The Old Acclaimed Music Forum
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Spanish hip hop took a long long time to launch properly, but finally did it with 7 Notas 7 Colores (“7 Notes, 7 Colours”) album “Hecho, es simple” (“Done, It’s Simple”). Of course there were a lot of previous experiences but nearly always were amateurish, imitative or disappointing. But the 7 Notas 7 Colores first album, along with 1998 albums as “Grandes Planes” by El Club de los Poetas Violentos (“Big Plans” by The Violent Poets Club) or “Retorno al principio” de Sólo los Solo (“Return to the Beginning” by Only the Only) supposed the cornerstone of a scene that since then grew considerably, achieving probably its peak with the 2000 album “Lujo Ibérico” by La Mala Rodríguez (“Iberian Luxury” by Bad-Girl Rodríguez) that broke the scene into mainstream.
The first single and also the closer song of the album, “Con esos ojitos” (“With Those Eyes”), was probably the best 7N7C offering, with the particular flow and cleverly constructed ego-trip lyrics by MC Mucho Muchacho and the nice instrumental backing courtesy of Dive Dibosso. It goes to show that the sound of the streets is equally valid coming from the New York or the Barcelona suburbs. In Luis Lles words: “From the Barcelona suburbs, 7 Notas 7 Colores made the soundtrack for the life on the border of the hood kids, turning the common people little adventures in stories deserving to be told. Since many rap artists create a fictitious scenario trying to transfer the American reality to everyday Spanish life, it’s surprising the sincerity of the proposal of these boys from El Prat, that resorted to the inventiveness of Hispanic poetry and to a filthy language (but very inspired) for building its rhymes about everything that happened around them, about its yearnings and frustrations, about its desires to escape from a too narrow reality”.
CON ESOS OJITOS
Composers: Mucho Muchacho/Dive Dibosso
Performers: 7 NOTAS 7 COLORES
First release: 1996 (“Con esos ojitos / Puercos” CD-single)
Length: 3’50” (1997 LP version, I’ve chosen this one if only for removing the silly line “sopla mi verga hasta que se me infle un huevo”, “blow to my cock till an egg gets inflated”
.
Los cerdos más guarros de barro
narran mi historia como la de un Muchacho
con garras subterráneo,
escurridizo como una mente pachucha de amor
por una linda mujer latina en el micrófono.
Oh no! Viene hacia aquí
y vengo a por ti
y todos ya saben quien va a vencer.
Luzco una mirada del palo
que hijo de puta soy cuando clavo un truco nuevo.
Doblo esquinas con mi pelo afro
y mi espuma sucia, derribo los edificios.
Dios!, mi rollo se sale y no puedes parar a este pollo,
tío, cuando llego con esos ojitos.
Uno, dos,
los que beben de mi jarra y los de la tarra no puedes barrer,
mamón, conmigo error,
con la fuerza cósmica el Muchacho.
Con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
Tu magnífico superhéroe nena,
ni un pájaro ni un avión, no te equivoques,
propulso mi estilo y muévelo,
traigo un caramelo, sabrosón.
Después del show, siempre buenas puntuaciones,
lo que pueden hacer los chicos frescos,
pudran energéticos nena,
he puesto de nuevo esos ojitos,
esos ojitos y zumbándole.
Uno, dos,
mira niño los puercos que dejan sus niños
buscando leña pal fuego,
secuestrados por mi, raptados, mi cohete encendido.
Dime lo que buscas y verás lo que te encuentras,
mi chorro nunca encalla, no acepto mellas,
mamahuevos, toma vitaminas si quieres joder conmigo.
Con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
Con esos ojitos que todo lo envenenan,
dime cuantas pollas saltaron la valla,
que ya no duermes nunca, eh.
Oye la mierda que he traído, uh,
es giro, inspiro y espiro, tiro, respiro,
tú vas a estar muerto mucho mas tiempo que vivo.
Uh, sí, es él,
ha puesto de nuevo esos ojitos.
