The interwebs are all abuzz (okay that might be an exaggeration) about Yale University's Anthology of Rap, which brings together 300 lyrics of many popular and underground hip hop songs over a thirty year span. As funny as it is putting Yale and Rap in the same sentence, what has many hip-hop nerds waging their tongues is the text itself, which many sources say, is riddled with errors.
Jay Smooth, over at the Nil Doctrine, pointed out 14 of these misquotes and so did Paul Delvin with Slate.com, who found a handful of his own.
Among them, is Brooklyn Zoo, which has two contested lyrics by Jay Smooth and by Paul Delvin. Delvin believes that the anthology is incorrect when it list the line as:
"I drop science like girls be droppin' babies..."
and says that the line is actually:
"I drop science like Cosby drop the babies..."
Being one of my favorite ODB [Old Dirty Bastard] songs of all times, I believe that the anthology's lyric is actually correct while Delvin has it wrong. I mean, Cosby droppin' babies is clever but doesn't really mesh with the entire context of the lyric which reads:
"I drop science like ____ be droppin' babies, enuff to make a n*gga go Craaazzzyyy."
In all the seasons of The Cosby Show, I don't remember the episode where Cosby was so distraught from all the births he had assisted in, that he just went totally mental. And besides that, Bill Cosby's name on The Cosby Show was not Cosby but Bill Huxtable. So wouldn't it make more sense if the line read:
"I drop science like Huxtable drop the babies..."
However, the line is highly contested both on the comment section of Delvin's article as well as my Facebook page. Some folks hear Cosby, while others hear girls. I am so on Team "Girls." Unfortunately, it will be one of those things that ODB has taken with him to his grave. R.I.P. to the god.
So for the rest of the hip hop nerds out there, what say you? is it "Cosby" or is it "girls?"
Jay Smooth, over at the Nil Doctrine, pointed out 14 of these misquotes and so did Paul Delvin with Slate.com, who found a handful of his own.
Among them, is Brooklyn Zoo, which has two contested lyrics by Jay Smooth and by Paul Delvin. Delvin believes that the anthology is incorrect when it list the line as:
"I drop science like girls be droppin' babies..."
and says that the line is actually:
"I drop science like Cosby drop the babies..."
Being one of my favorite ODB [Old Dirty Bastard] songs of all times, I believe that the anthology's lyric is actually correct while Delvin has it wrong. I mean, Cosby droppin' babies is clever but doesn't really mesh with the entire context of the lyric which reads:
"I drop science like ____ be droppin' babies, enuff to make a n*gga go Craaazzzyyy."
In all the seasons of The Cosby Show, I don't remember the episode where Cosby was so distraught from all the births he had assisted in, that he just went totally mental. And besides that, Bill Cosby's name on The Cosby Show was not Cosby but Bill Huxtable. So wouldn't it make more sense if the line read:
"I drop science like Huxtable drop the babies..."
However, the line is highly contested both on the comment section of Delvin's article as well as my Facebook page. Some folks hear Cosby, while others hear girls. I am so on Team "Girls." Unfortunately, it will be one of those things that ODB has taken with him to his grave. R.I.P. to the god.
So for the rest of the hip hop nerds out there, what say you? is it "Cosby" or is it "girls?"
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