“Play with my feelings and you gone catch feelings.” E-40 casually raps in his new music video for his single “I Stand On That.” The Jae Synth directed visual features Joyner Lucas and T.I. Hard lyrics matched with a simple set containing the hip hop stick-to-the script formula of showcasing women and cars enable listeners to have the opportunity to solely focus on what the rappers are saying.
While it’s very obvious that this is a great song that certainly delivers value to the hip hop community, it’s difficult to ignore the elephant (or allegations) in the room. Now that 2021, the wicked stepmother of 2020, has erupted with sexual assault allegations against some of the most accomplished Black men in the public eye (Deshaun Watson though), T.I.’s presence and bars have a whole new meaning.
When he raps, “Doing time still doing better than getting killed,” it’s a little bit more devastating to those who grew up on the Urban Legend artist, especially if his lawyers are not able to relieve him of the various accusations people have made about him and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris.
In another part of the song, he gives people coveting the life of a rapper in the hip hop limelight a calculated warning. T.I. raps, “I know you can’t see the tree from the forest | Let the allure, money, and whores take you to a place where your ass’ll get torn | Okay, now you’ve been warned | Only one more suggestion before we move on | Pray to the Lord that you can afford what it gon’ cost you for you to move forward — in life.”
Whew, fire! But, is it the same fire we always get when T.I. spits or is it the type of fire that consumes the soul and leads to an undesirable fate. For the aspiring music entertainers and sports figures, if the cost of fame and a little bit of money can lead you to the same place that T.I. is in right now, would you still choose that path? It’s a question many face when they reach that fork in the road. Some people learned from the mistakes of others, hence the many people who became one-hit wonders or just faded into distant memory. While others…well, it seems the story always end the same. But, will the people read between the lines?
See the M.V. below:
