Burbans and Lacs: A Collegiate Overview

Evaluation of Burbans and Lacs by: Master P

When deciding if a work of music is worthy of further enjoyment and when evaluating the merits of said piece we must consider lyrical value, musical quality, background of the artist, and the background of his or her musical form. Thus when coming across Master P’s Burbans and Lacs We are struck with a raw substrate of life as a different cross section of culture than what we are used to.

Lyrical Value:

Musical Quality: The beats we commonly hear today in hip hop music can range from the musically sound instrumentals of Sean Puffy Combs instrumental work to the raw street anthems of a young Tupac Shakur. Master P takes this style of arrangement one step further with the somewhat common dirty south style of the late 90’s. This commonly entails a sound of cheap production value and slowed or “screwed” beats made Famous by the late DJ Screw and Michael 5000 Watts. This gives the song a feeling that it is a step apart from more over produced rap albums and is more of a low rent piece of the people.

As the song begins we hear whom the song is dedicated to, Suburbans, Cadillac’s, Players, Hustlers, Pimps, and Macks. In my mind this overshadows the meaning of the song, as we are approached by various terms usually referring to gentleman who make their money in various ways but in many cases in the service of woman of substandard moral fortitude. The problem with this line of vernacular is that it would often give many people the wrong impression of an entire racial cross section of America but instead it should allow us the realization that many have reinvented Themselves not according to race but instead in their goals and style of life that we will now refer to as Gangsta. If taken out of context and the form that it exists every man would appreciate a car that contained “wood grain with the leather seats windows so dark you need a flashlight to see me”. As we continue we are introduced by his drug of choice “doshia” Commonly referred To as Marijuana, If we consider that a significant portion of America has or does use marijuana it is not so bad at all. He then refers to his “homie DJ Screw who has arisen as a Martyr in the later years of the third coast or dirty south hip hop scene. We can determine that this is just to show his respect for one mans work. The lyrics of the song can be interpreted in many ways but one should reach the realization that this is one mans window and ballad into how he lives, smoking green spinach, rolling Cadillac’s, and staying strapped with a glock 40 while making stacks.