The Billiken's Bluff

If I had to apologize for a career, for a life spent pursuing all the wrong things...

If I had to answer critics (and by critics as related to me, I probably mean the doubts in my own head) who are always saying...

Why are you sitting in that cubicle 10, 11, 12 hours a day?

Why are you watching television instead of reading?

Why are you filling out spreadsheets and writing emails rather than taking photographs and writing a novel?

Why are you wasting whatever tiny bit of talent you might have?

Well, I would like to answer these critics like this:

The music business hate me
Cause the industry ain't make me
Hustlers and boosters embrace me
And the music i be makin
I dumbed down for my audience
And doubled my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell "Holla"
If skills sold
Truth be told
I'd probably be
Lyricly
Talib Kweli
Truthfully
I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But I did five Mil)
I ain't been rhymin like Common sinceWhen your sense got that much in common
And you been hustlin since
Your inception
Fuck perception
Go with what makes sense
Since
I know what i'm up against
We as rappers must decide what's most impor-tant
And i can't help the poor if i'm one of them
So i got rich and gave back
To me that's the win, win
The next time you see the homie and his rims spin
Just know my mind is workin just like them
(The rims that is)

[Moment of Clarity]

Well maybe it doesn't translate that well to my own life. But, this has to be one of the cleverest retorts I've ever come across. Lincoln or Douglas couldn't have done much better. It's like a giant wink that Jay Z gave to his fans that were in the know. He acknowledged that he knew what we always knew - that he purposely dumbed down his lyrics to appeal to the masses. And while selling-out is certianly not an admirable quality, you have to respect the level of self-awareness displayed in the verse above.

To all those fans that were impressed with the intelligence, the talent exhibited on his debut album Reasonable Doubt... To all those fans who were subsequently disappointed when they bought commericial filler like Hard Knock Life Volume 1 and La Familia... To that type of fan Jay Z smiles and says, sorry but it was just business, man. This is just a job, and I'd rather be paid well by appealing to millions than paid poorly and appeal to a few who appreciate clever turns of phrase like: I rock the heavens, well, even if they don't let me in heaven I'll raise hell til it's heaven.

I feel like this is the approach many people, most of my friends, take to their jobs. It's just a pay check.

I know this album came out over 18 months ago, but I was listening to the Danger Mouse remix of this song over the weekend and I was really impressed.

Again.