Music Review: Macklemore, Schoolboy Q & Hollis "White Walls"

Macklemore, Schoolboy Q & Hollis

White Walls

Album: The Heist

Year: 2012

         Macklemore cruises around in his classic Cadillac in the dawdling “White Walls.”

        A determined saxophone opens the single, setting a snobbish tone.  Whatever ring of dirt that was on the passenger side seems to be gone now. He puts the cloth back on the shelf and then grabs his keys. He checks out the car once more, mooning over the fresh coat of faded onyx paint and the detail around the wheels.  As a kid, he remembered his grandparents picking up in their Cadillac for the day. They would take him the park or to a ballgame. He always dreamed that if he ever made enough money, he would buy himself the exact car. Once he became successful as a rapper, it was his first purchase. He doesn’t care if people think he’s wasting his money. It’s the best $30,000 he ever spent . They wish they could own something as his car. (“I wanna be free, I wanna just live/Inside my Cadillac, that is my shit/And I throw it up (I throw that up)/That’s what it is (that’s what it is)/In my C A D I L L A C bitch (biatch)/Can’t see me through my tints (nah ah)/I’m riding real slow (slow motion)/In my paint wet drippin’ shorty like my 24’s (umbrella)/I ain’t got 24’s (no oh)/But I’m on those Vogues/That’s those big white walls, round them hundred spokes/Old school like old English in that brown paper bag/I’m rolling in that same whip that my granddad had/Hello haters, damn y’all mad/30k on the Caddy, now how backpack rap.”)

         In the chorus, Hollis sings as he heads downtown, showing off his car as he drives at twenty miles per hour.  Life has never been so great. (“Got that off-black Cadillac, midnight drive/Got that gas pedal, leaning back, taking my time/I’m blowin’ that roof off, letting in sky/I shine, the city never looked so bright.”)

         He thinks of the late Bernie Mac, his favorite comedian, who would’ve dedicated a monologue to the beauty of his car. He turns right, heading for the expressway. Once he clears the ramp, he floors it, going at 120 mph. He cuts people off as he changes lane, the speed giving him an invincibility he didn’t know he had. He relives his memories growing up, seeing an younger version of himself trying to catch up with his friends on the bridge as he passes it. The Cadillac is his first luxury item. Growing up in the suburbs ofSeattle, he would see regular cars. If he wanted to see expensive cars, he had to seek it out and find out if they were any shows in his area. The day the salesman handed him the keys, he couldn’t stop smiling. Once the salesman was out of earshot, he squeed for about five straight minutes. (“Man I’m lounging in some shit Bernie Mac would’ve been/Proud of/Looking down from heaven like damn that’s stylish/Smilin’, don’t pay attention to the mileage/Can I hit the freeway? I’m legally going 120/Easy weaving in and out of the traffic/They cannot catch me, I’m smashing/I’m ducking bucking them out here/I’m like go fuckin their tastic, I am up in a classic/Now I know what it’s like under the city lights/Riding into the night, driving over the bridge/The same one we walked across as kids/Knew I’d have a whippin’ but never one like this/Old school, old school, Candy paint, two seater/Yea, I’m from Seattle, there’s hella Honda Civics/I couldn’t tell you about paint either/But I really want a Ducati so I put in the hours/And roll on over to the dealer/And I found the car, junior, problem with this geezer/Got the keys in and as I was leaving I started/Screaming.”)

         The chorus is sung again.

          He puts his turn signal on and heads into the city again. After taking some side streets, he finds the neighborhood and buys some drugs. Schoolboy Q tells him about his plans for the next morning. He’s going to go the mall and hit on some young girls there. He’ll use the car to impress her. (“Backwoods and dope/White hoes in the backseat snorting coke/She doing line after line like she’s writing rhymes/I had it hella my love, tryna blow her mind/Cadillac pimpin’, my uncle was on/14 years out so excuse me and my ****** was gone/Sendin’ portions of his liquor, water in the Patron/Rather smiling like I won the fucking lottery homes (Fuckin' lottery homes)/Tires with the spokes on it in the 4-2/Most of the mayonnaise, keeping the buns on ‘em/My dogs hanging out the window/Young as whoosh, fuckin like we ball/Tryna fuck em all, kill the fuckin wimps/See what’s poppin’ at the mall, meet a bad bitch/Slap her booty with my palms/You can smoke the *****, I was tearing down the walls/I’m ************ off/Son, swear these eyes tryna hypnotize/Grip the leather steering wheel while I grip the thighs/See the lust stuck up in her eyes/Maybe she like the ride or did she like the smoke?/Girl does she want it low?/This shit a Coupe de Ville so you’ll never know/So we cool with ****** my ***** fuck the limit/Got a window tinted for showing gangstas in it/Slice off when the gas is finished, Q,”)

          The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

    Macklemore’s cocky vocals lay back, preferring the sound of his own voice. He’d much rather talk about his new car than anything else anyway. He mentions some sentimental value but mostly it’s all about how awesome the car makes him feel.

        Schoolboy Q’s seedy rap waves its glock in the air, taking credit for any crimes that have been committed in the area. The bravado for the thuggish behavior is outdated. It’s as though he’s trying to prove himself to Jay Z and Snoop Dogg, avoiding the current generation entirely.

Meanwhile Hollis’ nostalgic vocals breathe in the fresh air, enjoying the ride. She is able to rise above the materialism and smut, blushing from the attention. 

The tacky “White Walls” rubs in its success, wiping out any goodwill.