Slammed & Split

Other Words

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[INTRO]

BC: Ayo, son, you got the time?
X: It's like two, kid.
BC: Say word? I'ma roll then.
X: I got you. Be easy.
BC: Peace, fam.
(A beat.)
X: Yo Couch — you my nigga.

[VERSE]

Five words.
Five fucking words.
Five fucking filthy words,
of which one is the filthiest,
filling me with force
and forcing me to feel
it's full fucking impact;
how it makes me feel
fucking great
and fucked up
at the same fucking time,
which, in truth,
is kind of fucking unfortunate.
And maybe I'm overusing
another fucking expletive,
but maybe we need some fucking perspective
on just how fucked up
this might really be.

See,
it's a badge of honor,
and I EARNED THAT SHIT.
(long pause)
Sorta.
In an "I-got-it-from-my-friends-kind-of-way"
because I got friends for whom
that word, those
five words
are an oft-used part of speech.
Perhaps, a noun for:
my buddy, my homey, my bro
my boy, my son, my man
my friend,
my connection.

But any correction
should strengthen the sentiment
as it replaces one term with another.
And saying that word,
those five words:

Yo Couch — you my nigga

conveys more love
than any of those other terms combined
because they're bestowing it upon me,
some super-special status of super-inclusion
…
and maybe that's progress.
But it's ultimate fucking irony
that diluted honky hate
is used to love, to hug, to wrap me up
in layers no one can unravel.

But let's uncloak for a moment
and think like war heroes
returned to lives we led
with new points of view
and perspectives in our head
about what being a hero really means.
And that maybe medals don't mean as much
if the context in which they're won
is all fucked up and spun.

Yo Couch — you my nigga

Five words.
Five fucking words were used.
But this time I'll make an effort
to casually defuse
its impact and enact my right to choose
to say:
"Nah, son.
I'm not yo nigga.
Though I appreciate the idea
because I know what you tryin' to say.
But that's not me man.
Not here, not now, not today.
I'm just Ben Couch,
livin' how I do.
But don't think for a second
that I'm leavin' this tag on you.
Cuz you ain't no nigga neither,
you just a human being
livin' how you do
in this world together,
with me, and you, and you."

So ask me what I got,
and I'll say five other words to use:

We're just people. Let's live.