2009 Year in Review

Over 400 posts and 1.3 million page views later, TwistedSifter has completed an incredible inaugural year. To herald the year to come, let’s look back at the year that was, and reminisce about some of the most popular posts from 2009.

Before we delve deeper, I want to thank the readers of this site for all of their support, comments, and feedback. How the site began and how you see it today is shaped in large part by insights and input from our incredible community. THANK YOU x infinity, you are greatly appreciated.

5 SELECTIONS FROM ART AND DESIGN

Nature’s Revenge by Ludo

Gears of Bore: The World’s First Belt-Driven Watch

The Bladeless Fan</a

3D Insanity with Only Four Letters

Stormtrooper Inspired Art and Design

5 SELECTIONS FROM NATURE

The Most Popular Tourist Attraction in the World

– One of TwistedSifter’s most popular articles to date, it started with a link from NotCot and Reddit
– It then became popular on Twitter after some influential users (e.g., The Cool Hunter, ArchDaily and PetaPixel) ‘tweeted’ the article

The Highest Waterfall in the World

The Largest Animal Ever

10 Amazing Facts About Jellyfish

Living Art: Stunning Aqua Forest Aquariums

5 SELECTIONS FROM PROPERTIES, PLACES & STRUCTURES

The Most Expensive Place in Brooklyn, New York

Industrial Renovation: The Giant Gasometers of Vienna

Re-Imagining the Super-Yacht: Wally Hermès Yachts

Canopy Living: The Ultimate Tree House

An Elegant Solution to a Long and Narrow Space

5 SELECTIONS FROM TECH & GADGETS

Why Nerds Rule: Luis Von Ahn and reCAPTCHA

– Another one of TwistedSifter’s most popular articles, it all started with a Stumbleupon submission
– It then hit Twitter with a bang thanks to the highly influential and very lovely BuzzEdition
– This led to influential retweets from social media mavens like: Alyssa Milano, Virginia Madsen, Zaibatsu, Dudeman718 and Adamsconsulting
– The last three may not be household names like Alyssa Milano or Virginia Madsen, but they have great influence and authority in social media, and it gave this little site some incredible exposure, so thank you influencers!

Can Your Boat Dive 100 Feet Under Water?

Experience The Joy of Flight in the Icon A5 Light Sport Aircraft

A Brief Introduction to 3D Printing and Scanning

INSANE: yellowBird 3D Video Technology With Full 360 Viewing

3 SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC

TwistedSifter’s Amazing Animated Gifs Compilation

– Way back in April ’09 when we had about 12 readers, the Sifter released their first string of YouTube videos using the basic yet serviceable Windows Movie Maker
– While not receiving many views or any comments, it did mark a significant change from a link blog to a content producer
– It was early posts like this that influenced the decision to switch from simply posting links to ‘cool articles’ to writing some of our own

The Roots – What they do | Lyrics, Audio and Music Video

Soko – I’ll Kill Her | Brilliant Fan-Made Music Video

5 SELECTIONS FROM SPORTS

The Musings of Mike Tyson – Motivational Quotes

– This was another of TwistedSifter’s most popular posts to date
– It was the first article that made it to the Reddit front page, which promptly caused a major traffic spike and forced the site to be shut down by our [former] host providers
– After another site shutdown thanks to the awesome power of Reddit, TwistedSifter switched hosts in December ’09

What Costs $1.3 Billion, Holds 111,000 people and Has the World’s Biggest TV?

How to Lose $1.93 Million in 7 Hands of Poker

The Longest Par 3 in the World, 900 Yards | Legend Golf & Safari Resort – South Africa

Roger Williamson and the Dutch Grand Prix Tragedy of 1973

MOST COMMENTED STORY TO DATE

Picture of the Day – December 10, 2009



And last but certainly not least is our reader’s favourite weekly post, the FRIDAY SHIRK REPORT, which highlights 20 images, 10 articles and 5 videos from the previous week of sifting.

After 38 volumes of the weekly time-waster, our readers can expect to see the report published every Friday at 8:58 am EST from now til eternity.

2010 is going to be amazing! I hope you come back soon and continue to enjoy the content in this little place on the Internet.

Three Kinds of Relationships

1. The Bad Girl
2. The Bad Boy
3. The Bad Girl with the Nice Boy

Luv Deluxe by Cinnamon Chasers
Album: A Million Miles From Home
Director: Saman Keshavarz
Producer: Francis Pollara
Associate Producer: Nate Eggert
Cinematographer: Justin Gurnari
Editor: Nate Tam
Actress: Darcy Ripley
© Modus Records / Koch Entertainment 2009

**Shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II w/ a custom face mounted rig — Canon Lenses used: 14mm (f2.8) & 24mm (f1.4)**


Awesome concept and beautifully shot. A great example of a music video that keeps you captivated and compliments the music. Have you ever been in one of these relationships?

If you enjoyed this article, the Sifter highly recommends: The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979 | Lyrics, Audio and Music Video

So You Think You Can Shred?

So you can beat Through the Fire and Flames in Guitar Hero on expert and you think you can shred? You think that being able to press five buttons in rapid succession is impressive? Aleksandr Hrustevich laughs at you and your plastic Les Paul guitar. He sees your five buttons and raises you many, many more. And that little solo you play between verses? Have fun with that. He’ll just play this little diddy…written for an orchestra. His axe is better known as a Bayan; a type of chromatic button accordion developed in Russia in the early 20th century.

Photograph by Henry Doktorski

I never thought much of the accordion as an instrument. The sound it produces is funny, and seriously, who plays the accordion? That was before I heard Mr. Aleksandr Hrustevich shred the Bayan. Check him out below. I can only assume he can type at least 13,000 words per minute too. Impressive stuff.

Round 1 FIGHT!

Round 2 FIGHT!

FLAWLESS VICTORY

I mean to FC ‘through the fire and flames’ is still impressive don’t get me wrong. It’s just not as impressive. Decide for yourself though:

If you enjoyed this article, the Sifter highly recommends: Justin Aswell – Insane Live Beats on an MPC

The Kanye West and Spike Jonze Video – We Were Once a Fairytale

Below you will find the11-minute short film We Were Once a Fairytale in its entirety. What is it exactly? Tough to say, but it is definitely different. Here’s what the Sifter knows:

– Originally debuted at the Los Angeles Film Fest back in June (LAFF)
– Collaboration between Kanye West and Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) who teamed up before on Kanye’s music video Flashing Lights
– Features the track See you in my nightmares from Kanye’s most recent album 808s and Heartbreak
– Given an initial release date of September 18 on iTunes but that date came and passed
– Leaked on KanyeLive this weekend but video has since been removed very vigilantly
– Has been garnering an obscene amount of press coverage ever since

So yes, there is a high probability the video below is removed before day’s end, so watch it while you can! Imma let you finish but The Sifter would love your opinion on this film so please share:

Love him or hate him Mr. West is tough to ignore and even tougher to not have an opinion on as an artist/person. He is a much better actor than I figured, but is it the greatest video of all time? No. It is not.

If you enjoyed this article, the Sifter highly recommends: How the Internet Finished What Kanye Started

The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979 | Lyrics, Audio and Music Video

Billy Corgan called it, “the closest we’ve ever come to realizing everything we wanted.”

It was the Smashing Pumpkins’ highest-charting single, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and on the Modern Rock Tracks charts.

Did you know the video that had to be made and remade after it was lost in a Los Angeles street? The unfortunate victim of an innocent but nonetheless costly accident by a video assistant

Luck had very little to do with the initial writing of “1979.” The song wasn’t really a song as the Mellon Collie sessions wound toward their conclusion. When the time came for paring down the nearly 40 songs in contention for what would be a 28-song double-CD, it was an easy call for Flood, the famed producer (U2, PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails) who shepherded Mellon Collie through its six-month studio birth with Alan Moulder and Corgan.

“He just said, ‘Not good enough,’ and was ready to drop it”, says Corgan, “but I had a gut feeling about this song from the very beginning.” He accepted Flood’s implied challenge. “It was almost like I was afraid to go where this song was taking me. It’s the kind of song that if I thought about doing it on the previous albums, I’d have questions about whether I’d sound shitty doing it. It’s just not the typical Pumpkins song. So when he was hesitating about putting it on, it riled me. I thought, ‘No fucking way, this is not another toss-off song.’ It really inspired me to finish it and prove him wrong. So that night I wrote the entire song in about four hours. The next day Flood heard it one time and said, ‘It’s on the album’.”

