Because You Don’t Like Me, Stephanie

Cadence Weapon “Tattoos and What They Really Feel Like” – “Am I talking about something else? Well, I usually am.” No kidding, Rollie. The song starts out sounding like it’s going to be all about tattoos, but really, that’s just a MacGuffin — this is really about emotional exhibitionism, and a desire to hold on to ephemeral pain. The guy spills his guts to his tattoo artist (“you’re a cheaper shrink and you put something on me”) even though he knows it’s an empty verbal exchange, and he’s just unloading on a stranger who isn’t equipped to do much more than put some kind of reminder drawn from his personal iconography on his flesh. It doesn’t take too long before Rollie says exactly what’s on his mind: He can’t get over some girl who doesn’t like him, and he’s simultaneously excited and repulsed by his desire to win over people who have rejected him. Maybe it’s the thrill of the chase, maybe it’s a narcissistic need for drama, maybe it’s a manifestation of self-loathing. It’s probably all of the above, and at the end, he knows it, and he sounds sick to his stomach. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)