Remember Ice-T's theme song to the movie New Jack City? 

"New Jack Hustler" (linked to a youtube video of this song August 2010..lyrics at the bottom of post)

I saw the movie around the time it came out and it was pretty bad ass for early 90s cinema (I IMDB'd it for the heck of it and learned that it was directed by Mario Van Peebles...huh).  The movie was ok back then, but not great.  The theme song however--that is solid gold.

This song can get me jacked up in two seconds.  Right when I hear the first few notes--it is on par with the best Rage Against the Machine or maybe System of a Down--I'm talking 'Freedom' and 'Killing In The Name' good

Image via Wikipedia

--or if you are more of a Serj fan--'Chop Suey' and 'B.Y.O.B.' good; even though they are/were popular mainstream songs you can't help but love them like your own little secret anthem.




The beat and lyrics work perfectly together --the tempo goes from fast to faster and could be described as  frantic--the switches are rushed, the piano is written to sound like the guy that is playing can't wait to get out of that neighborhood (he is definitely looking over his shoulder) and the stops are perfect because the lyrics are just so right-on--you are just waiting to hear it.  He is at the edge of angry without running off the road and getting derailed.

It is rare that such intelligent lyrics can be spit out so energetically and that are so synchronized with the loop they are layed over.  It is impressive that he is actually making a solid point about the cyclical and destructive nature of drug-trafficking while at the same time making you want to turn it up and jump around.  Half the time I hear it, I wish I could drive to Harlem and get into a shoot-out with some dirty cops--but of course, that is exactly how I feel when I bite into a Peppermint Patty too....

Dammit, listen to it right now and tell me you don't get charged up!

Hustler, word, I pull the trigger long,

Grit my teeth, spray till every nigga's gone.

Got my block sewn, armored dope spots,

Last thing I sweat's a sucka punk cop.

Move like a king when I roll, hops,

You try to flex, bang, another nigga drops.

You gotta deal with this cause there's no way out,

Why? Cash money ain't never gonna play out.

I got nothin to lose, much to gain,

In my brain, I got a capitalist migraine.

I gotta get paid tonight, you muthafuckin right.

Pickin' my grip, check my bitch, keep my game tight.

So many hos on my jock, think I'm a movie star.

Nineteen, I got a fifty thousand dollar car.

Go to school, I ain't goin for it,

Kiss my ass, bust the cap on the Moet.

Cause I don't wanna hear that crap,

Why? I'd rather be a New Jack-----Hustler

[chorus]

Hustler

Hustler

Hustler

H-U-S-T-L-E-R hustler

(kid drop in)

Yo man you know what I'm sayin?

You got it goin on my man, I like how it's goin down.

You got the fly cars, the girls, the jewels.

Look at that ring right there,

I know it's real, it's gotta be real.

Man, you the flyest nigga I seen in my life!

Yo man, I just wanna roll with you man,

How can I be down?

What's up? You say you wanna be down?

Ease back, or muthafucka get beat down.

Out my face, fool I'm the illest,

Bulletproof, I die harder than Bruce Willis.

Got my crew in effect, I bought em new Jags,

So much cash, gotta keep it in Hefty bags.

All I think about is keys and Gs

Imagine that, me workin at Mickey D's (ha ha ha ha).

That's a joke cause I'm never gonna be broke,

When I die there'll be bullets and gunsmoke.

Ya don't like my lifestyle? Fuck you!

I'm rollin with the New Jack crew.

And I'm a hustler.

H-U-S-T-L-E-R hustler

New Jack, New Jack..........

Here I come, so you better break north,

As I stride, my gold chains glide back and forth.

I care nothing bout you, and that's evident.

All I love's my dope and dead presidents.

Sound crazy? Well it isn't.

The ends justifies the means, that's the system.

I learned that in school then I dropped out,

Hit the streets, checked a grip, and now I got clout.

I had nothing, and I wanted it.

You had everything, and you flaunted it.

Turned the needy into the greedy,

With cocaine, my success came speedy.

Got me twisted, jammed into a paradox.

Every dollar I get, another brother drops.

Maybe that's the plan, and I don't understand,

God damn----you got me sinkin in quicksand.

But since I don't know, and I ain't never learned,

I gotta get paid, I got money to earn.

With my posse, out on the ave,

Bump my sounds, crack a forty and laugh.

Cool out and watch my new Benz gleam,

Is this a nightmare? Or the American dream?

So think twice if you're coming down my block,

You wanna journey through hell? Well shit gets hot.

Pregnant teens, children's screams,

Life is weighed on the scales of a triple beam.

You don't come here much, and ya better not.

Wrong move (bang), ambulance cot.

I gotta get more money than you got,

So what, if some muthafucka gets shot?

That's how the game is played,

Another brother slayed, the wound is deep

BUT they're givin

My education's low but I got long dough,

Raised like a pit bull, my heart pumps nitro.

Sleep on silk, lie like a politician,

My Uzi's my best friend, cold as a mortician.

Lock me up, it's genocidal catastrophe,

There'll be another one after me!

A hustler.

Hustler.

H-U-S-T-L-E-R hustler.

New Jack, New Jack......