Lost Somebody
2016 · Epic 88985377872 · Queens, New York
- Artist
- A Tribe Called Quest
- Title
- Lost Somebody
- Release
- We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
- Year
- 2016
- Label
- Epic # 88985377872
- Format
- Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- Queens, New York, USA
- Genre
- Hip Hop · Conscious Hip Hop · Jazz Rap
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation — Rap / Hip Hop Songs
Prominent and influential Conscious Hip Hop / Jazz Rap group, formed in 1988 in Queens, New York, USA, and disbanded in 2017, featuring Q-Tip (rap, producer), Ali Shaheed Muhammad (DJ, co-producer, rap) Jarobi (rap, 1988-91, 2006-17), and Phife Dawg (rap, 1988-2016). The song "Lost Somebody" (Epic Records # 88985377872) again is an example of hip hop groups using Vietnam as a metaphor for community and city violence, and losing someone to conflict: "cities end up war-torn, Vietnam going wrong, heroin going strong".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Now, in the time when niggas wasn't supposed to be gone / That's the place left for dead, and cities end up war-torn / Vietnam going wrong, heroin going strong / Neighbors would whoop that ass just for running through their lawn / Watch that shallow shallow man walk / Trinidadian love sprout into the asphalt / Love was consummated and the angels registrated / Two were to be born but only one of 'em made it / Inside a cloud of sorrow, the silver lining and joy / It's a bouncing baby boy, a king's name they would enploy / And before he even squeaks it's decided it's Malik / Now, give him hope, give him care, raise him while his grandma there / Watch out mama, if you stare [?] keep him there /Let's progress the story just a little bit / Malik, I would treat you like little brother that would give you fist / Sometimes overbearing, though I thought it was for your benefit / Despite all the spastic shit and cinematic we documented / The one thing I appreciate, you and I, we never pretended / Rhymes we would write it out, hard times, fight it out / Made race face to face, made it right
About the artist
Prominent and influential Conscious Hip Hop / Jazz Rap group, formed in 1988 in Queens, New York, USA, and disbanded in 2017, featuring Q-Tip (rap, producer), Ali Shaheed Muhammad (DJ, co-producer, rap) Jarobi (rap, 1988-91, 2006-17), and Phife Dawg (rap, 1988-2016).
Themes
City & Community Violence · Heroin · Violence Metaphor · Drugs