June 15, 2022 • 9 mins
Welcome to the second edition of HHHG's mini episodes named "1 Jewel: 1 Verse". This episode will focus on one of the verses that Scarface penned for the iconic Geto Boys song "My Minds Playing Tricks on Me". In this quick conversation Willie and Mo breakdown the majestic bars and explain why they believe it is one of the most powerful verses ever written.
(And never fear loyal listeners, a full episode is on the horizon.)
(And never fear loyal listeners, a full episode is on the horizon.)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
One Jewel One Verse, the shorterepisode where we picked one song and do
a deep dive into an incredible verseand what makes it so remarkable? Get
pop Head and Jumps Presents One JewelOne Verse. Let's start with Ghetto Boys.
(00:24):
All right, It's July ninth,nineteen ninety one, and the Ghetto
Boys released the album We Can't BeStopped. The song we're focusing on today
is the classic My Mind's playing trickson me, And we're going to talk
about Scarface's second verse on the songI sit alone in my four corner rooms,
damning a candle. Well, tellme if I'm wrong. But I
(00:48):
don't recall. This is pretty earlyin the gangster Rap timeframe, But I
don't remember too much gangster rap havingthis much reflection on it. No,
if it wasn't Iced Tea or Scarface, it wasn't a lot of stories back
then where the main character died atthe end, or they thought about the
hardships and the nastiness of what wasgoing on. They didn't glorify what was
(01:10):
happening. They really told it like, this is what was going on.
Here's the ups and the downs,here's the good and the bad. Yeah,
and you're right, Chris ice Teadidn't make a habit of doing that.
But the difference I think here isthat Scarface is actually showing the emotion
of it, right. I don'tremember that before at all. Day by
day is more impossible the code Ifeel like I'm the one that's doing dope.
(01:34):
Can't keep a steady hand because I'mnervous every Sunday morning, I'm in
service, pouring full forgiveness and tryingto find that next it off of business.
One thing about those first four iswhen he says he feels like he's
the one that's doing dope, thenext line is can't keep a steady hand,
which you literally would be an addictright. Just the way the verse
(01:57):
starts is saying that this thing isprogressed, and I know that I'm not
the drug at it, but Ifeel like I'm going through the same pain.
So I really like the merger ofthat he's seen his hands not steady.
It kind of sounds like somebody that'sgoing through a withdrawal and needs it
again, and that will feed backinto the day by day getting more impossible
to cope with it, because dependingon your substance, you start developing a
(02:20):
tolerance, and you need more andmore even just to get back up to
normal, much less to reach yourhigh right, looking for places for solutions.
So he's even in church like prayingfor forgiveness, he's falling into a
level of depression. Yeah, whichis the reason every Sunday morning he's in
service. Like you said, he'strying to find an answer. Right,
I know the Lord is looking atme, but yet Stealers offered me to
(02:45):
feel happy d having fail thoughts ofsuicide. See even all of that,
I feel like as he's doing theverse, he's actually working through the cycles
of the mood, the different stagesof grieving. There's the denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, and acceptance.Like all of that is captured in
(03:08):
just this one verse. The ideaof suicidal thought to me is also very
interesting because this is nineteen ninety one. In twenty twenty two, we're talking
more about mental health and specifically mentalhealth in black communities. Yeah, Scarface
(03:29):
wasn't supposed to be allowed to saythat he had thoughts of suicide at the
time. No, you're absolutely right. You weren't supposed to be a tough
guy and have those type of ideas. You weren't supposed to be a gangster
and have those type of ideas.The fact that he was willing to be
that open with it, and afterthis, around the time his solo career
started picking up and he got moreinterviews, he was very transparent about the
(03:53):
challenges he was facing back then aswell, and so was Bushway Bill.
Hence the cover of this album.It's a time when transparency wasn't embraced,
and interestingly enough to to this date, it's not always encouraged to see a
black artist be transparent about anything emotionalor mental that they're battling. Absolutely,
(04:17):
and this is thirty one years ago. Yeah, wow, bang and get
it over with and then I willrefreet. But that's I got a little
boy to look after. And thenmy dad did my child will be a
bastard. Right after that, hesays, have a little boy to look
after. So a lot of thisis self reflection. He's saying how he
(04:40):
feels, what he's thinking about right, and he's not finding any answers,
but he does have one answer there. He can't go away because he has
to take care of his son.YEP, that's why he said, you
know, the suicide. Bang,get it over with, And then I'm
more refree. But that's bull becausehe knows he has his boy to look
after. You can't, and there'sthis responsibility that he doesn't want to abandon,
(05:02):
which again I tremendously applaud in andout of the situation. I had
a woman down with me, butI had a woman down with me.
But to me, it seemed likeshe was down with get me. She
helped me out in this this butto me she was just another trick.
Now she's back with her mother,now realizing that I love her. Man.
(05:27):
I remember the first time I heardthat. I was so confused.
I thought I missed something because Iwas like, it sounded like he didn't
want the girl, he didn't trusther, and he sent her back to
her mom. And then he's talkingabout he realized he's loved and he's feeling
lonely, Like I missed that.That was the point, and I was
like, Okay, I missed something. What did she do? Did she
(05:47):
do something? And it took mea while to process that. Yeah.
