Nas (ft. Busta Rhymes) -- "Fried Chicken" (2008)

Mrs. Fried Chicken
You was my addiction
Drippin' with high cholest'

Like Greeks with their falafel
Or Italians with their tomato pasta
Or roti is to a rasta

Trappin' me
You and your friend mac and cheese

Candied yams, collard greens

Who knows more about rap music than Forbes magazine?

Well, Forbes has this to say about today's featured artist:

Ask just about any hip-hop fan to recite a list of the top rappers of all time, and a name almost certain to come up is Nasir “Nas” Bin Olu Dara Jones.  Since his classic 1994 debut, Illmatic, the Queens-bred rhymester has grown a wide fan base ranging from rap aficionados to the late Amy Winehouse, who sang his praises in “Me and Mr. Jones.”  Even onetime rival Jay-Z enshrined Nas as a member of hip-hop’s holy trinity in the song, "Where I'm From."

(That "holy trinity" included the Notorious B.I.G., Nas . . . and Jay-Z himself – of course.)

Nas is not only a rapper whose "lyrical prowess is acknowledged by millions," but also the first major hip-hop star to become a "verified genius" on the incomparable RapGenius.com website, where he has posted explanations of many of his lyrics.

Nas with Rap Genius co-founder
Mahbod Moghadam

According to Forbes, other Rap Genius verified rappers include the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and A$AP Rocky.  The website has about a hundred thousand contributors and several hundred handpicked volunteer editor -- including little ol' moi.

Click here to read what Rap Genius has to say about "Fried Chicken," which has more clever wordplay than you can shake a stick at.

Nas uses fried chicken as a metaphor for his woman.  Both the chicken and the woman are irresistible, but may not be healthy for your heart:

Mmmm, fried chicken, fly vixen

Give me heart disease 

Nas can't decide whether he likes dark meat or white meat better:

Don't know what part of you I love best

Your legs or your breasts

Listen carefully to the lines quoted at the top of this post, which you can hear at about 0:57 of the song.  The rhymes, the phrasing . . . even the elision that turns "cholesterol" into "cholest-" – it's rap genius.

Here's "Fried Chicken":

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: