El-P interview: Why he doesn't care if people understand his lyrics

El-P & Open Mike Eagle discuss whether or not they care if people understand the lyrics in their songs. From What Had Happened Was Season 2.
#ElP #RunTheJewels #WhatHadHappenedWas #IllSleepWhenYoureDead #Bestof
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About What Had Happened Was:
Open Mike Eagle Sits down with the legendary creators in hip-hop to discuss their life, impact, and legacy over the course of a season. Season one covers DJ Prince Paul (De La Soul, Handsome Boy Modeling School). Season two covers El-P (Company Flow, Run the Jewels) Brought to you by Stony Island Audio.

[@culturallydiverse6166]

EL-P is God sent. Blessings to him and his craft. I get it brother! Your lyrics are prophetic and have helped free the minds of many people. RTJ FOREVER!! ✌🏽👉🏽🤛🏽

[@brunoe1891]

I mean there's a lot of non-english speakers worldwide who fuck heavily with your shit, I remember fallen in love with Company Flow not because of what they were talking about, it was just so fucking raw and in way even the voices rapping are like percussive instruments.

[@mikenoface]

This line from We're Famous by Aes Rizzle and El-P always summed up El-P's lyrical style to me: "Now I've come from the '80s juvenile Brooklyn Where cats was like: "Gimme that subway pass, kid. Good lookin." Now someone else is taking a ride with what's mine So I had to develop styles with a death device cooked in" In other words, you can't bite this shit.. and if you do, we're gonna know it. /Salute Open Mike Eagle and El-P.

[@ju4408]

"Whether you connect the dots or not is truly not my problem." (Salt) Don't know all the details of their falling out, but those two getting back together are my highest hope for humanity. For music. For art. For fuck's sake, somebody dose them with some boomers, put them in a steel cage with those giant American Gladiator q-tip things, and let them beat each other until they hug and laugh together again and sort it out. Call it "We're Better". Please. It's been so long.

[@nononowhyno]

such a dope concept explained , all my favorite albums i look at like projects that im working on. everytime i listen im putting in work and gaining something new from the material. especially as a white dude from the burbs whos a hip hop head, most albums first time i hear them im understanding less than ten percent of the lyrics but over time that understanding grows and my appreciation for the music deepens in a really beautiful way.

[@harrywoods482]

I looked for a word on google a week ago. What do you call people who love a song and never digest what the lyrics say or the message is? Couldn’t find it. I was actually curious if those were the same people who don’t have a voice in their mind. Anyway, first time I heard Mike eagle I was like Daaaaaqammnn this is it. In not bored out of my mind. Thank you for the amazing music slash messages slash creativity.

[@elel2608]

Rapping to fully express yourself and not caring if people understand or not is so liberating and therapeutic. But that’s what makes the music deep as well. I read dudes like James Joyce and William Faulkner and maybe pop in Supreme Clientele to give me permission to rap the way I wanna rap.

[@Calmer573]

open mic eagle ??sick to see you nowadays. / legend in the scene .

[@anne-marielandry6847]

Iam a french canadian, and I usualy dont understand half the lyrics of El-P or Vast Air or Aesop Rock or Camu Tao ... but I dont care, its music to my ears anyway.

[@richardhall5489]

Last night i found a version of the Deep Space 9mm video that had the lyrics on screen. I always heard the lyric as: "Save the gesture You can't save the children, weren't worth the effort" Which just sounded suitably nihilistic. But the lyrics on screen said this: "Save the gesture You can't save the children, we weren't worth the effort" This is way more subtle and reminded me of El-P's verse on Christmas Fucking Miracle talking about being a kid on the streets of Brooklyn.

[@ceramikxxx5882]

Im a cave man your modern ways frighten and confuse me

[@jeremyjohnson7203]

I hear that shit right there,right there in shit!! Lol

[@joshmedina5127]

Pixies