Well, the whole thing about thisverse is that he is conflicted, Yeah,
through the whole verse, and andthat's a great encapsulation. Yeah,
we go that word. It's agreat that word of it. Because he's
pushing her away. Yeah, hewants her away from him because he feels
(06:12):
like he's too close and she's agonna cause him problems. She's out there
get him. And then once she'sgone, he's like, I needed her
there. Yeah, And I thinkthat's part of what's the strength of this
whole verse. Now she's now I'mrealizing that I love him. Now I'm
feeling lonely. My mind is playing. I love what he captured here,
(06:38):
because even though he's doing it conversationally, every time he says now, it
makes me feel like we're getting anew snapshot, like we're flipping through like
a photoelph. And so we gotthis image of the little boy, and
he can't leave the little boy.He's got a woman down with him.
So I'm assuming the little boy isthe woman's child. So I have this
(06:59):
picture of like a mom and akid. And then it seemed like she
was down to get him, eventhough she was helping him out. So
he knew she was helping him out, but she felt like she was out
to get him. He didn't trusther, and he didn't value her,
saying she was just another trick.And then he goes, now she's back
with her mother, so and thenI get the picture of now she's not
there with him anymore. Now I'mrealizing that I love her. So we
(07:24):
have a new now. And thenthe second now that we have here,
he's realizing he loves her. NowI'm feeling lonely because if he lost her,
the little boys probably with her.Wow. Yeah, I had never
even thought that through like that,You're right, in a relationship, do
you have to have a level oftrust, and if you're struggling with the
love of yourself that you're conflicted thatyou don't really like what you're doing in
(07:46):
your life and how you're feeling aboutyourself in life, sometimes you project that
onto the other person. So whenhe's having thoughts to suicide, you could
be pretty sure that there's something thathe doesn't like about himself. When he
says that she's helping him out,it's possible that she's helping him out with
whatever those flaws are. But sometimesthat feels like an attack. Yeah,
(08:09):
very much so. And I thinkyou don't catch it until the person's gone,
and then you're like Wait a minute, somebody was helping with this,
and now it's complete. Now they'renot there, and now I'm back to
my own devices, and now Isee what it is when I'm alone.
Yeah, this whole song is anexploration of paranoid personalities, every bit of
(08:43):
it. But he actually took ita step further and captured not just the
paranoia, but the depression and theback and forth that happens that dialogue,
the cycle that you go through.Yeah, when people say scarface is one
of the best ever. This verseis one of those clear examples of why
he is absolutely without questions. Whenyour mom's grip. This is hip hop,
(09:09):
hidden gems perfect, You the man. Thank you Maxi so much.
I appreciate you. Pupus alias Gonnamore less. Ala Karend is the Colombia
One Jewel One Verse, the shorterepisode where we picked one song and do
a deep dive into an incredible verseand what makes it so remarkable? Get
pop Head and Jumps Presents One JewelOne Verse. Let's start with Ghetto Boys.
(00:24):
All right, It's July ninth,nineteen ninety one, and the Ghetto
Boys released the album We Can't BeStopped. The song we're focusing on today
is the classic My Mind's playing trickson me, And we're going to talk
about Scarface's second verse on the songI sit alone in my four corner rooms,
damning a candle. Well, tellme if I'm wrong. But I
(00:48):
don't recall. This is pretty earlyin the gangster Rap timeframe, But I
don't remember too much gangster rap havingthis much reflection on it. No,
if it wasn't Iced Tea or Scarface, it wasn't a lot of stories back
then where the main character died atthe end, or they thought about the
hardships and the nastiness of what wasgoing on. They didn't glorify what was
(01:10):
happening. They really told it like, this is what was going on.
Here's the ups and the downs,here's the good and the bad. Yeah,
and you're right, Chris ice Teadidn't make a habit of doing that.
But the difference I think here isthat Scarface is actually showing the emotion
of it, right. I don'tremember that before at all. Day by
day is more impossible the code Ifeel like I'm the one that's doing dope.
(01:34):
Can't keep a steady hand because I'mnervous every Sunday morning, I'm in
service, pouring full forgiveness and tryingto find that next it off of business.
One thing about those first four iswhen he says he feels like he's
the one that's doing dope, thenext line is can't keep a steady hand,
which you literally would be an addictright. Just the way the verse
(01:57):
starts is saying that this thing isprogressed, and I know that I'm not
the drug at it, but Ifeel like I'm going through the same pain.
So I really like the merger ofthat he's seen his hands not steady.
It kind of sounds like somebody that'sgoing through a withdrawal and needs it
again, and that will feed backinto the day by day getting more impossible
to cope with it, because dependingon your substance, you start developing a
(02:20):
tolerance, and you need more andmore even just to get back up to
normal, much less to reach yourhigh right, looking for places for solutions.
