FRIDAY FLOW: "MARYLAND MATTERS" BY CHRIS MCDONALD
posted in: Urban
Every Friday on the OurStage blog, I’ll be featuring a great example of flow and lyricism in hip hop songs pulled from the OurStage ranks. I’ll get the artist’s thoughts on the song, as well as post the lyrics or best verse so fans can follow the flow themselves.
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre both rapped about Compton. Nas already rapped about New York City. When was the last time someone rapped about Maryland? Well, Chris McDonald took matters into his own hands, writing his song “Maryland Matters” and putting the Mid Atlantic state back on the map. Even if you’re not from Maryland, you can get the message. Check out what Chris has to say about the song:
Chris McDonald. Maryland representing.
“Maryland Matters” is the 2nd track off my EP, Life of A Salesman, which is now available on iTunes. The song is really just me representing where I am from; I am born and raised in Maryland. My favorite lines in the song is really the hook, because I feel like I am who I am because of where I am from. I am not from a big city, or an area that has a lot of music that is nationally recognized. I don’t mind that at all, because I feel I have a story that many people in Maryland can relate to. My hope with this song is that it not only helps put Maryland on the map, but makes people feel proud that they are from Maryland.
Verse 1:
Donna Karen on the side of my new frames
DMV, we came to do thangs
Nike Boots, yea a part of the shoe game
fire’s in my eyes, all you see is a blue flame
beltway bandit, call me Chris Angel
the flow is so magic, helps me get the cabbage
baggage on the plane to Japan, I’m international
nothing bout it’s casual, it’s planned out, man I’m
straight from the state, shaped like a revolver
crime’s at a rate investigater’s can’t solve
it’s the place I was raised, 26 years worth of days
and plenty of my peers learned their way
through the bullsh** and dead ends, preaching at the pulpit
from the reverend ain’t guiding me, I don’t pretend it
try and get offended, got a problem I will end it
I’m hotter than a little bit, got my own selection
of style that is, I used to be a Bowie High kid
roaming the halls to find pills to get high with
now I’m so sick I got a virus, probably a combo
of hot flows, hit the air like pot smoke
but I do not smoke, my job don’t allow it
and since the unemployment lines nowadays are crowded
i gotta keep the paychecks coming in
rainchecks don’t cash in a recession, get itHook:
Mary Mary Mary, look at what you made me
everything you gave me, helped this young buy grown
Mary Mary Mary, just look at me now
I’m all grown up, still you matter the most to me
still you matter the most, I’m gonna make you proudVerse 2:
Every city I lived in, to every city I been in
same state but the mind states are so different
ask us how we’re living, some of us will be indifferent
most of us will be like “are you kiddin”?
I don’t need ot play a victim, cause I’m a victor
as far as flow go, it’s like tryna race a sprinter with a splinter
I am all over the track I am a winner, been a spitter since
I got introduced to my first clitoris
hit or miss, which is this, cause this is it
is it sick? off the wall, but will it stick?
Man I ain’t paying no attention I’m just paying my rent
and utilities, you feeling what you hear yet?
If not, I got the cure for that, I’m representing
this medicine that’s better than what your getting, yes
industry reformer, on the beat reporter
keep your hands up, the hook’s right around the cornerHook (repeat)
3rd verse:
My state’s on my back, with a statement like that
I gotta be a little bit crazy, maybe
ask the average person their problems, they’ll probably
talk about jobs or the economy
so what am I to do, sit here at my little
9-9, and grind, to try and survive? nah
I’m bout to the lead the way, it ain’t so much about
what people need to hear, it’s what I got to sayHook (repeat)