compound rhyming, or two syllable rhyming. It has the strong “A” sound and the soft “i” sound. Let me show you how this fits in a couple of bars:

sun's bright day's grim, get my weed-break limbs

bitch that I'm with got a man but I ain't him

fake tits, fake nose, think she got a fake chin

but she got a ass like a member of a great gym

waist slim, brain dim, neva let the pain win

indoor pool say she wanna take a late swim

Again, these rhymes aren’t exactly powerful, but I just wanted tp give you some examples, and also explain why you can’t come with these bullshit, one syllable rhymes.

Now, we’ll get to my next Cold 40. See if you can spot all the multi-syllable rhyming schemes. I’ll talk to you again, soon.

Another Cold 40

“The Conflict Is Destined”

I'm Mario's brother cause I pound a gold sledge

somethin kinda different like a clown with no legs

Al Capone ends teach ya how to roll Benz

hood makin money so I'm proud of those friends

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I just wanted to point out the rhyme scheme of these first four bars. I won’t interrupt after this:

      ↓                           ↓        ↓

pound            a       gold   sledge

clown           with   no      legs

Al                ca      pone  ends

how             to       roll    Benz

proud          of       those  friends

I also underlined the letters on each bar where the four beats are. If you study the verse well enough, and make some good calls, you’ll understand how this verse is to be delivered. Let me start over:

I'm Mario's brother cause I pound a gold sledge

something kinda different like a clown with no legs

Al Capone ends teach ya how to roll Benz

hood makin money so I'm proud of those friends

sun comin up boys still on the cut,

you eva seen the last dolla bill gettin spunt?

Yeah, I said spunt cause I saw it on a book

and I promise I'mma promise if you promise not to look

Look, rappers couldn't see me if we played a game of Peek-A-Boo

even if the NFL would give'em "referee review"

believe in me believe in you, truth is I believe it too

this is real reality without the fucking T.V. crew

simple life is complicated grossly discombobulated

wrote that jus to feel smart, hope you didn't stop to hate it

really you should love me like da drunk and hungry love a lunch

Alright, give'em chicken nuggets plus a fuckin cup of punch!

I was at that luncheon once, should I even mention this?

I don't know, maybe not, fuck it I jus said it bitch

No, not you! I was callin someone else that

you're just a booty-face, toe sniffin hell rat

No, not you, man! I'm talkin to the other guy!

this is how rumors start and everybody wonder why

cause I meant another person from a far distant place

if I meant you, don't you think I'd say it in ya face?

Now I'm in a bad mood, plus I just lost my buzz

thinkin that I thought you was thinking what you thought I was

fuck it! you done forced me to call you a fraud bitch!

slap you like Prince's dad slapped him with palm prints

all on his left cheek, top lip was tremblin

this is Purple Rain but his pop isn't Meskin

they constantly question the concept of best when

I stomp men to death then I offer Excedrin

my job is to wreck them the conflict is destined

but please only view it at yo momma's discretion

or talk with the reverend and watch as you press him

to process the law between songs and confession

my losses are lessons but lost is the message

How can God help? I won't stop for directions

all my possessions, revolve around weapons

so all I can draw is a glock and attention... (killed'em)
    

 Con Amor,
     Los