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February 24, 2012

Mention of Cryptography in a Rap Song

The new movie Safe House features the song "No Church in the Wild," by Kanye West, which includes this verse:

I live by you, desire
I stand by you, walk through the fire
Your love is my scripture
Let me into your encryption

Posted on February 24, 2012 at 1:37 PM • 24 Comments

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Comments

Mother eff Kayne... You should hear MC Stephen Hawking and most of the other Nerd-Core raps out there. If I see Kanye on this blog again, I'm burning Liars and Outliers, I will not tell Chuck Norris about this, however I think he already knows and has allowed this post to happen. Are Schneier and Norris mutually exclusive?
(NSFW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2knWCuzcdJo
Lyrics...
http://www.lyricsmania.com/...

-rich

Posted by: richrumble at February 24, 2012 1:51 PM

This is more pertinent to cryptography/rap: http://frontalot.com/index.php/?...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA6kG-tOkBs
-rich

Posted by: richrumble at February 24, 2012 2:04 PM

He knows... Almost 3yrs ago
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/03/...
Don't forget MC++
http://lyrics.wikia.com/MC_Plus%2B:Alice_And_Bob

Kayne does suck donkey Dee's.

Posted by: ToldYa$0 at February 24, 2012 2:17 PM

I also think it's a bit of a stretch. I mean yes it's mentioned but from the context as given it doesn't seem like a particularly good word choice.

Anyway, check out "cypher" as it pertains to hip hop. I think the etymology there would be quite interesting.

Lose Yourself, by Eminem:

I was playing in the beginning, the mood all changed
I've been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhyming and stepped right into the next cypher

Posted by: Curby at February 24, 2012 2:18 PM

I'll see your vague references to cryptography and raise you a truly surprising rap lyric from an Oakland based rapper named Casual. It's from a song called Jaw Gymnastics on the Del tha Funky Homosapien album "Both Sides of the Brain." For those not familiar, Del's songs frequently invoke technology, cryptography and other geeky subjects. Casual has one verse in this song, and in my opinion it's the best:

"Hell, you can even send an email
I'll rip dat ass a 500k detail usin' c-shell"

What rapper knows about UNIX, much less csh?!

I also recommend checking out the album "Deltron 3030" - more references to computer viruses and technology than you can shake a stick at. Great stuff if you're into hip hop. :)

Posted by: applekid at February 24, 2012 2:29 PM

He knows about MC++ too :) Almost 6 yrs ago. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/05/...
(He is mentioned in the lyrics you know)
-rich

Posted by: richrumble at February 24, 2012 2:29 PM

Imma let you finish Kanye - but I don't think you are using that word correctly. :-)

Posted by: ljm at February 24, 2012 2:45 PM

but this is not a rap song,
kanye west is not a rapper LOL

Posted by: RecklessTypist at February 24, 2012 2:47 PM

Hard drive aint the only kinda drive-by
Just like yo mom still uses MD5

Dawg, aint no evil maid in this hotel
Keep offa my network and hands off my Dell

I aint got no encryption - you callin' me a liar?
Plausable deniability, I'm encryptin' like Schneier

Posted by: MC Nerd at February 24, 2012 2:58 PM

@apple
In case you hadn't heard, the followup to Deltron 3030 is due out around May.

Posted by: JP at February 24, 2012 3:29 PM

I was all ready to drop some Front-a-lot and MC++, up in these comments, but I see you've all beaten me to the proverbial punch. It does my heart good to see such appreciation for Nerdcore Hip Hoppas.

Keep it up.

Posted by: David at February 24, 2012 3:54 PM

@jp

I have heard, however like any much-anticipated followup I am terrified that it won't meet my ridiculous expectations.

3030 will always be his magnum opus in my book. Any idea whether Dan the Automator is producing? Glad to hear from other 3030 fans. :)

Posted by: applekid at February 24, 2012 4:00 PM

The only MC that matters is the MC5 ... ;-)

Posted by: kingsnake at February 24, 2012 4:12 PM

we need a like button on the blog......or a thumbs up, and down.

Posted by: Bobby at February 24, 2012 10:50 PM

There's a lot of Kayne hate on the net. Well-deserved. However, I've found it to be a wise move to separate a person from his work. Eg: Martin Luther's antisemitism shouldn't discredit his work creating Protestantism. Kayne has a few songs with excellent lyrics and background music (Golddigger being one of my favorites). We should separate the [a**oholic] man from his well-done lyrics.

