| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
showart
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 12
|
 Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 12:06 pm Post subject: 'Chinese Zoots'??...Dizzie Rascal, rap lyrics meaning what?! |
 |
|
This has been niggling me......Does anyone know what Dizzie Rascal means when singing... | Quote: | | 'never had a desire for Chinese Zoots' |
??
...I've no idea myself, but I'm a little bit suspicious that's it's some kind of anti-chinese sentiment? I hope NOT though.
http://www.lyricsdomain.com/4/dizzee_rascal/stand_up_tall.html |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Edwina Lee
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 1282
Location: High Wycombe, UK
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It sounds anti-chinese but I don't know what it means.
These ghetto songs use so much underground language and express so many negative sentiments and trivia.
Best ignored I say. Do people really listen to the words? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jeff Minter
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 342
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Interesting you used the word "niggling" 
Anyway, it's just minority on minority racism. I got it myself one day from some asians, no big deal and hardly worth the effort to retaliate - when you look at the big picture, they're as much as a disadvantage as being <insert race> as we are in the UK. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
showart
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 12
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
yes true it is trivia and most people won't notice, but anyone who's a fan will - he's the UK's best and he's considered smart by all critics too. The song Stand Up Tall is one of his biggest hits, it will have been on Radio1 numerous occasions and I bet no one complained or inquired about what exactly is Chinese Zoots, it's took me this long to get round to trying to find out, it's just something that came back to me fleetingly recently, probably because I want his new album.
As far as I know Zoot means a slim Mod suit or a mexican suit from the 1940 which I already knew.
I just went on urban dictionary(found it on google) and it says Zoot means - something good, favourable.
Maybe he just doesn't like Chinese food... Hmm, great lyrics. He repeats the line about 3 times too as it's the pre-chorus. It's a line that if noticed makes you momentaroily think - 'erm, what?' and then you instantly forget it/ignore it because it's a bit weak and silly.
I wonder if anyone's had a word with him about it, because it is racist and therefore kind of hypocritical - if he's anti-racist and wants to be treated equally in 'multi-cultural Britain' |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Edwina Lee
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 1282
Location: High Wycombe, UK
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I think it is a meaningless trivia inserted to make it sound as if it has a meaning. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Edwina Lee
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 1282
Location: High Wycombe, UK
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I choose to select artists whose songs express intelligent sense. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
siu mai
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 363
Location: In the sky
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
chinese zoots = chinese marijuana aka weed
zoot = spliff
I'm not really into that grime music but I've heard a few dizzi rascal songs and some of his lyrics are actually quite good in the message it is sending out to his peers. His lyrics contain alot of positivity and move away from the stereotypical gang warfare that is promoted alot amongst rap artists.
Not aimed at anyone in particular but maybe find out what the meaning is behind what is said and then you can decide whether you want to be quite ignorant and defensive about things because people will just perceive you to be really thick otherwise. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
showart
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 12
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 1:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
This is the context...
| Quote: | East side boy make the paper rise, never met anything like my safeheart guys
Big up my north west south east types every section where my connection lies
East side boy made the crowd go loops never had a desire for chinese zoots
Big up my midland up north troops any playas in my face come up with a bruse |
...Perhaps he means he can make the crowd 'go loops' without having to resort to Chinese spliffs!
or maybe he's had a bad experience with chinese spliffs before. Curious. It's beginning to seem like the only person who'd be able to clarify this is Dizzie himself or one of his crew, i suspect what he means is esoteric to his part of town.
I've got his first 2(out of 3) albums. The track Stand Up Tall (on album 2, Showtime)is regarded as not being as lyrically advanced as some of the other tracks on that album, it's a manic party tune. Dizzie is a smart guy, majority of his rhymes are clever and the music is often exhilerating, really capturing the menace of the East London streets. Like many rappers, he contradicts himself with his lyrics though but everyone forgives hi, because his subject matter is about survival in a disenfranchised part of town.
I know quite a lot about HipHop (i was a fan a few years ago) but chinese zoots is something i've never come across before, maybe i'm getting old.
Anyway, it's well known that there's animosity between Korean and Black communities in the USA, not sure about the situation between blacks and orientals in urban UK, maybe a few kids, wishing to emulate their US homies include anti-oriental attitudes. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Edwina Lee
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 1282
Location: High Wycombe, UK
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
No thanks.
This music is clearly aimed for the in-crowd and people outside do not understand the lingo.
Why spend my precious time to research what is clearly not meant for me? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Edwina Lee
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 1282
Location: High Wycombe, UK
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
showart,
It's rubbish, that's why we can't find a rational meaning for the lyrics. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
showart
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 12
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
according to the BBC (they've just replied)...
Dizzee Rascal mentions smoking weed quite a lot in his songs - so what's wrong with Chinese stuff!? I can only presume 'Chinese Zoots' must be extra strong marijuana that can make people 'go loopy' and he can't handle! Haha. Well there you go.
After solving that little discrepancy I can go and get his 3rd album now.
P.S.
Has anyone ever heard Jin or Emcee T, they are Chinese-American rappers. They're really good. Probably got stuff on Youtube. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ex-VAG
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 445
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Does anyone actually give a sh*t about this or Dizzie f*cking rascal and his sh*t music or lyrics? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
chunxueping
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 749
Location: Beijing, PRC
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I don’t like hip-hop myself but I found showart’s explanation interesting and her/his enthusiasm shone through. I dont think he/she deserved such abrupt put-down. We should not be unkind. Music is not about the words but about the feelings it inspire. To some revulsion to others exhilaration. It is like a lot of art. Some painting make me feel like vomit on the spot, others I can gaze at for hours.
Mis-hear lyrics has long tradition and can be fun. I still cannot listen to Abba “SuperTrooper” and still not hear, “I was sick and tired of being thin, when I call you last night from Tesco.” Of course best is Police “Massage in a brothel.”
Has anybody hear lyrics “Kiss on the Grave” by Seal? I think everyone hear the same as me. This guy has lover who die and he go to her grave, which is covered with snow and there is a rose in full bloom on the grave and while he weep over her grave the rose brushes his cheek hence the line “I’ve been kissed by a rose on the grave.” Lovely word imagery throughout the song except for one thing. The title is “Kiss on the Grey” and so the words don’t make sense at all but the imagery and the emotion is still there. We hear what we want and make the world in our head.
Finally, remember the wonderful American song “MacArthur Park” about “Someone left the cake out in the rain", words are seen as a symbolic poem about lost love. I have a friend who met Jimmy Webb and asked him about this. No, its about a spoilt cake he remembers as a child, but the imagery is still so vivid. What we see in our heart is more beautiful than what was written.
I do not pretend that hip-hop is in the same league, at least to me, but we should respect other peoples interests. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
showart
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 12
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:47 pm Post subject: THE CENTRAL POINT OF THIS THREAD |
|
|
IF some of his lyrics contain an anti-Chinese slur then they should be investigated - that's something to give a sh*t about. That was point of this thread - to find out if the UK's best rapper (Dizzee Rascal has recieved numerous awards, is generally lauded by music critics) had something against the Chinese. No point in burying your head in the sand and 'not giving a sh*t'. Hellooooo!!
Anyway according to Radio1 it's the lyrics aren't intended to insult Chinese. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ex-VAG
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 445
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Marvin Gaye - Sexual healing, fantastic song great lyrics |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
