Practice | 5ive Songs

1. DaBaby, “Practice”

💿 BLAME IT ON BABY (DELUXE) • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2020

“She told me she wanna have kids (Mmm) / I told her don’t know what that is (Uh-uh) / That ain’t how we speakin’ (Uh-huh) / I broke her heart into pieces / She probably gon’ call Dr. Phil.” Okay… After cockily asserting himself as 🎵 “Billboard Baby” on 💿 BLAME IT ON BABY (DELUXE), 🏆 Grammy-nominated rapper 🎙 DaBaby unleashes 🎵 “PRACTICE.” On “PRACTICE,” he serves up agile, masculine rhymes over minimalist trap production courtesy of 🎛 Sean Da Firzt.

The end result on this brief number is that it’s okay but nothing game changing, groundbreaking, or show stopping.  As the excerpted lyrics suggest, DaBaby is being true to self and focused on himself. Anyone shocked?  I’ll give him credit for the lyric, “I always had a thing for ghetto bitches, where the Trinas? / I’m known to set it off like Queen Latifah.” #PRACTICE

2. Young M.A, “Praktice”

🎵 “Praktice” • 🏷 M.A Music / 3D • 📅 2018

“Y’all talkin’ ‘bout practice / Bitch, we active, we active / I just dump a bitch and dump my ashes, my ashes.” Woo! 🎙 Young M.A ain’t the least bit soft. In 2018, the Brooklyn Rapper returns dropped anotha banger, 🎵 “Praktice”. She kicks things off with an a cappella intro (“Like we ain’t never go hard for this / They don’t let us in, we bogartin’ this shit”) with subtle accompaniment kicking in as she finishes the intro. Beginning on the first verse, she’s backed by banging, East coast, hardcore production.

Naturally, Young M.A drops unapologetic, tough-minded rhymes, rivaling many of her male counterparts.  She’s profane and sexual, continuing to be open about her sexuality.

“No Netflix and chill, bitch, I get checks and chill
Put that pussy on my grills, bitch, tell me how it feels (woo)
They say that I’m rude, no I’m just that real (woo).”

The second verse continues in similar fashion with Young M.A spitting mad game over the beat.

3. Ninja Sex Party, “Ninja Brian Goes to Soccer Practice”

💿 Cool Patrol • 🏷 Ninja Sex Party • 📅 2018

With a musical comedy act like 🎙 Ninja Sex Party (🎙 Dan Avidan and 🎙 Brian Wecht), it’s always best to take them with a grain of salt 🧂. The material they tend to release is, expectedly, outlandish. That’s the case on this half-minute-long interlude, 🎵 “Ninja Brian Goes to Soccer Practice”, from their 2018 album, 💿 Cool Patrol. The key, once again, is to take NSP with A GRAIN OF SALT.

So, what happens in the sketch?  Well, Ninja Brian goes to soccer practice with the goal of having “fun, not to stab anyone,” or so Danny Sexbang encourages. Of course, he stabs someone, gets a yellow card (it is soccer ⚽ after all), and pulls out grenades 💣 🤦🏾…  At the end, he’s complimented by Danny for lasting 12 seconds, before stabbing Danny… again, 🤦🏾🤦🏾🤦🏾

“Wow, you stayed out there for 12 seconds!
That’s a new record for you!
Looks like someone’s finally learning about a little thing called sportsmanship
AUUGH!”

4. Drake, “Practice”

💿 Take Care • 🏷 Cash Money • 📅 2012

“Girl, you look good, won’t you back that ass up / You a fine motherfucker, won’t you back that ass up.” Woo! 💿 Take Care is the best album by 🏆 Grammy-winning rapper 🎙 Drake, in my opinion.  Drizzy managed to win his very first career Grammy for Best Rap Album for Take Care.  The album is filled with hits.  While I wouldn’t necessarily put 🎵 “Practice” into the top tier of a stacked album, it’s definitely enjoyable.

Here, we get Drake bringing his melodic side to track – something he does so well. He rides the minor-key, 🎛 Martin “Doc” McKinney/ 🎛 The Weeknd produced joint like a champ.  His pop rapping doesn’t make him soft.  Neither does the narrative, which seems to involve a stripper.  As “Practice” continues, we see Drizzy incorporate more rhythm and profanity, as well as amplify the S-E-X.  Sure, he’s encouraging this girl to trust him – he’ll treat her right – but we know he also wants to ‘practice’ and that she’s had plenty of practice…

5. Barry White, “Practice What You Preach”

💿 The Icon is Love • 🏷 A&M • 📅 1994

The late, great 🎙 Barry White (1944 – 2003) oozed with soul, sigh. With so many classics under his belt (🎵 “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”, 🎵 “You’re My First, My Last, My Everything”, and 🎵 “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me”), it’s amazing he landed the rare, late career hit, 🎵 “Practice What You Preach.” White was 50 years old when 💿 The Icon is Love, the album housing the ‘preaching,’ was released in 1994. He would pass away at the age of 58 nine years later (2003).

“I’ve had, my share of love / And some say I’m damn good / But if you think, you can turn me out / Baby I wish that you would.” Obviously, “Practice What You Preach” isn’t about moral or spiritual values, but about making love. We don’t associate preachers with sex, so, “Practice What You Preach” obviously isn’t an accurate representation of the occupation. Many clergy would blush listening to this grown-folks R&B record… well, maybe… ha ha.

“Cause you keep telling me this and telling me that
You say once I’m with you, I’ll never go back
You say there’s a lesson that you want to teach
Well, here I am baby, practice what you preach.” 

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