November was full of rap releases from the return of Earl Sweatshirt, IDK, CupcakKe, Too $hort, Leikeli47, Tee Grizzley, Saba, Anderson .Paak, Meek Mill, Ghostface Killah, Chance the Rapper, and a truly exceptional record from J.I.D. (someone, along with Saba, who came extremely close to taking the title of Verse of the Month almost every month in the second half of 2018), but the prize goes once again to Black Thought, for “Fentanyl.”
Off of Streams of Thought Vol. 2, produced by Salaam Remi, “Fentanyl” marks Black Thought’s fifth Verse of the Month title, as the legendary Philly Roots emcee raps about the opioid crises plaguing musicians and the country. Name checking the late Prince, Tom Petty, and a subtle nod to Kanye West’s struggles with opioids today, “Fentanyl” showcases why Black Thought is one of the greatest rappers alive.
Read the lyrics via Genius and listen to Black Thought’s “Fentanyl” below:
[Black Thought – “Fentanyl”]
Real drugs do real things
Go to extremes, crash regimes and kill kings
In the last reprieve he still sings
How the task that the master needs reveals wings
And though he has to bleed, it still brings him Heaven and Hell
Better believe the truth stings
Tyin’ his arm off with violin strings
His eyes and dreams diverted as the siren screams, eternal
Over-dosage is a marketing scheme, that’s just as dark as it seem when it’s a part of your team
With the esteem of a savant, as smart as a genius
Vanity carried the dope into the heart of a fiend
Another destroyed life was meant to be more righteous in the face of this full-on opioid crisis
While the wolves pull the wool on and prey on vices
Still the dogs with the hood on is way more frightenin’
For death, you’re not ready
Trust me, I’m deadly as the Fentanyl that killed Prince and Tom Petty
I would venture still into the trench and bomb heavy
Every infidel will feel the strength of my medley
And so it begins as evil intends to start off slow, then graduate to needles and pins
You would have forsaken everybody, even your friends
And see where it ends, the visual’s a reason to cringe
You watchin’ this? He took a shot in the esophagus
He’s in the zone and stoned like a sarcophagus
Try stoppin’ this, I’m on top of the metropolis
It’s narcissist over Narcotics Anonymous
Broken promises, broken jaws and dope whores
I separate the fact from the folklore
Let’s estimate the tracks that I spoke for
Euphoria is the most that you could hope for
I ghost wrote for the greats and took the best out
A poker face from the estates, I had to stress out
But no complaints from me, a race that had to check-out
Hey yo, I got a brand new bag for you to test out
Yo, the shit crazy
What do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.