Nah you don't understand Esch. Walk with a former backpacker for a bit, bruh. Bow Wow was never relevant to me. He had a few urban hits or whatever but my musical qi was never really threatened by the lil nicca. I didn't watch BET outside of Rap City and Saturday videos, that pretty much ensured I never had to encounter his shit on a consistent basis. I spent more of my time complaining about popular shit - mainly Bad Boy records, Dipset, etc.
Like a libertarian warning of imminent hyper inflation, I was warning people of the south's imminent takeover years before it happened. I don't remember the first time I heard Reflection Eternal, I don't remember the first time I grew out my afro or turned down a white devil who wanted to go out to lunch...but I remember the first time I heard this.
I knew everything was about to change. I had exposure to No Limit and some southern shit through my cousin, but it was never big in Detroit. But I remember when Juvenile took everything over, and later the Hot Boys. That shit made me mad. And I'm just saying when I hear Rae Smerrered I'm reminded of that shit. Just the effortless wackness being celebrated everywhere.
