aboveGround Magazine: The Best New Underground Hip Hop Music, Singles, Mixtapes, Reviews, Interviews and News
Stay connected with us
Twitter
Psalm One Loves You More

500 Bars x $500

Published by Psalm One on June 3, 2010 at 10:30 am

I love the idea of rapping your ass off for a ridiculous amount of time. However, we all know the pitfalls something like that can suffer. It can go bad. Real bad.

On April 15th, rapper The Game released a track entitled “400 Bars” in which he raps for, well, 400 bars. To put that into perspective, the average rap verse lasts for 16 bars. So, in minutes and seconds Game’s song clocks in at around 20 min 28 sec.

That’s a long muthaf*ckin time for one song, folks!
If you don’t recall, Game has released 400, 300, 200 and 100 bar tracks. By the time he reached 300 bars, he was deeply immersed in a battle with 50 Cent and G-Unit. That, my friends, whether you choose to acknowledge or not, is pure hip hop. Bars and Beef..

..however, in terms of minutes and seconds, coupled with the shortening attention spans of our digitally drenched reality, Game’s 400 Bars comes off as well…not sit-through-able. The first version of the song that was leaked actually did not have any changes of sound–there was only one beat playing the whole time (Jay Electronica’s “Exhibit C”)! When the song was officially released there was a varying soundscape helmed by a DJ, but for me, by that time it was too late..

That’s when Game posed the question “who would you like to hear do 400 Bars?” via his Twitter. Enter Psalm One. That’s me. My name came up in the conversation. How flattering, and just in time for “Woman at Work 2″. Whoever asked for this got ALOT more than they asked for, *enter maniacal laughter*..

Now, I consider myself a darned good *writer*. I started writing before I started rapping; I even minored in rhetoric in college. However, regardless of training, being able to hold the attention of the people for longer than 5 minutes is a feat. To boot, I decided to push the boundaries a step further and create a 500 bar song.

I put out a call around Chicago to see who was up to the task of providing the backbone for 500 Bars. Enter Jay Illa. That’s my DJ. Jay is a seasoned veteran in the Chicago scene, and he answered the fastest. So, I booked a session at Electrical Audio for me and Jay and started tackling this challenge.

The math ends up being this: I wrote 31 verses that were 16 bars apiece in one night, and it took about eight hours. Then I consulted about how to coordinate and we decided that organic was best. So Jay Illa showed up to Electrical Audio with a gang of beats and we recorded in an 8-hour marathon live session. Because I wanted the song to capture the essence of recording, I ended up writing the last 4 bars in studio.

If I’m not being too biased I can honestly say I tried to say *something* throughout this song. The topics range, and so do the beats. It is treated like a mixtape/interview. So if you got the time, I got the bars..

Stream: Psalm One – 500 Bars
Psalm One – 500 Bars by aboveGround Magazine

But wait! There’s more!

I’m all about supporting people who support me, so I’ve designed a little contest.

The first 25 contestants win a Limited Edition Prize from Psalm One, aboveGround Mag, and Rhymesayers.

One lucky contestant will receive a $500 Prize Pack, courtesy of my new sponsor, Nespresso. If you love espresso/coffee…this is crack. If you don’t love it, someone you know will absolutely love it.

How do you win the contest, you ask? Just be one of the first 25 people to comment with their favorite quote from “500 Bars” (that wasn’t previously stated in the comments–no repeats!), but in addition to that you need to provide a catalyst for further discussion. You must let me know why you like the quote, and give your thoughts on rappers doing these crazy long songs. I’m not looking for an essay. I just like reading your constructive comments/criticisms.

I definitely believe that listening to this track is a labor of love of hip-hop. I would suggest a car ride, a gym session or just playing it on repeat for hours and hours so you can hear every wonderful nuance. We went in on this track, live, and I’m proud of it. Thanks for listening. This track is also downloadable, for free, at: www.psalmone.tv.

More articles from Psalm Loves You More:

Download Psalm One's Subscribe to aboveGround Magazine by e-mail to get updates on underground hip hop. Get the latest news, album releases, tour dates, exclusive interviews, album reviews, new music and more

34 Responses

  1. i’m not sure if my favorite is “Did you miss me? / I was doing me / I was getting my life right / pursuing dreams” or “i dont play the blame game / we dont play the same game / i aint here to placate” ON A TOO $HORT TRACK.

