Suicide, it's a suicide
Encyclopedia
KRS-One
Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
on the song "Moshitup" in 1987. It has since entered into hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
as a meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
, and has been used by artists such as Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
, Gravediggaz
Gravediggaz
Gravediggaz is an American hip hop group from New York City, well known for its dark sense of humor and abrasive, menacing soundscapes. The group was formed in 1994 and was effectively a supergroup, bringing together Prince Paul , Frukwan , Too Poetic and RZA...
, Redman, Fabolous
Fabolous
John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
, Ras Kass
Ras Kass
John Austin IV, better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is also a part of hip hop supergroup The HRSMN along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt...
, Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
, Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks is a hip hop duo with Vinnie Paz from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and former producer/DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Kokayi and Krayzie Bone
Krayzie Bone
Anthony Henderson better known as Krayzie Bone, is an American rapper and is a former member of the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.-Solo career:Krayzie Bone recorded his solo debut, Thug Mentality 1999, in 1998...
. It serves as a good example of the intertextual
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined...
nature of the genre, where quoting older works serves as a form of homage to other artists.
Origin
The phrase was first used by Boogie Down ProductionsBoogie Down Productions
Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
's KRS-One
KRS-One
Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
in 1987. KRS-One, known also as "the Teacher", was one of the most influential proponents of the early socially and politically conscious East Coast rap
East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City, USA during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the East Coast...
. He co-produced Just-Ice
Just-Ice
Just-Ice A former bouncer at punk clubs, Ice was one of the first of the New York MCs to embrace hardcore rap, and when he burst out of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, as Just-Ice, he gained instant notoriety. Muscle-bound, tattooed, aggressive—he resembled Mike Tyson in more than just looks—and with a...
's album Kool & Deadly
Kool & Deadly
Kool & Deadly is the second album by old school/hardcore rapper Just-Ice, it was released in 1987, and was produced by KRS-One and Just-Ice. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums...
, and contributed vocals on the track "Moshitup". KRS-One is vegetarian, and used the phrase to warn against the dangers of eating pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
:
A simple explanation as to why this particular phrase has gained popularity is that it just "sounds cool and dangerous". In addition to this, the line serves as an inside reference to KRS-One, one of the legends of the genre, an effect that only accumulated as other highly respected performers repeated the phrase.
Dissemination
The line made its way across to West Coast rapWest Coast hip hop
West Coast hip hop is a hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music that originates in the westernmost region of the United States, as opposed to East Coast hip hop, based originally in New York alone...
in 1991, when Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
used it in the song "Ricochet" from the film
Ricochet (film)
Ricochet is a 1991 crime-thriller film, directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T, Kevin Pollak, and Lindsay Wagner...
by the same name. Two years later it was repeated on fellow West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
's track "Serial Killa" from the album Doggystyle
Doggystyle
Doggystyle is the debut album from American rapper Snoop Dogg; released by Death Row Records on November 23, 1993. The album was recorded soon following the release of Dr. Dre's landmark debut album The Chronic , to which Snoop Dogg contributed significantly. His musical stylizations for the album...
by RBX
RBX
Eric Dwayne Collins, better known by his stage name RBX , is a former rapper and R&B singer from Long Beach, California...
. It has since been used by among others Scarface
Scarface (rapper)
Brad Terrence Jordan , better known by his stage name Scarface, is an American rapper, and recording artist from Houston, Texas and a member of the Geto Boys. He is originally from South Park, Houston.-Life and career:...
and Redman in different songs both titled "Suicide", by the group Gravediggaz
Gravediggaz
Gravediggaz is an American hip hop group from New York City, well known for its dark sense of humor and abrasive, menacing soundscapes. The group was formed in 1994 and was effectively a supergroup, bringing together Prince Paul , Frukwan , Too Poetic and RZA...
on the single "1-800 Suicide
1-800 Suicide
"1-800 Suicide" was the third and final single released from the Gravediggaz' debut album, 6 Feet Deep. Produced by Prince Paul , "1-800 Suicide" was the Gravediggaz final charting single, making it to 46 on the Hot Rap Singles...
", and by Nelly
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
on Fat Joe
Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
's hit single "Get It Poppin'". Welsh comedy rappers Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain is a comedic rap music group based in Newport, South Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the ‘chav’ culture and life in Newport and south Wales in general.-Background:Many of the songs...
, who also quote KRS-One's "Sound of da Police
Sound of da Police
"Sound of da Police" is the second and final single from rapper KRS-One's first solo album, Return of the Boom Bap. The song begins with KRS-One whooping twice to evoke a police siren ; this recurs several times throughout the song. This song was used in the trailer for Cop Out...
" in "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do," appropriated the phrase for their song "Self Suicide." In 2008, Fabolous
Fabolous
John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
used it on "Suicide" from his Gangsta Grillz: There Is No Competition mixtape
Mixtape
A Mix Tape or Mixed Tape is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.A Mix Tape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a...
. The phrase also entered into mainstream pop music in 2008 when it was used by Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
on the remix of Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
's single "Lost!
Lost!
"Lost!" is a song by the English alternative rock band Coldplay. The band co-produced it with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends...
" (titled "Lost+").
Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
also used a variation of the phrase in the song "Nah Mean" on the album Distant Relatives
Distant Relatives
Distant Relatives is a collaborative studio album by American rapper Nas and Jamaican reggae artist Damian Marley, released May 18, 2010, on Universal Republic and Def Jam Recordings. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 and was handled primarily by Damian Marley and Stephen Marley...
, using the word genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
instead, presumably referring to Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
.