In a very real sense, Jay-Z's song "Big Pimpin'" has long held a special place in my heart. Hearing it reminds me of the road trip my friends Josh, Aaron, and I took the summer after our high school graduation. As we made the long drive from Indianapolis to San Diego, we were regularly scanning the radio dial, trying to find a quality station in each new broadcast area we entered. Without ever intentionally seeking it out, this browsing continually brought our eardrums into contact with the distinctive tones of "Big Pimpin'."
I recall encountering the mega-hit at least once a day for four consecutive days. The three of us kept one another entertained during our extended sessions in the car by (among other things) doing our best "white boy" renditions of this song. I know in retrospect why I associate that track so closely with our road trip, even though none of have ever listened heavily to urban musical stylings. Still, after the seven-plus years that "Big Pimpin'" has been around, I've heard the song in its entirety no more than twice. And yet its chorus continues to pop into my head no less than once a month, despite the fact that I never knew the actual lyrics of even this part of the song until just recently. When I had to make up the lyrics I didn't know while rehearsing it for my own amusement, here's how I sang the chorus:
Big pimpin', spendin' cheese.
We be big pimpin' on B.L.A.D.s
We be big pimpin', oh yessiree.
I said a jigga, jiggamon, ABCFG.
I was always pretty confident the first two lines were correct, seeing as Aaron always corroborated what I heard in those places. My perceived accuracy concerning Line 2 only intensified my curiosity over what in the world "B.L.A.D." stood for. That summer my theory (constructed with reference to absolutely nothing outside my own mind) was that the acronym stood for "Beautiful Ladies of African Descent." I've always been proud of coming up with this possibility because it's genuinely creative, actually plausible, and I came up with it rather spontaneously. My recent decision to Google the official lyrics was prompted by the random return of my curiousity over the true significance of B.L.A.D. Here's what my research produced concerning the chorus:
We doin.. big pimpin, we spendin cheese
(Check em out now)
Big pimpin, on B.L.A.D.'s
We doin.. big pimpin up in N.Y.C.
It's just that Jigga Man, Pimp C, and B-U-N B
My biggest surprise was finding out that I had heard "jiggamon" correctly, although I didn't know there was actually a person who sometimes went by the handle "Jigga Man." I'm assuming Jigga Man is Jay-Z himself, but I can't be sure because that's not one of the three facts I actually know about Jay-Z. 1) He has his own line of champagne. 2) He retired for like 2 days. 3) For many years now, he's had regular access to Beyonce's revered and coveted booty.
As for Pimp C and B-U-N B, I suppose they are the less famous MCs backing up Mr. Z in the song. And you'd have to be numb in the skull and the nuts to not know the expanded correlate of N.Y.C. But what about B.L.A.D.s? Since my reading of the officialy lyrics did nothing to clarify this acronym for me, I Googled it next.
All this search brought to my attention was that, in the world of animal medicine, B.L.A.D. stands for "Bovine Leukocyte Adhesions Deficiency." Unless Jay-Z and his boys enjoy Big Pimpin' on cows suffering from faulty immune systems, B.L.A.D. must stand for something else in the context of the song. Is my previous theory right? Or is "B.L.A.D.'s" just a novel way of referring to "black ladies" or, more generally, "beautiful ladies"?
Ideas anyone?
I recall encountering the mega-hit at least once a day for four consecutive days. The three of us kept one another entertained during our extended sessions in the car by (among other things) doing our best "white boy" renditions of this song. I know in retrospect why I associate that track so closely with our road trip, even though none of have ever listened heavily to urban musical stylings. Still, after the seven-plus years that "Big Pimpin'" has been around, I've heard the song in its entirety no more than twice. And yet its chorus continues to pop into my head no less than once a month, despite the fact that I never knew the actual lyrics of even this part of the song until just recently. When I had to make up the lyrics I didn't know while rehearsing it for my own amusement, here's how I sang the chorus:
Big pimpin', spendin' cheese.