    The whole thing is dope. I <3 Psalm

  2. “clap clap for a chi-city chick.
    got the know how to supply many bricks
    but i just put ‘em up in stacks for a fortress
    you join the circus, you buy the porches”

  3. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Psalm One©, Psalm One© and Psalm One©, aboveGround Magazine. aboveGround Magazine said: Psalm One's Blog: 500 Bars x $500 http://bit.ly/aoBP5K [...]

  4. (continued from above)

    I love Psalm’s style. And especially those lines. It’s one thing to be able to spit. But she knows how to put her skills to good use. Not just working for the fame and recognition, but to create NEW things, make a difference, etc.

  5. @alexys: Also I wonder: why don’t you wanna be labeled as a Femcee? “If yr lookin’ for a femcee she is not here”

  6. I dont care, I can rap forever, used to think I would fizzle out and weather!

  7. This shit is awesome. Rhymesayers has the greatest artists I’ve ever heard.

  8. “You ain’t feelin it, I’m celibate”

    I love Psalm One.

  9. “Sittin on ya face/so I’m over ya head”. Psalm this 500 is motivation, inspiration, make em say Chi-city!

  10. “No stepford im about to test her can she be the most serious jester can she be the most frigid freak can she not freak when you dont call for a week” Love this because it works on so many levels. had me first thinking about women in general who seem to need men and sexuality to define themselves, and then specifically about this problem in hip-hop. the female emcee who clings to the sex aspect tends to end up being a joke or parody of herself. without balance versatility or depth, what are you? i could be way off here but this is just what was brought to my mind.

  11. “I got better dope, check your botany and I’m growin like a tree, check your prophecy, and peace to the anomalies, all the females out there on they job and things and makin better lanes for these dames”
    I like this because, of course, I’m a female, a single mom, trying to make my way, grow & change. I also know I need to be strong, set an example for future generations of strong women. It’s too bad that strong women doing great things are anomalies though, that should be the norm and expected. With these 500 bars you are helping lead the way for us, one day you will be known as a rapper, not a female rapper, and if I am ever brave enough to spit what I write, I will be known as a half assed lyricist, not a white female tryin to rap.

  12. @pat: Yeah. There’s nothing wrong with being sexual if that’s a part of your persona. But cling too tightly and it becomes a gimmick. And there’s so many more positive aspects to us ladies, why stress the one that’s just going to make us seem like attention-seekers?

  13. @Katie – Exactly. I was typing from a phone so it was a bit difficult to express myself completely!

    I’m a fairly new Psalm One listener, but if there’s one thing I’ve gathered from her, it’s that she really wants to push women (in hip-hop or otherwise) to own who they are rather than settle on what they are expected to be.

    Every woman has a serious side, every woman has a ‘jester’ side. Every woman has the freak inside of her (some moreso than others) and every woman has days where she’s not having it from anybody. To me, I appreciate reminders to women that they should embrace all sides of their personality rather than using one as a crutch because its the most socially desired.

  14. @Pat:

    “To me, I appreciate reminders to women that they should embrace all sides of their personality rather than using one as a crutch because its the most socially desired.”

    Beautiful.

  15. Psalm One is not only for the US. I´m listening ALL the way from Denmark, Scandinavia, EUROPE :-) Psalm One is FanF*ckingTastic !!! Love her style and comments :-) Wiiiihhhh Psalm One 4Ever !!! ;-)))

  16. Wiiiiiiihhh Forget the Lyrics. I Just LOVE “Morning”… GoodMorning Psalm, It´s such a nice day…. It Get´s me going in the morning :))) THX Psalm. You Make my Day !!!

  17. “Where ya go getta?/ where ya balls at/ I thought you would have balls in ya ballsack/” This line is sooo gutta yet so dope lol. I like it because i know exactly how you feel. I’m a rapper and sometimes we gotta go get buck and go at people’s heads. lol

  18. “Na let me make this clear, I was a scientist, my brains rare, and I don’t care, I can rap forever. Use ot think that i would fizzle out and start to weather, but i won’t ever, I am too strong and the industry’s been holding out on me too long”

  19. My favorite lines are:

    “Mary Clarence / A sister act / Now I’m making Whoopi / Now can you view that?”