Con esos ojitos vengo despacito
bien cerdos, aquí terminan vuestras aventuras,
porque he venido a veros
con esa mirada en el rostro
y algo me dice que la batalla va a ser fiera.
Bien, bien, como lo esperaba,
que ya tienen ganas de terminarlo los compadres a mi vera,
y yo estoy juguetón
y en tu cara mamón
paso al siguiente nivel.
Después ya ves
con tan sólo algunos rasguños leves en la piel nena,
mi vida esta llena de acción
pero no te preocupes por mis huesos que he puesto de nuevo esos ojitos.
Con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos, con esos ojitos
Tío, con esos ojitos, tío, con esos ojitos
WITH THOSE EYES (really hard to translate, impossible to know what Spanish slang word relates better to an English slang word; moreover some parts are meaningless even in the original version)
The muddy dirtier pigs
Are telling my story
As an underground clawed Boy,
Slippery as a brain sick of love
For a pretty latin woman on the microphone.
Oh no! He comes over there,
And I’m coming after you
And everybody knows who’s going to win,
I’m wearing a log look
I’m a mother fucker when I nail a new trick,
I turn the corners with my afro
and my dirty foam, I demolish buildings.
God!, my thang’s outstanding and you can’t stop this guy,
man, when I come with those eyes.
One, two,
you can’t sweep away the ones that drink from my jar
and the ones from the old drag,
sucker, mistake with me,
with cosmic force the Boy.
With those eyes, man, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes.
Your magnificent superhero, baby,
not a bird, nor a plane, don’t get wrong,
I propel my style, shake it,
I bring tasty candy.
After the show, always good scores,
the things the fresh boys can do,
rotting energetic, baby,
I’m making those eyes again,
those eyes and hitting it.
One, two,
look, kid, the pigs let down by your kids
looking for fire logs,
kidnapped by me, raped, my burning rocket.
Tell me what are you looking for and you’ll see what you found,
my stream never runs aground, I don’t accept notches,
asshole, take vitamins if you wanna fuck with me.
With those eyes, man, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes.
With those eyes that poison everything,
tell me how many cocks jumped the fence,
you don’t sleep anymore, hey.
Listen to the shit I bring, ooh,
is a turn, inspire and exhale, shot, breathe,
you’re gonna be dead more time than alive,
Oh, yes, it’s him,
I’m making those eyes again.
With those eyes I’m coming slowly,
well, pigs, your adventure’s coming to an end
cause I’m here to see you
with that look in my face
and something tells me that the battle’s going to be fierce.
Well, well, I was expecting it like that,
the mates by my side are willing to finish it,
and I’m playful
and in your face, bugger,
I get to the next level.
After, you see,
only with slight scratches on my skin, baby,
My life’s full of action
but don’t worry ‘bout my bones cause I’m making those eyes again.
With those eyes, man, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes, with those eyes
Man, with those eyes, man, with those eyes.
Mitchell Stirling: This is easily the best year of the decade in both albums and songs in my eyes. Makes it even harder to do justice to all the great music. Will get mine in a lot earlier this month!
Hey Mitchell, I'm still waiting for you!
These are the albums and songs from 1997 that will be included in the best of the 90s poll in November:
Albums
1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
3. Björk - Homogenic
4. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
5. Elliott Smith - Either/Or
6. The Verve - Urban Hymns
7. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
8. Blur - Blur
9. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
10. The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land
Songs
1. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
2. The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
3. Radiohead - No Surprises
4. Blur - Song 2
5. Radiohead - Karma Police
6. The Beta Band - Dry the Rain
7. Radiohead - Let Down
8. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
9. Foo Fighters - Everlong
9. The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
Total Radiohead dominance with 4 songs in the top 10, and the total score for 'OK Computer' is more than twice as much as for 'Ladies & Gentlemen'.
And overall, there was a total UK dominance this year. But we also have music from USA, Iceland and Cuba to the next round.
Most bad luck this month had the Chemical Brothers, with an album 5 points outside the top 10 and a song 2 points outside the top 10.
All votes can be found in this spreadsheet:
1997 Forum Poll
no Boatman's Call 