Immortal Technique is a Peruvian born American rapper as well as an urban activist. He was born in Lima and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics and are largely commentary on issues such as class struggle, Marxism, poverty, religion,government, imperialism and institutional racism. Immortal Technique has voiced a desire to retain control over his production and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music. He claimed in an interview to have sold close to a combined total of 200,000 copies of his three official releases (taken verbatim from Wikipedia).
Everyone trying to be trife never face the consequences.
You probably only did a month for minor offences.
Ask a nigga doing life if he had another chance,
but then again there’s always the wicked that knew in advance.
Dance forever with the devil on a cold cell block,
but that’s what happens when you rape, murder and sell rock.
Devils used to be God’s angels that fell from the top.
There’s no diversity because we’re burning in the melting pot.
Vocabulary
In this powerful song, Immortal Technique describes how drugs and crime are destroying communities every day. He tells a story about a boy named William who abandons his mother and morals in order to live a lavish life of money, drugs and women. The end of the story is as surprising as it is shocking. Please review these words and phrases and then listen to the song.
- illest (adjective) – very good; the best and highest quality. This is the illest beat that I’ve ever heard!
- hustler (noun) – a person who makes money illegally, usually by selling drugs. Life is not like the movies. If you are a hustler, you will have a very difficult life indeed.
- hustle is the verb form
- coke (noun) – an abbreviation for cocaine, which is a highly addictive and illegal drug. Coke is illegal in nearly every country in the world. If you’re caught with it, you will go to jail.
- rock is a slang word for crack, which is a pure and highly addictive form of cocaine.
- fiend (noun) – a very unpleasant person who is addicted to drugs; a junkie. Many drug fiends commit crimes in order to afford their expensive drug usage. If we treat drug addiction as a health problem, then we should see a decrease in these crimes.
- hit and run prospects (phrase) – something or someone that you can take advantage of and then quickly abandon. This phrase normally refers to young women who become the victims of sketchy men.
- squeal (verb) – to make a very unpleasant noise; in the context of this song, squeal means to reveal a secret. Did he squeal to the police?
- drop out of (phrasal verb) – to leave school without completing your studies. Statistic have shown that people who drop out of college are more likely to live in poverty.
- give in (phrasal verb) – to do something that you don’t want to do or is unpleasant. I was cigarette free for a few days, but then I gave in yesterday. Quitting smoking is so hard!
- trife (adjective) – this is an abbreviation of the word ‘trifle’ or ‘trifling.’ If something is trife, it is unattractive, undesirable or morally corrupt. Don’t be trife!
- do life (idiom) – to spend the rest of your life in jail or prison. If he does not accept the plea deal, he might do life in prison.
- step up (phrasal verb) – to increase the speed, volume, amount, etc, of something. We need to clean up the house before my wife gets home. Can you step it up a bit?
- cut throat (adjective) – a person who is ruthless, competitive and aggressive. The competition at my company is so cut-throat!
- bust slugs (slang) – to shoot a gun.
- smoke somebody (slang) – to shoot somebody. Martin Scorsese films are so violent. People are getting smoked every two seconds!
- cold-hearted (adjective) – a person who has no mercy, compassion of sympathy. Her last husband was a cold-hearted monster.
- made man (idiom) – a man who is very wealthy and successful. He admired the made men who drove fancy cars.
- cife/projects (slang) – a ghetto; a low-income neighborhood that usually has a lot of crime. Living in the cife is tough.
- raw (adjective) – tough, aggressive and violent. Does a real man get raw when things go bad?
- crew (noun) – a small, exclusive group of people that you regularly see and interact with. My crew is going to meet me at the mall later today.
- cypher (noun) – a freestyle, impromptu rapping competition two or more people. New York City used to be busy with cyphers.