So he's even in church like prayingfor forgiveness, he's falling into a
level of depression. Yeah, whichis the reason every Sunday morning he's in
service. Like you said, he'strying to find an answer. Right,
I know the Lord is looking atme, but yet Stealers offered me to
(02:45):
feel happy d having fail thoughts ofsuicide. See even all of that,
I feel like as he's doing theverse, he's actually working through the cycles
of the mood, the different stagesof grieving. There's the denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, and acceptance.Like all of that is captured in
(03:08):
just this one verse. The ideaof suicidal thought to me is also very
interesting because this is nineteen ninety one. In twenty twenty two, we're talking
more about mental health and specifically mentalhealth in black communities. Yeah, Scarface
(03:29):
wasn't supposed to be allowed to saythat he had thoughts of suicide at the
time. No, you're absolutely right. You weren't supposed to be a tough
guy and have those type of ideas. You weren't supposed to be a gangster
and have those type of ideas.The fact that he was willing to be
that open with it, and afterthis, around the time his solo career
started picking up and he got moreinterviews, he was very transparent about the
(03:53):
challenges he was facing back then aswell, and so was Bushway Bill.
Hence the cover of this album.It's a time when transparency wasn't embraced,
and interestingly enough to to this date, it's not always encouraged to see a
black artist be transparent about anything emotionalor mental that they're battling. Absolutely,
(04:17):
and this is thirty one years ago. Yeah, wow, bang and get
it over with and then I willrefreet. But that's I got a little
boy to look after. And thenmy dad did my child will be a
bastard. Right after that, hesays, have a little boy to look
after. So a lot of thisis self reflection. He's saying how he
(04:40):
feels, what he's thinking about right, and he's not finding any answers,
but he does have one answer there. He can't go away because he has
to take care of his son.YEP, that's why he said, you
know, the suicide. Bang,get it over with, And then I'm
more refree. But that's bull becausehe knows he has his boy to look
after. You can't, and there'sthis responsibility that he doesn't want to abandon,
(05:02):
which again I tremendously applaud in andout of the situation. I had
a woman down with me, butI had a woman down with me.
But to me, it seemed likeshe was down with get me. She
helped me out in this this butto me she was just another trick.
Now she's back with her mother,now realizing that I love her. Man.
(05:27):
I remember the first time I heardthat. I was so confused.
I thought I missed something because Iwas like, it sounded like he didn't
want the girl, he didn't trusther, and he sent her back to
her mom. And then he's talkingabout he realized he's loved and he's feeling
lonely, Like I missed that.That was the point, and I was
like, Okay, I missed something. What did she do? Did she
(05:47):
do something? And it took mea while to process that. Yeah.
Well, the whole thing about thisverse is that he is conflicted, Yeah,
through the whole verse, and andthat's a great encapsulation. Yeah,
we go that word. It's agreat that word of it. Because he's
pushing her away. Yeah, hewants her away from him because he feels
(06:12):
like he's too close and she's agonna cause him problems. She's out there
get him. And then once she'sgone, he's like, I needed her
there. Yeah, And I thinkthat's part of what's the strength of this
whole verse. Now she's now I'mrealizing that I love him. Now I'm
feeling lonely. My mind is playing. I love what he captured here,
(06:38):
because even though he's doing it conversationally, every time he says now, it
makes me feel like we're getting anew snapshot, like we're flipping through like
a photoelph. And so we gotthis image of the little boy, and
he can't leave the little boy.He's got a woman down with him.
So I'm assuming the little boy isthe woman's child. So I have this
(06:59):
picture of like a mom and akid. And then it seemed like she
was down to get him, eventhough she was helping him out. So
he knew she was helping him out, but she felt like she was out
to get him. He didn't trusther, and he didn't value her,
saying she was just another trick.And then he goes, now she's back
with her mother, so and thenI get the picture of now she's not
there with him anymore. Now I'mrealizing that I love her. So we
(07:24):
have a new now. And thenthe second now that we have here,
he's realizing he loves her. NowI'm feeling lonely because if he lost her,
the little boys probably with her.Wow. Yeah, I had never
even thought that through like that,You're right, in a relationship, do
you have to have a level oftrust, and if you're struggling with the
love of yourself that you're conflicted thatyou don't really like what you're doing in
(07:46):
your life and how you're feeling aboutyourself in life, sometimes you project that
onto the other person. So whenhe's having thoughts to suicide, you could
be pretty sure that there's something thathe doesn't like about himself. When he
says that she's helping him out,it's possible that she's helping him out with
whatever those flaws are. But sometimesthat feels like an attack. Yeah,
(08:09):
very much so. And I thinkyou don't catch it until the person's gone,
and then you're like Wait a minute, somebody was helping with this,
and now it's complete. Now they'renot there, and now I'm back to
my own devices, and now Isee what it is when I'm alone.
Yeah, this whole song is anexploration of paranoid personalities, every bit of
(08:43):
it. But he actually took ita step further and captured not just the
paranoia, but the depression and theback and forth that happens that dialogue,
the cycle that you go through.Yeah, when people say scarface is one
of the best ever. This verseis one of those clear examples of why
he is absolutely without questions. Whenyour mom's grip. This is hip hop,
(09:09):
hidden gems perfect, You the man. Thank you Maxi so much.
I appreciate you. Pupus alias Gonnamore less. Ala Karend is the Colombia
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