There are a lot of reasons to read Daniel Taylor’s profile of Ryan Babel in the Guardian: the look inside Amsterdam’s crime-ridden Bijlmermeer, the subtle evocation of Babel’s uneasy marriage of gentleness and unpredictability. But anyone who’s seen the videos of Babel rapping that have circulated online will probably want to take this passage with a grain of salt:
Babel has a studio at home and has put out a number of records under the name Rio, including one collaboration with his Holland international team-mate Royston Drenthe. His lyrics could make Eminem blush – sample: “you can see this nigga with number 19/I can’t even spend all my money/keep your daughter inside or you will be my family”.
Somehow I think Eminem could stand it.
Read More: Going the Extra Mile, Ryan Babel
by Brian Phillips · November 17, 2008
His touch is too soft for rap. I mean, that last line is threatening … marriage? You can’t pull out fancy footwork one evening and then fat rhymes the next — I’m pretty sure that’s a physical impossibility. Put a tambourine in his hands and see what happens.
It’s true. Also, about 2/3 of his curse words are in English. I’d love to see Lil Wayne drop a record that was just sick with profanity in Dutch.
But make no mistake. If you let your daughter go outside, Ryan Babel will find her, seduce her, and then unite himself to her for life in the holy sacrament of matrimony.
Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
stop hatin the rap is sick he’s definitely got bottle and flow
Yeah, but so does a five-month-old baby.