Post-Malone: White Iverson

My Hero Allen Iverson: Talent that transcends: Why we need heroes

My favorite part of hiphop is the way it incorporates choral-like elements. An here Post-Malone, a man named after an underrated, 2-time-MVP powerforward, demonstrates he’s not to be overlooked. Here Post-Malone opens with choral vocalization which is often used to portray heavenly/angelic presence. In fact, it’s not until the 55s mark when the kit comes in. Adding further to the heavenly aura, you can hear the backup voices echo and the repetition of “I’m swaggin’” and “I’m ballin’” simulating an echo. Even when the kit comes in, it’s relatively sparse coming in bursts with emphasis on the cymbals. All this to reinforce the place Iverson has as a legend.

The other ascetic being messed with is a dream like trance: white sand, white car, and blue-tinted white sky in the video. To really nail it home, we hear the timbre of the piano as if it’s coming through a radio as the song closes. This trance can be understood as the acoustic metaphor for the bar ‘I need that money like the ring I never won’. It’s this legend’s the size 11 kicks that Post-Malone invites the listener to step into. On one hand we have Iverson the legend, an extremely talented basketball player. But as is the fate with many tragic heroes, his career was complicated by Iverson the man. He was as know for his confidence as his arrogance; his talent as his lack of success. So, we have ourselves a dream of what could have been. Some may even say, should have been.

Yet, unlike many tragic hero depictions this isn’t apologetic or regretful. What set Iverson the baller apart was he was true to himself in the end. He wasn’t afraid of his brash personality and self-made background even if it was ‘unprofessional.’ That’s what this song captures so well - the feeling of being on the top of the world. Heroes tell us we too can overcome the odds.

On Academic Heroes In academia, the universities can be separated into tiers by psychology. The lower tier university are motivated by survival to simply provide a service to students and self-sustain. The middle tier is determined to produce new knowledge and methods that will be of consequence in the future. In hopes of becoming regarded as a top tier college. In a upper tier institution, every faculty member is provenly capable of producing consequential contribution. But, what separates an upper tier institution is the desire to create paradigm shifts. To draw the spotlight to a pursuit previously not of interest. To define what people in the future invest their efforts into. That’s why of many things in the upper tier, the risk taken expressed economically and the ‘fame’ element are crucial.

Lyrics:

I’m a new breed

Saucin’, saucin’, I’m saucin’ on you
I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’ oh ooh
I’m ballin’, I’m ballin’, Iverson on you
Watch out, watch out, watch out, yeah
That’s my shot, that’s my shot, that’s my shot, yeah
Spendin’, I’m spendin’ all my fuckin’ pay

I got me some braids and I got me some hoes
Started rockin’ the sleeve, I can’t ball with no Joes
You know how I do it, Concords on my toes
(This shit is hard) Ooh
I ain’t rich yet, but you know I ain’t broke, I
So if I see it, I like it, buy that from the store, I
I’m with some white girls and they lovin’ the coca
Like they OT
Double OT like I’m KD, smokin’ OG
And you know me, in my 2-3s and my gold teeth
Bitch I’m smiling, bet you see me from the nosebleeds
I’m the new three and I change out to my new 3’s

White Iverson
When I started ballin’ I was young
You gon’ think about me when I’m gone
I need that money like the ring I never won, I won

Saucin’, saucin’, I’m saucin’ on you
I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’ oh ooh
I’m ballin’, I’m ballin’, Iverson on you
Watch out, watch out, watch out, yeah
That’s my shot, that’s my shot, that’s my shot, yeah
Spendin’, I’m spendin’ all my fuckin’ pay
Ooh, Stoney

Cigarettes and a headband
Commas, commas in my head, man
Slumped over like a dead man
Red and black, ‘bout my bread, man
I’m the answer, never question
Lace up, learn a lesson
Bitch I’m saucin’, I do this often, don’t do no talkin’
My options right when I walk in, jump all them Jordans
I’m ballin’, money jumpin’
Like I’m Davis from New Orleans
Or bitch I’m Harden, I don’t miss nothin’
Fuck practice, this shit just happens, know y’all can’t stand it
I have it, I’ll never pass it, I work my magic
High average, ball on these bastards, it makes me happy
It’s tragic, I make it happen, and all y’all Shaqtin’

White Iverson
When I started ballin’ I was young
You gon’ think about me when I’m gone
I need that money like the ring I never won, I won

Saucin’, saucin’, I’m saucin’ on you
I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’, I’m swaggin’ oh ooh
I’m ballin’, I’m ballin’, Iverson on you
Watch out, watch out, watch out, yeah
That’s my shot, that’s my shot, that’s my shot, yeah
Spendin’, I’m spendin’ all my fuckin’ pay