*If the video above does not play, you can find it here

Additional Facts:

– ‘1979’ was released in 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

– To capture the proper feel on video, the band traveled to Los Angeles to renew acquaintances with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who in 1994 had filmed the Pumpkins’ video for “Rocket,” from Siamese Dream. Dayton and Faris have an impressive resume that also includes R.E.M.’s “Tongue,” Jane’s Addiction’s “Gift,” and Porno for Pyros’ “Pets”.

– Among those in the running to direct “1979” was Spike Jonze, but he was already booked

– The song is central to the theme of the Mellon Collie album, which Corgan describes as “a farewell to my youth.” At age 28, he acknowledged, “I’m on the edge of losing my connection to youth, but I wanted to communicate from the edge of it, an echo back to the generation that’s coming, to sum up all the things I felt as a youth but was never able to voice articulately.”

– For “1979,” Corgan drew on a specific high school-age memory for inspiration: “I remember being about 17, 18, this weird feeling of having a job and a car, and I could go anywhere I wanted, but I still had the tethers to home, to school. It’s kind of a restless period with a lot of sexual energy and you’re stuck in fucking nowhere. That’s the feeling I had writing the song. Why “1979?” I have no idea, I had to call it something. Much of the song is more intuitive than literal. I trust my intuition way more than I trust my conscious mind.”

The Lyrics for The Smashing Pumpkins “1979”

Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet
Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure wed never see an end to it all
And I don’t even care to shake these zipper blues
And we don’t know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below
Double cross the vacant and the bored
They’re not sure just what we have in the store
Morphine city slippin’ dues down to see
That we don’t even care as restless as we are
We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement, lamented and assured
To the lights and towns below
Faster than the speed of sound
Faster than we thought wed go, beneath the sound of hope
Justine never knew the rules,
Hung down with the freaks and the ghouls
No apologies ever need be made, I know you better than you fake it
To see that we don’t care to shake these zipper blues
And we don’t know just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below
The street heats the urgency of sound
As you can see there’s no one around

Sources
– http://www.starla.org/articles/mtc1.htm
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_%28song%29

If you enjoyed this article, the Sifter highly recommends: The Roots – What they Do | Lyrics, Audio and Music Video

What Does Music Look Like? Audio-Visual Bliss

When visuals and audio compliment each other, good tings happen. Here we experience another fan-made video that has been so well received, the artist has actually made it their official music video!

Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Song: Ljósið
Album: Found Songs
Director: Esteban Diácono

Toolbox
Software: Adobe After Effects
Plugin: Trapcode Particular v2. and Trapcode SoundKeys
Additional:
1. Imported the audio and set up two Soundkey layers, one for the piano and one for the strings
2. Then worked the particles and the particle subsystem and linked things like: the emission, turbulence, velocity, spin amplitude and the strength of the fields to the Soundkey outputs
3. Set up the colors with 2 different palettes and a lot of trial and error. There’s a lot of randomness involved so there was also a lot of luck

After scouring the hundreds of comments, I also stumbled across an equally impressive video with similar effects using different programs and plugins. I don’t enjoy the music selection as much but the animation is beyond impressive.

Created with 3DSmax (FumeFX, Krakatoa, VRay) and Digital Fusion by DeKo

If you enjoyed these videos, the Sifter also recommends: A Brilliant Fan-Made Music Video for Soko’s I’ll Kill Her

Soko – I’ll Kill Her | Brilliant Fan Made Music Video

Student, fan, and super-talented Joerg Barton has created a beautiful music video for French singer Soko’s hit song, I’ll Kill Her.
Completed as a university project with $0 budget, this puts countless big-budget mainstream music videos to shame.
Dare I say it’s even better than *gasp* Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy video? Judge for yourself after watching both.

They aren’t identical but certainly have a similar feel:

Song aside, which video did you like more?

According to Joerg, the video was made using: Cinema 4D for 3D modeling and 3D Animation, Xfrog (a Cinema 4D plugin) for modeling and animating the plants and ornamental shapes, and After Effects for 2D Animation and compositing.

