What You Wanna Do?: A Lyrical Analysis of Noreaga's "Nothin'"
Aug 22 '07 (Updated Sep 06 '07)
The Bottom Line Another gem from the mind of Victor Santiago
I'm here to give you a little analysis on one of the worst songs of all time, in my opinion, "Nothin'" by Noreaga. Released under the name "N.O.R.E." due to "Noreaga" being the property of his former label, this formerly aight rapper was, by this point, officially whack as all hell. Anyone in the Vogue Crew knows of my hatred for Noreaga. Not only does he use virtually no articles in his speech, but Noreaga now resembles a black version of Colonel Kurtz from the film Apocalypse Now, to the chagrin of PDT and myself. In any case, here's a little breakdown of the lyrics to his [sarcasm]timeless classic[/sarcasm] "Nothin'".
Oh! (Millitainment) Oh!
(Millitainment) Oh! (Millitainment) Come on
(Millitainment) Oh! (Millitainment) This one is the hot one!
(Millitainment) Aiyyo! (Millitainment)
Okay, this is the intro by Pharrell, and he couldn't be more far off. To be honest, the Neptunes-produced beat to this song is actually really ill, but even that can't mask the horrific trash that Noreaga calls "lyrics".
Homeboy, I came to party (ohh!)
Yo' girl was lookin at me (ohh!)
She's a haggler naw I'm not taggin her (ohh!)
But you don't want them boys to come over and start askin ya (ohh!)
What you wanna do, nigga? (Nothin')
What you tryin to do, nigga? (Nothin')
What you wanna do, nigga? (Nothin')
What you tryin to do
Okay, so we haven't quite reached Noreaga's first verse just yet. The above is actually the chorus, provided by Pharrell. However, we already see the problem here. Look at that chorus, it's awful! Sure, it (almost) rhymes in the first part, but what the hell is he actually saying? I get that Pharrell is saying this other man's girl is trying to get with him, and then challenges the man to actually do something about it. It's not that I don't understand the lyrics, I just wanna know what these guys were thinking? Not only is the chorus awful, it has *Nothin'* to do with anything. I guess if you see the video, which takes place in a club, you could see it as a stream-of-consciousness type of thing, but no. The song was obviously made before the video, and I just don't believe Noreaga or even Pharrell could be that creative. Anyway, on to the moment you've all been waiting for, Noreaga's first verse:
Yo, yo, yo...
Yo N-O-R papi say what, that nigga's the man
With his manager Chris and the label that Jams
Still flossin, showin your rocks
Ain't you dudes heard Grimey, man we stole your watch
It goes Indian style, knees bent, in dashiki
Strapped in the baby tek B.T.
Okay, this is not even the worst verse of the track, but it's definitely already retarded. I mean really, how nonsensical can you possibly get? I get that his manager's name is Chris and that he's signed to Def Jam, but who really gives a shit?
The part about stealing someone's watch is obviously a shot at someone, but it's lost on the audience he was aiming for, namely teenage girls and pseudo-thugs. I also didn't get the line about sitting "Indian style, knees bent, in dashiki". Huh? Am I a moron, or does that make no sense? Why would someone be sitting crosslegged while rockin a dashiki? The only thing I can think of while hearing this line is an episode of "Good Times" where Thelma met a Nigerian dude and was gonna marry him in a traditional wedding ceremony. That involved a lot of crosslegged sitting and dashikis, but I doubt that's what Nore is referring to.
True, she at the bar, lookin good in the brown dress
Four to six shots and them things ain't around yet
Persona all thugged out, loud and clear
Sayin fuck the straight Henny, just grab me a beer
These next few lines are lost on me. Noreaga starts talking about a girl at the bar, but then says "Four to six shots and them things ain't around yet". What things, beer goggles? He then describes his persona in the club, which is "thugged out, loud and clear". Thanks, Nore, we didn't know you were a thug before this, it's not like anyone has ever heard The War Report (which should never again be mentioned in the same breath as this shitty song, since it's a classic album).
You see I'm reppin now, and my mami's I got a weapon now
Shoot at them clowns at they feet, they high steppin now
Noreaga then begins to wrap up the verse by stating that he'll shoot at the feet of any man who tries to get all the girls before him, to make them "dance" in the style of my Italian ancestors. Judging by his current appearance and behavior, however, Noreaga would probably have to pay for sex, so I don't think embarrassing the other club patrons would really help him out nowadays or even then. To put it short, Nore is an ugly motherfucker.
Left that whack label cause I don't like pricks
I'm like a hammer that you hold in your hand, I make hits
At the white boy club wylin buyin the bar
They like hey now, you're an all star, it go
Noreaga then goes on to talk shit about his old label, and then spits a whack attempt at a punchline: "I'm like a hammer that you hold in your hand, I make hits". Wow, what a creative mind he has. He then talks about going to a "white boy club" and buying the bar, after which the stereotypical white patrons apparently sing "All Star" by Smash Mouth, dedicating it to Nore. Whatever, it's all whack lyrics to me.
(Chorus)
...And on to the next verse:
I spit mack millimeter rhymes, kill a liter in line
My nigga Peter got a heater in mines
Niggas still lyin, in they whack-ass bars
Only time they see jail, when they watchin "Oz"
Okay, so here Nore brags about his skills, despite the obvious lack thereof. He also seems to be talking about snorting a large amount of cocaine, as evidenced by "kill a liter in line". Also, Nore's boy Peter appears to have a firearm tucked in case of a confrontation. The line about "bars" is unclear; Noreaga seems to be making a play on words, using the word to describe both the type of bar at a club and the bars of a prison cell. He then makes a nice little punchline about how most people who claim to be thugs have only seen a prison cell on the HBO show "Oz", which is all about prison life. One thing Nore can say is that he has been to prison, in fact he allegedly met his boy Capone there. Now that's what I call a friendship.