    I mean damn! Whoopi Goldberg was Sister Mary Clarence in the movie “Sister Act” and is on the view. Just aaaaahhhhhhh that’s a hot line!

  20. “I’m a chi girl, I grew up poor/ but I knew that the trick was to do more/ Then the others did, so I did that/ Had too many shovels, can you dig that?”

    Tight 4 bars right there Psalm.. all about puttin that work in, seeing yourself up there and having the tools (people, networks etc.) to do it. Nothin can hold you back if you really want it and you believe. Good shit Psalm. You killed this one!

  21. let me wake you up/get fresh ho/what you need another shot of expresso/i can give you that/and i got sugar/ and i got dewars.

    or

    let me strap a beat/let me hit a stride/let me have a good year/let me get a bye/nope/the whole pie im so fly/even without this joint my careers fine/you here now/you’re mine baby

    love how you flow to your own unique style. you’re quirky and have such a bomb voice. everything you do flows so well and i love it. you are obviously have a great vocabulary and it shows. what gets you going creatively?

  22. …Have ‘em leaking in they pampers/when I finish raping I raise another standard.

    It’s a dope line because it establishes who she is as an emcee. Has the competition scared, and yet sets a new standard for all to try to attain…then once they attain it (or so they think) she comes out with another verse continuously raising the bar. twitter dot com / Thaahum #OkBye

  23. Yeah this one: “Sittin on ya face/so I’m over ya head”

  24. hip hop never left / but its stronger now / that bullshit yall doin / sound wronger now

  25. “I ain’t given head, I ain’t slobbin’ no knobs, callin’ no cops (?), you ain’t gettin’ nuttin’ like a porn star.”

    I like these lines because it’s what initially attracted me to Psalm. I’m a female who’s a fan of MCs of all kinds of MCs, but the large majority of female MCs getting notoriety in this era are extremely nasty and hoe-like in their lyrics and actions. The lines there just reaffirmed one of the reasons I believe Psalm is one of the best to do it right now (male or female).

  26. And if Psalm does read this, I just wanted to say I’ve been following you since right before I started my senior year in high school when Death of a Frequent Flyer dropped and now I’m about to be a college senior and I’ve put people on to you (and a lot of other RS cats) in both high school in College so when you go on tour know you have fans in Alabama.

  27. *blushing* at everyone.
    I’m so happy that you all are listening, and appreciating my work.
    I don’t even know where to start as far as addressing your comments. We’re close to picking a Grand Prize winner, but there’s about two more prizes for playing so tell your friends.
    And, by the way, lots of good quotes were quoted. But no one quoted MY favorite yet. I wonder if you can guess…..?

  28. @Psalm Wizzle: That’s a hard guess at 500 bars.

  29. “I am on a bender/that’s regardless of gender”

    amazing……

  30. and they don’t teach what they should be teaching /
    pastor don’t live what the priests be preachin

  31. when will we know about the winners? I assume because I am number 11 I at least won the limited edition prize from you, AboveGround & Rhymesayers. Thanks

  32. I didn’t know someone else did this too… check out http://www.500bars.com to see the original 500bars track. 22 minutes of raw bars… Big ups to Psalm

  33. The original inspiration for the term “Bomb It”.

  34. I hope you continue writing such good stuff,I am a fan of your blog

Leave a Reply

  Subscribe to aboveGround Magazine for FREE by e-mail

Psalm One Loves You MORE
Psalm One - Woman At Work Vol. 1

Download THREE free releases from Rhymesayers' first lady. Psalm One's Woman At Work Vols. 1-3 are available now from her website at PsalmOne.TV.

News
Recent Artists
Newest Music Reviews
Apathy - Honkey Kong
$17.75
Honkey Kong
Apathy
Declaime - Self Study
$13.33
Self Study
Declaime
Roc Marciano & Gangrene - Greneberg
$18.00
Greneberg
Roc Marciano & Gangrene
Headnodic - Red Line Radio
$16.75
Red Line Radio
Headnodic
Vakill - Armor Of God
$19.00
Armor Of God
Vakill
Willie Evans Jr. - Introducin'
17.25
Introducin'
Willie Evans Jr.