No Lie | Break Bar | Burgerology | RPM Underground | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune on the 1st volume of Week 67 of Pint&Pen&Papers is No Lie by Sean Paul featuring Dua Lipa. This song was on in the background of one of these drinking establishments last fall. The reggae-tropical pop hit charted at #31 in Ireland and #10 in the UK.
Both Miss Dua Lipa and Sean Paul are British with Albanian roots so that’s pretty cool that the shared heritage came together for a club hit.
No Lie, I wish I was writing Week to Week Notes annotations to lyrics during the ‘00s. Sean Paul in those days was just cranking out hit after hit for us like Get Busy, We Be Burnin’, and Temperature. It was a nice moment in music. Hand-up, I didn’t always know what he was saying but his music got the people going so no bother.
Sean Paul told RapGenius this verse is about, “In Jamaica, when we say a young lady is fat, P-H-A-T, it’s really referring to the thickness of the thighs and the pum pum. It’s really talking about the young lady’s physicality: thick thighs, small waist, big hips. I’m complimenting her first about her shape, because that’s what really gets me to notice a young lady at first. Not having a conversation with her, not ever seeing a picture of her before. Just a glance at her, the first thing I notice is the body. But to know her and things, you have to compliment her, especially if she is a smart individual. You have to respect that. There’s a lot of ladies out there with a lot of game. But they don’t really have nothing under there, so I just kind of big-up those ladies. And not let people think she’s just subjected to, like, “Yo, she’s a sex object.”
Wow, there you have it! No wonder this is a club hit.
This tune was old-school Sean Paul. Also should be Noted as the women say, Miss Dua Lipa slayyyyyyyyed.
Sean Paul further stated, "A lot of what inspires me, especially with my flow, is the beat itself. When I hear the beat, in my mind, I picture the lady dancing. How she dances to it. A fine-looking lady. So those lyrics kind of come out. It's mostly to do with that. When a track is bouncing like this one was, it just made me picture stilettos and just a T-shirt. Or something like that. I just spit at it like that. I'm kind of speaking to her and also to the crowd. It's like, 'You're hot as hell' and, 'Look how she hot.'"
There you have it, to make club hits, you gotta picture fine-looking ladies dancing. Makes sense!
No Lie I’m a fan. This music still gets the people going.
On to the pints…
#GuinnessChallengeSeason
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. My grandfather from Connemara, whom I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extraordinarily nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan ever to give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Song On In The Background: All Of The Lights by Kanye West ft. Rihanna
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Brandon is the bartender. Once you finish a drink you can throw the glass and break whatever you want. It’s like an axe-throwing bar but with flying pint glasses. Sounds fun, but I wonder what the insurance cost is here. Before throwing you have to fill out a long-ass waiver form with a ton of small print so they must have it covered. Big corporate team-building spot. A lot of team bonding and networking going on over breaking stuff with drinks in it. Cool spot. Different, haven’t been to one of these yet. Drink. Smash. Repeat.
Ever feel like you need to smash things? Is the corporate cubicle crunch getting at you? Angry about something and need to blow off some steam? The Break Bar’s throwing range allows you to let out a bit of angst in a fun and safe drinking environment. You can also network with other colleagues while letting go of some rage. They have targets such as bells and public figures that you can throw your pint glass, shot glass, or wine glass at after downing your drink. I have not yet been to a spot quite like the Break Bar, but I love the concept. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness and smashing things at Break Bar again!
Song On In The Background: No Lie by Sean Paul ft. Dua Lipa
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Burger joint. This might be the highest ceiling I’ve ever had a pint at. It is incredible. Julius Randle is shooting 29% from the floor and needs to drive more. Katrina is the bartender. I’m just sitting here overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the ceiling and light fixtures, does anybody else around me understand how wild of architecture this is? They all seem to just be playing it cool. This is the Crown Plaza Midtown Manhattan Hotel. Katrina is “a salad girl” so she always goes with the Cobb. “Most guys order the burgers.”
No joke, the ceiling of this joint is worth every bit of the price of admission. The picture below does not do the astonishing architecture justice, the ceiling just keeps going. Burgeroloy serves high-quality craft burgers. They have experimented with #BurgerScience to create flavors that push the limits and they never stop on their quest to make the perfect burger. They use USDA prime meat, which is only about 3% of the beef sold in all of the land. I look forward to staring up at the ceiling, getting a burger, and grabbing another drink at Burgerology again!
Song On In The Background: Forgot About Dre by Dr. Dre ft. Eminem
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Karaoke Bar near Central Park. Retro basement bar. Very cool, unique feel to it. They have a very retro old-school Coca-Cola fridge with a sign of 15 cents for a glass bottle. Some white guy is karaoke rapping “Forgot About Dre” by Dr. Dre and is actually quite good, very funny. He struggled a bit with the Slim Shady part but that’s okay, who doesn’t? Rotations Permanent is what the name stands for. They have over 70k songs to sing. Backstreet Boys came on next.
RPM Underground is a massive space for karaoke. It’s an 11,000-square-foot bar basement so you can sing your heart out underground. The venue also features a record store filled with unique and rare vinyl finds. RPM Underground also has a speakeasy with 18 private-party pop-themed karaoke rooms and 2 full-service bars. On the weekends they also have a bottomless brunch from 12 to 5 PM, for $39 you get bottomless drinks, a private room, and an entree. They are an elite NYC karaoke spot with every song, you name it. I look forward to grabbing another drink and singing (maybe) at RPM Underground again!