Potholderz feat. Count Bass D by MF DOOM Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Enigmatic Tapestry of Hip-Hop Poetry
Lyrics
Never sold a jumbo or copped chicken with its mumbo sauce
Tyson is a fowl holocaust
Hitler gassed your whole head up with poultry, I’m fed up
Ignore cordon bleu, stand up get up
Lunge for your knife, don’t forget your potholders
These old things
About to throw ’em away
With the gold rings that make em don’t fit like OJ
Usually I take them off with Oil of Olay
MCs is crabs in a barrel, pass the Old Bay
Hot as hell and it’s a cold day in it
Working on a way that we can roll away tinted
Some say the price of holding heat is often too high
You either be in a coffin or you be the new guy
The one that’s too fly to eat shoo pie
Never too busy when it comes down to you and I
Swear to God
A lot of niggas wish to die
They need to hold they horses
There’s bigger fish to fry
You’re on the list, if not pick a number spot
Ten and a half Timbs is made to kick your bombaclat
I could have had a V-8
F-150 quad cab but I’ll be straight
Money comes and goes like that two bit hussy that night that tried to rush me
Dwight pass the dutchie
So I can calm down so they don’t get it twisted
Take it from the fire side it won’t get blistered
Got it, what happened
Oh, it’s not lit
These metal fingers be holding hot shit
When I was four I pen god was born in New York
Back in seventy seven still got nan in the crescent
The effervescent of God’s presence is thick
Unlike vapor, escarole, extra roll, word to the baker
Peace to the hard workin’ ginger bread makers
Looked her up and down said hmmm too much makeup
Poor music taste, ten years from being grown up
Rappers don’t blow up heads do
My name is Dwight Spitz, I’mma Sonic addict
I use to think it was merely a nagging habit
Born under a bad sign
I’m serious about this curse of mine
I strive to flip it into fine wine
Barely born a Virgo is what the stars said
Black not white, red all over though like Elmo
Twenty-eight years have passed I feel I’m peaking
I make music every weekend
It’s a chore, a fact of life
A labor of love
I get mad love but I detest the labor
And it’s wages, you know death
I’m servin’ life on this gift of God
Don’t forget your potholders my niggas
In a genre where lyricism often oscillates between the ostentatious display of wealth and the gritty narration of urban strife, MF DOOM’s ‘Potholderz’ manages to subvert common tropes, instead weaving a narrative rich with layered meanings and intricate wordplay. Featuring the stylings of Count Bass D, the track serves as a conundrum wrapped in the enigmatic delivery for which DOOM has become an underground legend.
With a reputation for embedding cryptic messages within his bars, DOOM invites listeners to peel back the layers of ‘Potholderz’—a track that reveals its depth only to those who are attentive to the subtleties of its craftsmanship. Each listen uncovers new intricacies, as DOOM flirts with themes of authenticity, substance over style, and the heavy cost of holding onto one’s heat—both literal and metaphorical.
Beneath the Surface: MF DOOM’s Craft in Concealing Wisdom
‘Potholderz’ is emblematic of MF DOOM’s enigmatic artistry, challenging its audience to look beyond face value and engage with the music on a cerebral level. The title itself, ‘Potholderz,’ is a metaphor for protection, a theme that recurs throughout the song. Just as potholders shield one’s hands from the scorching heat, DOOM’s words suggest a safeguarding of one’s soul from the fiery trials of life—whether it’s the pressure to conform or the temptation of easy money.
In a genre that celebrates confrontation and exposure, DOOM’s insistence on humility and circumspection is both refreshing and disruptive. He articulates an ethos where prudence is the ultimate form of rebellion. The track dances through references of culinary mishaps, protective gloves, and a refusal to partake in the industry’s more questionable practices, leaving listeners to draw the correlation between physical and moral fortitude.
The Metaphor of Culinary Tools and the Art of Living
‘Never sold a jumbo or copped chicken with its mumbo sauce,’ raps DOOM, a line that performs double duty as a testimony of artistic integrity and a sly nod to the avoidance of shortcuts in cuisine and life. The culinary metaphor extends with references to ingredients and dishes, serving as an allegory for the organic development of his craft and a rejection of pre-packaged, mass-produced art.
This track is, at its core, an ode to authenticity. DOOM, with his veneer of comic book villainy, is ultimately putting forth a recipe for genuine artistry, underlining the need for what he deems the ‘potholders’ of life—scruples, self-awareness, and respect for the creative flame that must be carefully handled lest one gets burned.
Hot as Hell in a Cold Industry: The Irony of Keeping One’s Cool
DOOM and Count Bass D lyrically navigate an industry that’s both overheated in hype and yet frigid in its impersonal dealings. DOOM’s lines muse on the paradoxes of the music business—an arena where success can feel as blistering as failure, with artists often caught between personal aspirations and the mechanization of their art for public consumption.
‘Hot as hell and it’s a cold day in it,’ the duo raps, capturing the duality of an environment where one must remain cool under pressure and indifferent to the icy dismissiveness of the industry’s gatekeepers. The lyric epitomizes the seductive danger of the limelight—a beacon that has scorched many with its false warmth.
Noteworthy Prose: The Lines That Define an Era of Hip-Hop
Distinct lines such as, ‘I could have had a V-8; F-150 quad cab but I’ll be straight,’ exhibit DOOM’s dismissal of materialistic boasts so prevalent in rap. His preference for simplicity over extravagance underscores a stoic philosophy that challenges the status quo. In a genre bursting at the seams with vehicular braggadocio, these lines flip the script, suggesting contentment lies not in possessions but in one’s sense of self.
In just a few bars, DOOM evolves from a rapper critiquing the ostentation of his peers to a commentator on the social traps that ensnare many within and outside of the hip-hop community. Each memorably quippy line invites critical thought, dialoguing with listeners rather than dictating to them.
Holding Onto Heat: The Hidden Menace in the Music
The ‘heat’ referred to in ‘Potholderz’ goes deeper than firearms or lyrical firepower—it encompasses the burdens of fame, the struggle to stay relevant, and the constant scrutiny that accompanies public life. DOOM warns of the price of holding onto this ‘heat,’ be it through violence or vanity—a price that often exceeds its perceived worth.
‘You either be in a coffin or you be the new guy; The one that’s too fly to eat shoo pie,’ DOOM poetically articulates the dilemma faced by artists who must balance their aspirational self-image with their mortality, a sentiment echoed in hip-hop’s larger narrative. His admonition to not forget the ‘potholders’ reminds his fellow artists to handle their careers with care, steering clear of the dangers that can burn even the most hardened of personalities.
