Song #47: Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz feat. Ice Cube - "Real Nigga Roll Call"

Song #47: Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz feat. Ice Cube - "Real Nigga Roll Call" (2004)

Crunk Juice

"Y'all niggas be some kissin' security ass ass niggas! My niggas! Fuck them hoes and let 'em know ass niggas!"

The only thing more entertaining than just letting Lil Jon's crunk anthem "Real Nigga Roll Call" play full blast is playing the censored version, where numerous lines are either completely rewritten or reworded. When talking the explicit version, "Real Nigga Roll Call" is a masterclass of crunk music, featuring a bombastic instrumentation that is incredibly bass-heavy, cutthroat and dirty lyricism by Lil Jon and his trademark Eastside Boyz, a slick verse by Ice Cube, and a wonderfully exciting five minutes of music. 

How I encountered this song was among the most bizarre circumstances. My uncle and I had just seen the great Final Destination 5 in theaters and were both kind of on a high after seeing it, both enjoying it and talking about the ways it intertwined itself with another film in the franchise. We were driving through my town in my uncle's beautiful Lexus when he decided to light a small cigar and dig through his collection of personally-made CD-Rs at a red light. "What're you looking for?," I asked. "I'm trying to find that one rap song I was telling you about; that "Real Nigga Roll Call," I think it's called," he responded. "Here it is," he said shortly after.

My uncle put the CD in the player and proceeded to roll down all his windows in his car completely, even the sunroof (it was the middle of August, so the weather was undoubtedly hot). He scrolled through the tracks and stopped at a certain one. Instantaneously, the loud, rip-roaring bass of "Real Nigga Roll Call" came on. My uncle's Lexus has an incredible sound system, so his only logical response to this introduction was to turn the volume up even louder. Pretty soon, that light turned green and we were driving down the road, cruising in a Lexus, two white guys, blasting one of the filthiest and most brazen rap songs I have yet to hear, with people around us rolling up their windows or giving us dirty looks. My uncle didn't care and I really didn't care; it was the perfect representation of being carefree in a strange situation.

The song itself is quite the oddity, using the word "nigga" well-over two-hundred times and featuring a solid verse by the likes of Ice Cube, who always frequents Lil Jon's songs. After Crunk Rock, Lil Jon's first solo venture without the assistance of The Eastside Boyz, was such a disappointment, I can only hope Jon returns to this kind of music-making. Love crunk or detest it unconditionally, Jon knew how to exercise everything from production to even the most basic lyrics. The chorus on this song is undeniably one of my favorites ever.

Give "Real Nigga Roll Call" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ct_EOg-zI