Jay-Z supports it wholly. Snoop Dogg is often seen dressed in the style. Heck, 50 Cent spells it out for us as if we're still too square to realize it: it helps you in the hip-hop world if you're "P-I-M-P."
But before there was a word for it, there was a sound for it, and few hip-hoppers realize that no song actually needs some kind of didactic lyrics to embody exactly what it takes to be pimped out. The phattest of the phat jams are successful if they feature the best, simplest and most laid-back instrumental samples in the background.
Well, The Meters realized it. In 1969, three decades before clever lyrics became sharp weapons and coastal rivalries spoiled a thought-provoking genre, the group recorded its instrumental self-titled debut album. It couldn't have known it at the time, but the New Orleans-based funk band's first effort would become one of the most pimpable records in hip-hop history.
So, what if rap really didn't have any lyrics? Would even the most pure and chill sample in the world be enough to hold someone's attention? Ten seconds into "Cissy Strut," the group-defining first track, it's clear that repetitive, laid-back grooves can hold on their own without verbal reinforcement. The song is driven -- but not any faster than about five miles per hour -- by a raw and memorable riff, something like the equivalent of Flyguy's fishbowl platform shoes from I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.
The syncopated riffs run wild on this disc, almost to the point of monotony. But it's the very formulaic, riff-solo-riff approach that gives songs like "Cardova," "Live Wire" and "Here Comes the Meter Man" their rhythmic strength; these guys are called The Meters because they measure their funk on a defined scale, and these songs show it.
The Meters' greatest achievement is its ability to keep things slow and simple but butt-shakingly appealing at the same time. Every tempo on the disc feels like it was deliberately set with a metronome whose batteries died years ago, and it's fascinating to think that a group could actually enhance the feel of a song simply by slowing it down. "Ease Back" and "Sophisitcated Cissy" are so unhurried that it's no longer a mystery why pimps prefer to walk with canes.
Even on the rollicking "Art," which hints at the more shuffle-oriented New Orleans soul music the group would record in the future, the pace isn't quite as quick as it seems.
To sum it all up, the album closes with its most pivotally funky number, an instrumental take on Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song." Sure, it's borderline hypocritical to cut out the lyrics to a song that celebrates vocals, but The Meters' version actually creates a tighter, chiller ghetto groove than the original ever did.
Unlike most modern hip-hop, The Meters successfully creates the soundtrack to a satisfyingly laid-back life. It's like every groovy, dirty and disgustingly funky riff from the worst blaxploitation films ever created put together onto one disc; what more could a pimp ask for?