Posted by: Nick P at February 25, 2012 3:01 AM

Anguisette (anguisette.com) makes a crypto reference in his song "Reset"

In hazy nights a reality of our own
Dare we plan? Dare we conspire?
Through our eyes alone
Wave functions collapse to certainty
Encrypted anxiety

Posted by: chkarrer@aman'thul at February 25, 2012 5:24 AM

Hmm,

"encryption" might not mean what you think it does...

As some cryptographers know "encrypt" is a word that has the same meaning as "inhume", "interrn", "entomb" or plain simple "bury".

Thus the raper could be indicating a desire to be at someones funeral, or as "walking through fire" is mentioned their out door cremation.

Or speaking of crypt and tombs, which are generaly found in a cemetery or Necropolis perhaps something worse...

Look up what is supposed to have happened to the embalmed body of Eva Perone. She was embalmed by Dr Pedro Ara using a secret process, that left all the internal organs intact and the body joints etc mobile. Her body effectivly became a "political football" and was kicked from place to place and often kept hidden or on public display. As one of Argentina's notable writers (Mr. Martinez) put it "I believe that this points to this country's tendency toward necrophilia.". At one point the body was kept in the house of an Argentine Army Major, who later got into an argument with his wife and shot her. It was rumoured that the argument was over his habit of taking Eva's embalmed body to bed with him...

Posted by: Clive Robinson at February 25, 2012 7:23 AM

@applekid
@JP

Cheers! Deltron 3030 was my first thought.
Thanks for notification that a new album will/might drop soon.

Posted by: Upgrade your gray matter at February 25, 2012 7:02 PM

Well I mean most rappers seem to be pretty good at cryptography...

"sup trick, yall b trippin' off tha heezy fo' sheezy ma neezy. Ya dig? Cheah boiiiiiii!!!"

Say wha?

Posted by: Figureitout at February 25, 2012 8:42 PM

I've got 99 problems but a breach ain't one.

Posted by: yurri at February 26, 2012 4:23 PM

"Safe House"

I hate it when studios decide to make a new movie with the same name as previously wrapped and distributed movies but not being movies re-done with a similar or exact plot from previously same named films. The same is true for this stupid looking movie called Safe House.

The best, and underwatched, underappreciated movie called, "Safe House", starred Patrick Stewart (from Star Trek: The Next Generation") playing the role of Mace Sowell:

"A psychological thriller; Mace Sowell, an ex-intelligence operative and whose past government activities catches up with him, faces his own mortality, in the shape of the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Holding the electronic key to secret information which implicates a Presidential front-runner, Mace struggles for his life while battling the debilitating effects of the disease."

-- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120051/

While it's nothing ground breaking, it is very interesting when it comes to the subject of TRUST in the world of secrets and privacy, especially for former/current members of the government. Who do you trust?

Watch this movie for a great example of why healthy paranoia is good. It also introduced to many the concept of the, "dead man's switch".

Andi: Here's the deal: no clothes, no mail.
Mace: No, here's the deal. I'll get my own mail, you go fuck yourself!

Even for those who have no interest in the movie's theme, if you loved Captain Picard, it's a must see.

Posted by: bit at February 26, 2012 4:43 PM

A better description of the above posted movie w/ Patrick Stewart:

"This unusual film begins deceptively, seeming to be yet another high-tech spy flick laden with futuristic weaponry, computers running top-secret software (with the requisite flashy graphics), and the talented actor Patrick Stewart slumming at the center of a nonsensical mishmash. Stewart's presence itself is something of a tip-off, but when his character is soon glimpsed hanging upside down from an exercise device, watching a wall of security cam monitors while quoting H.L. Mencken, it's apparent that this isn't just another action film with an outsized firearms budget. In fact, nothing much seems to be what it appears. Mace Sowell, Stewart's character, claims to be a retired intelligence agent, but his daughter, who doesn't believe a word of it, trots him around to a succession of skeptical shrinks. And while his daughter interviews potential caretakers for her apparently deranged father, Sowell is viewed through the patio doors of his lavish house taking rather acrobatic target practice in the back yard. There is the plot of a thriller in all of this, but make no mistake about it, the most entertaining aspect of this quirky film is watching Stewart have a wonderful time playing an endearing curmudgeon who might be the craziest man alive, or perhaps a totally rational man who really does know some secrets that put himself and others in danger." --Robert J. McNamara
-- http://www.amazon.com/Safe-House-Patrick-Stewart/...

Posted by: byte at February 26, 2012 5:03 PM

From the Lawrence Arms song Boatless Booze Cruise: "Encryption ensconces this cryptic cliche."

Posted by: Eric at February 26, 2012 10:22 PM

And let us not forget the song Guarded By Monkeys by Cracker which features the lines:

I've got your PGP key
I write you letters every day

Posted by: Hank at March 16, 2012 9:40 AM

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