By Odeisel

Hip-Hop is full of misogyny they would have you believe. Because there isn’t anything on the radio to suggest otherwise. But as keepers of the flame and lovers of the culture, many of us know otherwise. We choose not to be apologists for the bad and the ugly. We choose to shine light whenever possible on that which is good, and dope. Unless you follow us here at the Planet, you may have never heard of Has-Lo. The guy is possessed of introspection and a confident vulnerability that is very mannish. The kind of man who doesn’t run from the mirror.

As journalists, we make our way with words and there is a certain arrogance that comes with them. There are times, however when the words from our subjects cannot be improved upon when telling a story. It’s my belief that Has-Lo’s track, “Everything Is” remixed and Eric B & Rakim flavored by Oddisee is one of these instances. This song is real in the way that you look at your life. You dig deeper and still come up with lent. When you love what you have already lost or even worse are trapped in the love that used to be. I’ll let him tell it. Oddisee’s sparse, compelling soundtrack is colored with nostalgia and flavored by the music that played in the back of the primes of the first generation raised by this music. When people yell misogyny and rape culture, you play them this or better yet send them here and let them read the words of one of the best rappers they never heard of. Radio…suckers never play him. But the planet does. Has-Lo. “Everything Is.” Word.

<a href=”http://mellomusicgroup.bandcamp.com/track/everything-is-oddisee-remix” _mce_href=”http://mellomusicgroup.bandcamp.com/track/everything-is-oddisee-remix”>Everything Is (Oddisee Remix) by Mello Music Group</a>

Verse 1:
So much weight in the hands of fate,
In the hands of time, as it passes by
And I have less to say, and I’m past my prime
And you listen when I spit, but you can’t relate
‘cause I’m a relic. Better I should leave you with this
And you see me as I am, than a reason to quit
This is me. The kid with the sick granny
Who dreamed I could sit pretty, and I could lift grammys
And I was better off rich
and now I’m older with issues the money can’t fix
how naïve that I could be
I exist in the guise of a life complete
I compete to win though I lose myself
In a penthouse room, with a view from hell
Wow, take a look…
Say the hook.

Hook:
When your money ain’t right it seems like everything’s wrong
‘cause everything is
When your love ain’t life it feels like everything’s gone
‘cause everything is
And you search for it, and you hurt for it
And you promise each other you’ll work on it
And you might have to let it go free ‘cause it never was yours
But that’s everything.

Verse 2:
So…when I’m old and gray
And the flesh on the bone wouldn’t hold
And corrodes away…from the root
This is but a truth, this is nothing new
This is me running from the moon I spend
Every night wide awake.
Fighting sleep like it was the cousin of death
Nothing left in the pen
Stressed ‘cause the raps don’t fit,
and the flows don’t work, and the words come less,
and verse won’t stretch like it used to
and I spit much more than I’m moved to
it’s like, being cuffed to a foul friend
now and then you remember how it was
but how it is now is a far cry from it
better off dumping it but you hang with it out of love
kinda bugged…kinda nuts.

Hook:
When your money ain’t right it seems like everything’s wrong
‘cause everything is
When your love ain’t life it feels like everything’s gone
‘cause everything is
And you search for it, and you hurt for it
And you promise each other you’ll work on it
And you might have to let it go free ‘cause it never was yours
But that’s everything

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