So who is Soko? Her real name is Stéphanie Sokolinski, and she is a French singer and actress born in Bordeaux, France, to a Polish family.
I’ll Kill Her made it big in Denmark, Austrailia, Belgium and the Netherlands. She was catapulted into the spotlight despite the fact she has yet to put out an album. (source)

Soko – I’ll Kill Her lyrics

So, of course, you were supposed to call me tonight
you were supposed to call me tonight
we would have gone to the cinema
and, after, to the restaurant, the one you like in your street

we would have slept together, have a nice breakfast together
and then a walk in a park together, how beautiful, and then
you would have said “i love you” in the cutest place on earth
where some butterflies are dancing with the fairies

i would have waited like a week or two
but you never tried to reach me
no, you never called me back
you were dating that bleach-blonde girl
if i find her, i swear, i swear…

i’ll kill her, i’ll kill her
she stole my future, she broke my dream
i’ll kill her, i’ll kill her
she stole my future when she took you away

i would have met your friends, we would have had a drink or two
they would have liked me, ’cause sometimes i’m funny
i would have met your dad, i would have met your mum
she would have said “please, can you make some beautiful babies?”

so we would have had a boy called tom and a girl called susan, born in japan

i thought it was a love story, but you don’t want to get involved
i thought it was a love story, but you’re not ready for that …

me neither. i’ll kill her
she stole my future, she broke my dream
i’ll kill her, i’ll kill her
she stole my future when she took you away

she’s a bitch you know, all she’s got is blondeness
not even tenderness, yeah, she’s cleverless
she’ll dump your arse for a model called brendan
he will pay for beautiful surgery ’cause he’s full of money

i would have waited like a week or two
but you never tried to reach me
no, you never called me back
you were dating that bleach-blonde girl
if i find her, you know, i swear, i swear, i swear …

If you enjoyed this music video, the Sifter recommends Coldplay’s Strawberry Swing music video directed by Shynola

Coldplay – Strawberry Swing Music Video | Directed by Shynola

Strawberry Swing is an audio-visual delight. An uplifting song by Coldplay, complimented beautifully with a stunning concept by visual artists Shynola. Lyrics and details on the making of after the vid, enjoy!

Some highlights from a Q & A with Shynola below:

Had you had this idea up your sleeves for a while, or was it a direct response to the Strawberry Swing song?
No, we always pitch specifically for the song. That has meant on previous occasions that we have stared at a blank wall for a week and found no inspiration at all. We’ve then had to pass on those projects. But we’d still rather work that way. The work is pointless agony if you’re not inspired. Our hope is that when the video is finished and you’ve watched it, that afterwards when you hear the song you can’t help but think of the video.

What’s the inspiration behind the story in the video?
First and foremost we really wanted it to be nonsensical and almost dream-like. We also knew that the technique itself would also be a lot for the eye to take in. So when we had the idea of a day with a superhero on some weird adventure we chose to frame the journey with a very simple, easy-to-understand narrative: superhero saves girl from baddy. So it’s pretty weird, but makes some sort of sense. I saw the video referred to as “ten-steps-left-of-centre” which we take as a great compliment. I might even get that as a tattoo.

How much did you try to tie the plot in with the Strawberry Swing lyrics and the music?
We never see the point in following lyrics literally. We would be adding nothing. We do however try and capture the feel of the song – what the music suggests to us.

So how did you do it?
Again we had pretty much all of the animation roughly blocked-out beforehand using computers. It was just a matter of taking one frame at a time with our grid for reference. Luckily, you only need to draw or rub out the bits that have moved since the last frame. We also had this cool portable monitor while filming, which showed you a live feed from the camera, blended with the previous take and our pre-vis.

Was that the most time consuming part of the process?
It was all pretty gruelling. The thing that sticks in my mind was when Chris is falling with the umbrella. If you look closely he is lying on a tiny square skateboard we had made. For each frame we had to drag him an inch this way or that to make him swing. There was a lot of sore backs after the shoot. Always bend at the knee. And back up your hard-drive.

Click here to see the entire Q & A with Shynola

Artist – Coldplay
Song – Strawberry Swing

They were sitting
They were sitting in the strawberry swing
Every moment was so precious

They were sitting
They were talking in the strawberry swing
Everybody was for fighting
Wouldn’t wanna waste a thing

Cold, cold water
Bring me round
Now my feet won’t touch the ground
Cold, cold water
What ya say?
It’s such
It’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day

I remember
We were walking up to strawberry swing
I can’t wait ’til the morning
Wouldn’t wanna change a thing

People moving all the time
Inside a perfectly straight line
Don’t you wanna just curve away
When it’s such
When it’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day
ahh…

Now the sky could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

Now the sky could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

Now the sky could be blue
Could be grey
Without you I’m just miles away

Now the sky could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

If you enjoyed this video, you may also like Sour’s Hibi No Neiro music video, another brilliant concept.

