Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather” is considered one of American cinemas most acclaimed masterpieces. Hip Hop music has always held gangster movies close to the heart. Through out the culture you can hear the influences in different verses of song to the names of the artists themselves.
Many emcees have nicknamed themselves Al Pacino’s famed character, Michael. Hip Hop’s King Jay-Z took on this moniker on two different songs. On his first LP “Reasonable Doubt” he chanted “My portfolio reads: / leads to Don Corleone, n*gga please”. The track “Politics as Usual” speaks of the element of hustle, a main ingredient to the Corleone’s rise to the top. He revisited the name on the second Blueprint installment on “Guns & Roses” featuring rock icon Lenny Kravitz. Another legendary emcee by the name of Big L used Michael’s namesake on the track “Flamboyant”. The words from Lamont Colemon would ring out “Big L, Corleone A smooth kid that’ll run up in your baby mother / Big L, for real Corleone is too advanced for yall / Big L, I’m a pimped out nigga for real / Big L Corleone is too advanced for yall”. Raps super group of the late nineties The Firm introduced themselves on NaS‘ second LP with words from AZ. Once again you would hear the famous name. “Who pull the late, We play for high stakes at gun point / Catch’em and break undress’em tie’em With tape no escape / The Corleone Fettucini Capone Roam in your own zone / Get kidnapped and clapped in your dome We go it sewn….”
Some of rap’s most famous emcee’s album titles had great influence from the movie. Former Bad Boy Records artist Shyne named his second album “Godfather Buried Alive” when he made the transition to Def Jam. Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon The Chef named his second album “Immobilarity”. This was a play on the name of the international real estate holding company Michael seeked to buy the Vatican’s shares from in the third movie.
The late and great Notorious B.I.G. had dreams of creating an elite collective of emcees called “The Commision”. In Godfather III, the group of crime bosses that made up the Mafia Council was assassinated by Joey Zasa. This too would not come to fruition because of his untimely death of Christopher Wallace. The third movie would also have influence in songs such as “GOD Part III” by Queens rap group, Mobb Deep. Even the South caught the fever of The Godfather. Trillville’s member named himself Don P, but also goes by Don Corleone. Needless to say, the movie has had a tremendous impact on hip-hop culture.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg. But after thumbing through hip-hop’s footnotes, a greater question stands: what exactly is it about the gangster flick that makes rappers want to constantly refer to it like faithful Christians do the Bible? Discussion is encouraged.
[Editor's Note: Huge shout out to Pardon Me Duke, because without PMD, this article wouldn't be here. ]
2 Comments so far
Leave a comment
the commission predates the godfather by four decades, fam. it exists in real life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Commission_(mafia)
it is sort of sad that jay and big thought they belonged anywhere near the same caliber as the actual commission. ditto for murder inc as compared to the actual murder inc.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_Incorporated
gangsta rappers, particularly east coast crime rappers, have often been fascinated with criminal organizations or masterminds far above and far more notorious than any street level sheenigans they may have seen or been involved in.
it’s not just the godfather, it’s the whole ethos of it.
scarface deserves a companion post to this one, as dj akshen of the geto boys decided to change his name after making a breakout hit named after/inspired by the film, it was also sampled by raekwon on only built for cuban linx, i believe the music was sampled by nas (although i forget the song at the moment), and there are probably a dozen other major hip-hop referencing moments related to that film (rick ross recently sampled music from that movie as well and “pain in the ass”, the skit go-to guy at rocafella in its early years often inserted scarface ad libs mixed with carlito’s way ad libs). sure i missed a few…if not a lot…tony touch and another dj referred to themselves as the diaz brothers (scarface characters), etc
Comment by spiritequality 05.11.09 @ 2:19 am
I don;t think any of the artists actaully thought they were on th actual Mafia’s level in real life LMAO….I think they aspired ot model themselves in a similair manner as far as being organization, and having rules and codes of conduct etc
I do believe alot of artists and folk of color that came form poverty related to La Cosa Nostra because it was an organization that operated outside of the law, outside of the system, the very system that often ostracized them.from the time our firsts ancestors arrived here on slave ships and were robbed of the land they already inhabited (native americans)……
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>