We be big pimpin' on B.L.A.D.s
We be big pimpin', oh yessiree.
I said a jigga, jiggamon, ABCFG.
I was always pretty confident the first two lines were correct, seeing as Aaron always corroborated what I heard in those places. My perceived accuracy concerning Line 2 only intensified my curiosity over what in the world "B.L.A.D." stood for. That summer my theory (constructed with reference to absolutely nothing outside my own mind) was that the acronym stood for "Beautiful Ladies of African Descent." I've always been proud of coming up with this possibility because it's genuinely creative, actually plausible, and I came up with it rather spontaneously. My recent decision to Google the official lyrics was prompted by the random return of my curiousity over the true significance of B.L.A.D. Here's what my research produced concerning the chorus:
We doin.. big pimpin, we spendin cheese
(Check em out now)
Big pimpin, on B.L.A.D.'s
We doin.. big pimpin up in N.Y.C.
It's just that Jigga Man, Pimp C, and B-U-N B
My biggest surprise was finding out that I had heard "jiggamon" correctly, although I didn't know there was actually a person who sometimes went by the handle "Jigga Man." I'm assuming Jigga Man is Jay-Z himself, but I can't be sure because that's not one of the three facts I actually know about Jay-Z. 1) He has his own line of champagne. 2) He retired for like 2 days. 3) For many years now, he's had regular access to Beyonce's revered and coveted booty.
As for Pimp C and B-U-N B, I suppose they are the less famous MCs backing up Mr. Z in the song. And you'd have to be numb in the skull and the nuts to not know the expanded correlate of N.Y.C. But what about B.L.A.D.s? Since my reading of the officialy lyrics did nothing to clarify this acronym for me, I Googled it next.
All this search brought to my attention was that, in the world of animal medicine, B.L.A.D. stands for "Bovine Leukocyte Adhesions Deficiency." Unless Jay-Z and his boys enjoy Big Pimpin' on cows suffering from faulty immune systems, B.L.A.D. must stand for something else in the context of the song. Is my previous theory right? Or is "B.L.A.D.'s" just a novel way of referring to "black ladies" or, more generally, "beautiful ladies"?
Ideas anyone?
6 comments:
Dave Scott, you are ridiculous.
I would say it has something to do with donkey balls, Christmas, and your mom, but I can't seem to make it fit. We enjoyed your presence back in the Hoosier state, Dave. Hope your trip back was uneventful and safe.
I came across your site while doing google research on the Ph.D. program at UD/Iliff. BLAD's is a slang term from Houston (where the guest rappers UGK, composed of Pimp C and Bun B, are from) that refers to big car rims. So, how do you like UD/Iliff?
Hey Anonymous,
Thank you for satisfying my 7 year-old curiosity!
As for the Joint Ph.D. Program, I can tell you that overall I'm enjoying my time here. DU and Iliff operate on the quarter system and, since this is my first time taking 10-week terms, I'm still going through the oh-so-painful process of adjusting to it. I don't know what your concentration would be but if it's the same as mine (Theology, Philosophy, and Cultural Theory) I must warn you that the theology staff at Iliff is pretty thin at the moment. But if you're into social change or biblical studies, those faculty positions are heavily stocked at the present moment.
The most important thing is that, through this program, I have a wide variety of high quality resources to help me pursue my own interests, regardless of how they will ultimately take shape. I encourage you to apply here if you truly are interested.
Thanks for the synopsis. I would actually be interested in the Religion and Social Change program so your comments are very helpful. Thanks.
I was curious as well what was 'out there' on this topic of BLAD's. So here I am. A guy working for me was asked by myself once what this meant. He said it was BLAD EEEE's. Blades. Rims. Choppin' on blades, etc. Makes sense to me. I think one reason this song always comes back to recollectiion for me is the stupidity of it all. Gotta say though, BLAdeeees is a half-wit attempt at lyrics. Even though I knew what blades were at the time of the song, I never put the 2 together as I am not THAT stupid...
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