Mind Playin' Tricks On Me

"Gangster paranoia is not convincing if the rapper is smirking from behind his wealth and fame, or already reveling in a self-fulfilling, clichéd ghetto martyr story. The paranoia in “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” works because everything is shot in a ruddy made-for-TV special haze; the sets are modest, if they’re sets at all; and there’s no attempt to portray the Geto Boys as anything other than people drowning in fear, even as life goes on around them. The picnic, the senior citizens, the trick-or-treating children, even the music itself—only a few other rappers have believably walked this line, and Geto Boy Scarface returned to it frequently as a solo artist, but he never again sounded or looked as hopeless as he does here, realizing that even paranoia can’t make the tragic melodramatic."
[Erick Bieritz]

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/stylus-magazines-
top-100-music-videos-of-all-time.htm


What does this song show? The lyrics provide an alternative view to the South and paves the way for Southern rap artists to be taken seriously. At the time, the only real geographic hot bed of hip-hop was the East Coast where an abundant group of lyrically talented rappers resided.

However, the song Mind Playin' Tricks On Me adds a new dimension to the southern rap artist. Examine the lyrics from the first verse.


At night I can't sleep, I toss and turn
Candle sticks in the dark, visions of bodies bein burned
Four walls just starin at a nigga
I'm paranoid, sleepin with my finger on the trigger
My mother's always stressin I ain't livin right
But I ain't going out without a fight
See, everytime my eyes close
I start sweatin, and blood starts comin out my nose
It's somebody watchin the Ak'
But I don't know who it is, so I'm watchin my back
I can see him when I'm deep in the covers
When I awake I don't see the motherfucker
He owns a black hat like I own
A black suit and a cane like my own
Some might say, "Take a chill, B"
But fuck that shit! There's a nigga trying to kill me
I'm poppin in the clip when the wind blows
Every twenty seconds got me peepin out my window
Investigatin the joint for traps
Checkin my telephone for taps
I'm starin at the woman on the corner
It's fucked up when your mind is playin tricks on ya