Wu-Tang Clan – Da Mystery of Chessboxin’ Lego Music Video

Thanks to Tonewise for sending me this link yesterday. It’s a Lego remake of the classic rap video Da Mystery of Chessboxin’ by the Wu-Tang Clan. Released in November of 1993, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was one of the seminal albums of 90s east coast hip hop. Definitely one of the first groups that really got me into Hip Hop music.

Full credit to Davo for this incredible remake!


Peep the original for comparison

Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Song: Da Mystery of Chessboxin’

[Wu-Tang movie dialogue]
The game of chess, is like a swordfight
You must think first, before you move
Toad style is immensely strong, and immune to nearly any weapon
When it’s properly used, it’s almost invincible

Verse One: U-God
Raw I’ma give it to ya, with no trivia
Raw like cocaine straight from Bolivia
My hip-hop will rock and shock the nation
like the Emancipation Proclamation
Weak MC’s approach with slang that’s dead
you might as well run into the wall and bang your head
I’m pushin’ force, my force your doubtin’
I’m makin’ devils cower to the Caucus Mountains

Verse Two: Inspectah Deck
Well I’m a sire, I set the microphone on fire
Rap styles vary, and carry like Mariah
I come from the Shaolin slum, and the isle I’m from
is comin through with nuff niggaz, and nuff guns
so if you wanna come sweatin, stressin contestin
you’ll catch a sharp sword to the midsection
Don’t talk the talk, if you can’t walk the walk
Phony niggaz are outlined in chalk
A man vexed, is what the projects made me
Rebel to the grain there’s no way to barricade me
Steamrollin niggaz like a eighteen wheeler
with the drunk driver drivin, there’s no survivin

Verse Three: Raekwon the Chef
Ruff like Timberland wear, yeah
Me and the Clan, and yo the Landcruisers out there
Peace to all the crooks, all the niggaz with bad looks
Bald heads, braids, blow this hook
We got chrome tecs, nickel plated macs
Black axe, drug dealin styles in phat stacks
I only been a good nigga for a minute though
cuz I got to get my props, and win it yo
I got beef wit commercial-ass niggaz with gold teeth
lampin in a Lexus eatin beef
Straight up and down don’t even bother
I got fourty niggaz up in here now, who kill niggaz fathers

Chorus: Method Man
My peoples are you with me where you at?
In the front, in the back killa-bees on attack
my peoples are you with me where you at?
Smokin meth hittin caps on the block with the gats

Verse Four: Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Here I go, deep type flow
Jacque Cousteau could never get this low..I’m
cherry bombin shits… BOOM
Just warmin up a little bit, vroom vroom
Rappinin is what’s happenin
Keep the pockets stacked and then, hands clappin and
At the party when I move my body
Gotta get up, and be-eeeee somebody!
Grab the microphone put strength to the bone
DUH-DUH-DUH…enter the Wu-Tang zone
Sure enough when I rock that stuff
Guff puff?? I’m gonna catch your bluff tuff
rough, kickin rhymes like Jim Kelly
or Alex Haley im a Mi-..Beetle Bailey rhymes
comin raw style, hardcore
Niggaz be comin to the hip-hop store
Comin to buy gro-cery from me
Tryin to be a hip-hop MC
The law, in order to enter the Wu-Tang
You must bring the Ol’ Dirty Bastard type slang
Represent the GZA, Abbott, RZA, Shaquan, Inspectah Deck
Dirty Hoe gettin low wit his flow
Introducin, the Ghost..face.. Killah!!
No one could get illa

[chorus]

Verse Five: Ghostface Killah
Speakin of the devil psych, no it’s the God, get the shit right
Mega trife, and yo I killed you in a past life
On the mic while you was kickin that fast shit
You reneged tried again, and got blasted
Half mastered ass style mad ruff task
When I struck I had on Timbs and a black mask
Remember that shit? I know you don’t remember jack
That night yo I wuz hittin like a spiked bat
and then you thought I was bugged out, and crazy
strapped for nonsense, after me became lazy
Yo, nobody budge while I shot slugs
Never shot thugs, I’m runnin with thugs that flood mugs
So grab your eight plus one, start flippin and trippin
Niggaz is jettin I’m lickin off son

[Wu, Tang, Wu, Tang, Wu, Tang, Wu, Tang!!!!]