I'm in the club, pissy drunk, like ahhhdadidaaaaa!!!!!!
And mami took her papi like dadadidaaaaa!!!!!!
Adios, kill your soul, then we body your ghost
They call me tordo, sip champagne and sip porto
These lines are unbelievably laughable. Noreaga actually describes both his own and a girl's state of mind with onomatopoeic phrases, and it must be heard to truly understand just how funny it is. Also, I dunno how you can actually kill a soul and then body a ghost, aren't they more or less the same thing? Not to mention it's gotta be pretty hard to "kill" and "body" something that isn't solid. After that, Nore spits some more gibberish, before blessing us with these gems:
Playin cappy coo (Man you ain't nappy too!!!)
I like when chocha be nappy too
I treat life like a fast car lower my speed
I try to chill, and sell more records than Creed
Been a hustler (What? what?) way before Melvin Flynt
A criminal, don't need no prints
These dudes gave me a brick and they ain't seen me since
Coulda woulda, had them dudes straight hoppin the fence, it go
Okay, he references his album Melvin Flynt, which is well-known as complete garbage. Also, apparently the fact that Nore is a criminal means that he doesn't have to get fingerprinted. Funny, I always thought criminals were the people most likely to get printed. But okay, whatever you say, homie. Let's hope you can sell more records than Creed, they may be one of the few artists that are worse than you (although this is dated now, since Creed have been broken up for a few years). He also claims to be so threatening that others actually run away from him, especially right after making drug-related transactions.
(Chorus)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
La la la la la la la la la (Oh!)
Yes, you read that correctly. The bridge in this song consists of some girl singing "La la la" about a hundred times, with Pharrell cutting in to say "Oh!" a few times, lest we forget he had a hand in crafting this masterpiece. This is just more of the genius that is "Nothin'". Continuing on with Noreaga's wisdom, we get to another eye-opening verse from Iraq's greatest emcee:
Well oops, I done done it again again, I got another one
I keep it hid in my pocket I got another one
Fast and furious, dunn dunn dunna dunn
Still be in, Miami and jet skiing
In the ocean where the sharks be at, just O.D.'n
Yessir, Nore got another one. He likes that phrase so much, he uses it twice! This is another problem I have with Noreaga. He seems to think double-rhyming is creative and fresh, as evidenced by the classic "my pops just died" couplet from the Premier-laced "Invincible" off the Capone-N-Noreaga album The Reunion. One other thing I hate about this is the lazy "dunn dunn dunna dunn", where he is presumably trying to emulate a theme song, or something like that. It literally means nothing and serves no purpose, even compared to the rest of the song. Noreaga also professes that when in Miami, he likes to jet ski "in the ocean where the sharks be at". Let's all pray that he wipes out sometime soon.
Adebesi, want a brick to pay double easy
I got them thangs that a move easy
And I told the lawyer, I sold blow to old Goya
Nore is apparently unshaken by the legal issues he could face from selling coke to "old Goya". The Spanish painter? I had no idea he was still alive; he's gotta be pushing 300 by now!
I'm half Spanish, you see I cook coke to Goya
I'm half Spanish, all day roastin poya
Now see, this is, without question, my favorite couplet in the entire song. This is famous among Vogue Crew members as my pick for the worst bar ever. Why, you ask? First of all, I think I speak for the entire world when I say that we don't give a shit that Nore is "half Spanish". In reality, he's half Puerto Rican, which would make the proper term "Hispanic", not "Spanish". But the fact that he says it TWICE is what gets me. It literally makes no sense for him to say that. Not only that, he repeats the part about selling coke to Goya, and then adds that he likes to roast "poya". I think he meant to say "pollo", which is the Spanish word for "chicken", pronounced "poyo". "Polla", pronounced "poya", means "chick" in Spanish, and it seems a little fucked up to cook and eat a baby chick. But keep in mind that Nore has never been the King of Enunciation, and is also probably not fluent in Spanish despite being "half", so he's forgiven for this possible slip-up.
Recognize, when I'm runnin the game, before me
Chickens wasn't even messin with brain, before me
Running the game? At this point, Noreaga can't even run to the corner store without needing an inhaler, and when this song was released he was well on his way to his current state, so it's not too far off. The part about "chickens" and "brain" is a poorly executed line about how girls allegedly love to give him oral sex.
Now you started gettin head on the Westside Highway
So recognize, my nigga, you did it my way
Ice rockin, brick choppin, and gun shoppin
I did it all, beat cases with Cochran
See, he even confirms it for those listeners not well-versed in street slang. Nore also claims that the listener did it "his" way, and at this point I am shaking my head, stonefaced, saying "No I didn't, you fat fuck." Nore then wraps up his last verse by proclaiming that he wears jewelry, sells drugs, and buys weapons, and beats any charges involving these things with the now-late attorney Johnnie Cochran. That's fantastic, Nore, I'm glad you were able to escape doing a bid up north.....again.
(Chorus)
(Bridge)
And so ends another example of a terrible song by a terrible artist. I think what bothers me the most about this track is that Noreaga is known for much better work, such as the aforementioned album The War Report, as part of the duo Capone-N-Noreaga. I guess you could assume that Def Jam pressured our man to dumb down his lyricism a bit, but.....he was never all that complex to begin with. Also, the lyrics on this track are so bad, they make a lot of the "crunk" rappers out today seem lyrically complex.
It's just a poorly executed track all together, and would be literally unlistenable even for comedic purposes without Pharrell's ill beat. In any case, the song is a good listen for laughs, but should not by any circumstances be taken seriously. Trust me, it's a piece of garbage on par with Nore's other hit, "Superthug (What! What!)". Listen at your own risk.
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Member: Dave
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