From Creep To Kreep
I’m always on Spotify, especially when I’m at work and I’m trying to drown out the background noise, specifically the sounds of my coworkers’ voices and the incessant noise that they tend to make. I don’t have any playlists created, so I tend to listen to whatever occurs to me in that moment. I’m not a fan of TLC by any stretch of the imagination, nor do I care for the album version of “Creep”, but I always find myself bobbing my head when the Creep – Untouchables Mix comes on. This version of Creep I truly love. If you’re asking me why, it’s because of the Das EFX sample, incidentally from their remixed version of “They Want EFX”.
Listening to TLC’s Creep brought to memory another song by the same name, though spelled a bit differently, and by a completely different artist.
I had always known that rapper Chino XL had a distinct style when it came to his word play when it came to his rhymes and flow. Perhaps sadly, I only like one of his songs, though this was primarily because I was never a huge fan of his beats. When it comes to music, I have to like the beat even on a minimal level or else the song will not appeal to me. It is very rare that I’ll like a song for lyrical content only. The beat has to draw me in, even if just a little, or I will have zero interest in whatever the song has to say.
As a side note, this is why I tend to dislike a lot of today’s music. Today’s music just doesn’t have that particular sound that I like, the kind of sound that was so seemingly easy to come by in the 80’s and 90’s. If I can’t get into the sound, then the lyrics will fall upon dead ears. But for some damn reason, “Saturn” by SZA just sounds so good to me, even if I can’t explain why. It has to be the beat. The beat drew me in and it made me listen. That’s what good music does to me.
Kreep is one of those songs that comes off as dark, because of how it delves into the concepts of heartbreak, the end of a relationship, and how we move forward in its aftermath. We’ve all been there. We’ve all dealt with that kind of pain and heartache. Chino XL just puts it all together in a nice poetic package and does so with an excellent delivery, with the kind of lyrics that he was known for. For what it’s worth, I felt his pain.
Tragically, Chino XL, born Derek Barbosa, died in July 2024 at age 50. Suicide, from what I understand. Perhaps ironically, this song makes a reference to suicide, when Chino XL mentions Marlon Brando’s daughter, who herself committed suicide in April 1995.
Though he refers to himself as a “kreep” and as a “loser” in the song, I will never ever see him as such.
Rest in peace, Chino XL.
The rap world definitely lost a major talent when he left us. We got just a small glimpse of the kind of pain he was capable of unleashing when he did “Kreep”. I can only imagine what pain he managed to hold inside when he did what he did.
Regardless, I do not judge.
That is so sad. This world is so difficult to get through and it is so sad that some people lose their way and give up. It is so heartbreaking. 🙁
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I thought for sure I’d scroll down and see a video for the original Creep by Radiohead.
@elkay interestingly enough, Chino XL uses part of Radiohead’s Creep in the hook of his song. He got their permission to use it and the group allowed him to. I’m not a fan of Radiohead or their genre of music, but I had to hear their Creep and I did so for the first time last night not long after I wrote this entry.
@peripheral_visionary I always smile when you write how great the music of the 80s-90s was because I agree, but for completely different genres! I’ve never heard of most of the artists you write about. I prefer the alt rock (and some of the grunge) sound that came out of that era.
@elkay I dislike much of the music that fills the airwaves today, regardless of source. I tend to rely on Spotify, being that my iPod doesn’t seem to hold much of a charge these days. Some might say that I have an eclectic taste in music, though I tend to disagree with that. There might be some diversity in what I listen to, but in the end, I’m very picky and I don’t like a lot of genres of music. I think I might turn some heads, though not necessarily in an impressive capacity, when I can go from listening to Snoop Dogg and then slow things down a bit and put on something from The Carpenters.
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