Verse Six: Masta Killa
Homicide’s illegal and death is the penalty
What justifies the homicide, when he dies?
In his own iniquity it’s the
Master of the Mantis Rapture comin at cha
We have an APB on an MC Killer
Looks like the work of a Master
Evidence indicates that’s it’s stature
Merciless like a terrorist hard to capture
The flow, changes like a chameleon
Plays like a friend, and stabs you like a dagger
This technique attacks the immune system
Disguised like a lie paralyzin the victim
You scream, as it enters your bloodstream
Erupts your brain from the pain these thoughts contain
Novin on a nigga with the speed of a centipede
and injure – ANY MOTHERFUCKIN CONTENDER

[chorus]

Jay-Z: Friend or Foe Music Video

Old-school classic from my favourite rapper Jay-Z. This music video is from the film Streets is Watching released in 1998. It features the tracks Friend or Foe off Reasonable Doubt, and Friend or Foe ’98 off In My Lifetime Volume 1. Streets is Watching was one of those straight-to-video films that loosely tied together a bunch of Jay-Z tracks/music videos such as: Imaginary Player, Where I’m From, and You Must Love Me. At the end of the video is where the true value kicks in as Jay-Z’s original music videos are included such as: Dead Presidents (with original lyrics not found on Reasonable Doubt), In My Lifetime (remix), and the first video he ever made as a solo artist, I Can’t Get With That.

State your biz

Artist: Jay-Z
Album: Reasonable Doubt
Song: Friend or Foe

Check one check two, you know what to do
Primo, cold crush when i give it to you
Friend or foe yo, state your biz
Ya tend to dough, ah , there it is
Me? I run the show, oh, and these kids
Don’t like nobody commin’ around here fuckin wit they dough for shit
You enterprisin though, and i like it
But fuck with the big dogs though, i gotta bite ya,
Look, its out of my hands
And you gettin money round here, its not in the plans
So hop yo ass out of that van, head back to kansas
I’m sendin niggas back up in campuses
Chance is slimmer than that chick in Calvin Klein pantses’
Let me guess, they said it was money round here
and the rest is me stoppin you from gettin it, correct?
Sorry to hear that, my guess is you got work at the hotel
I’ll take care of that , you’ll see, now please give me the room key
You’re twitchin, don’t do that, you makin me nervous
My crew, well, they do pack, them niggas is murderous
So would ya, please put your hand back in sight
They don’t like to see me nervous you can understand that, right?
You draw, better be picasso, y’know the best
Cause if this is not so, ah, god bless
You leave me no choice, i leave you no voice
Believe me son i hate to do it just as bad as you hate to see it done
now calm your boys,
cause i’m findin it a little hard to concentrate with all the noise
get the point, i’ll let ya go, before ya leave,
I guess i oughta let you know, i need those keys
And promise you never, no matter the weather
evaevaevaevaevaevaevaevaeva come around here no mo’

Artist: Jay-Z
Album: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
Song: Friend or Foe ’98

I’m done talking
Ran up in the spot gun smoking
Shot it in the air, one woke him
Sun-soaking, sweating in his bed like Dunlo
Thinking to himself what done provoked him
His thoughts is racing like a vulcan
I swear I saw a lightbulb when
He finally figured out who was the culprit
I said yeah, remember me from Friend or Foe when
I told you don’t ever ever come around here no more
Time to pay now, you try to rise, I wave the gun – lay down
This time you’re really going to listen to Jay now
I try to talk sensibly, hoping that eventually you realize
I had this locked and it just wasn’t meant to be
Plus I had sympathy when we all wore rams with your keys
And it wasn’t afterthought that maybe you’ll try to revenge me
But I was like “Nah”, Chromes had to know he was wrong
And if you caught me on the foul now you would sing me the same song
Plus you promised
And that’s really no fun
Yeah I find you in this Motel 6 with all these guns
And all your goons, lined up in adjoining rooms
Like some wild cowboys coming to get me at high noon
But my mind’s like a flower in bloom
*** my eyes just scower the room
I’m alert, plus I paid the clerk I got it laid out
You think you the first nigga I played out, in a 2 hotel town?
Come on now, I peep your Lexus at you
Left the exit got some niggas on that side of the town
Money well invested, rudely interrupted
Jamaican accents ***
A gun in your face and that’s all you can come up with?
I’m done talking, back up and clap them, one in the abdomen
Do me a favor dude, get 2 ice cubes I pass them
Take that ice up, for the nicest MC
And please yo, tell BIG, he’s unbelievable
Friend or foe BIOTCH!