It is GOOD to be BACK!!!!! I’ve missed you all so much! I hope you’ve all been surviving the best you can, as this year is the year that keeps on hurting. It’s time to come back to the positive side of the Internet, with MT leading the charge, and- hold up, what’s that title say???? I wanted to come back with something that has positive subject matter, and y’all just… Damn, Damn, DAMN!!
*deep breath*… Ok… This is one of my favorite songs of all time, an easy 5/5, hell, it’s a 10/5. With that being said, this song is… an emotional rollercoaster. When I tell you that after every time I listen to it, I have to go on a whole dopamine intervention listening to every single feel-good song I have… This is all to say that this will get sad, but sometimes we need that in our lives. The next review should be much happier!
The Rapper
So let me tell you about Immortal Technique. Immortal Technique is a legendary underground rapper that is relatively well known by hip hop heads, and his main themes in his rapping are usually centered around revolutionary thinking, politics, and the dangers of gang violence in some cases (“Dance with the Devil” is the song that introduced me and plenty others to him, and all I have to say is… JESUS). With a man who focuses on these dense topics, you would seldom find him rapping about love… And you still don’t exactly. This song isn’t about love exactly, but I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s discuss “You Never Know” by Immortal Technique.
Verse 1
The song starts off with Technique talking about a girl that was on her way to becoming a college graduate, a Latina who Tech would think about wifing up QUICK. However, she was not so quick to reciprocate that feeling, with any guy. It didn’t matter if you were a thug or a rich-kid, she would always display her disinterest. What’s interesting about these lines is the fact that he’s using past tense. This, of course, denotes it being in the past, but it’s also how he says it in the song. He says it less reminiscent of old memories, and more like he’s disappointed, which in my opinion is beautiful foreshadowing. He then goes on to talk about how the women in this college grad girl’s life talk behind her back because of jealousy of her, and the first verse ends with Tech saying, “She had a style all her own, respectful and pure; I was sick in the head for her and there wasn’t a cure”.
We then get the chorus from Jean Grae, saying that time waits for no man, and that we should hold tight to our loves because we never know. I love how this is left open to our own interpretation. We never know could mean we never know when they’ll leave, it could mean we never know when they’ll die, it could mean that we never know when they’ll change as a person. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but… That’s kinda what I do…
Verse 2
The next verse talks about how Tech starts talking to this girl, and he doesn’t come to her like he’s a thirsty dude trying to get in her draws, and she notices that, so they talk for a little bit. A little bit turns into a lotta bit, and they are giving each other gifts (Tech wrote her a poem with flowers, and she got him books every few weeks), they went to her cousin’s baby shower, he even stopped talking to other women! It was to the point where he was either with her or his boys. She would always call him Cariño, instead of Technique. So he decided to tell her his true feelings, and… she cried… Not the good, “I’m so happy” crying, the “oh no” crying… and she left.
Verse 3
He didn’t see her for years, and he ended up going to jail for a year. When he got out, everyone was happy to see him. However, he didn’t see her. His mother was crying to see him, but it wasn’t her. He was messing around with plenty of other women, but they weren’t her. It was eating him up inside, so he went to her parent’s apartment, where he saw her cousin slinging drugs to make ends meet. When he saw her mom, she hugged him and was happy, bur then he asked about her.
Verse 4
Her mother got upset but directed Tech to her room. There was a letter for him, and she said that by the time he read it, she would already be dead. She fell in love with him and felt terrible, because she knew that they could never be together. She said that when he left for jail, she left as well. (MAJOR SPOILER FOR THE SONG: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED). She had passed in ’97 (I won’t tell you how, listen to the song for that), but she wishes that he was the one that she could’ve given herself to, as her final wish was that he never forgets about her. Tech says that this is why he doesn’t fall in love with people and tells us that we should hold people that we love close to us, not just the person that has sex with us.
Thoughts and Rating
GOOD GOD. Where do I start? Well, first, the production was phenomenal. I’m personally a sucker for an acoustic guitar in a rap song so that hit the sweet spot. The story itself was wonderfully told and so easy to follow, Immortal Technique is a masterful storyteller. The way the song ends is amazing too, as he says that there isn’t a sequel to this. Throughout the whole song, he also uses his voice in a way that foreshadows the unfortunate situation of what will be happening in the song.
Delivery, story, and A1 rapping. This song is one of the best rap songs you will ever here. Like I said, 10/5 stars. MT Out! It’s good to be back!
Photo Creds: Unknown, Immortal Technique Album Cover
