Black on Both Sides

New World Water

Mos Def

Lyrics & Rhyme Analysis

End

257

Internal

124

Multi

272

Slant

Chain

Rhyme Groups — hover to spotlight

There's^✦ nothing more refreshing^✦ (that cool refreshing^✦ drink)

Than a clear, crisp, clean glass of water^✦

On a warm summer's^✦ day (That cool refreshing^✦ drink)

Try it with your friends

New World Water^✦ make the tide rise high

Come inland and make your house go "Bye" (My house!)

Fools done upset^✦ the Old Man River^✦

Made him carry^✦ slave ships and fed him dead niggers

Now his belly^✦ full and he about^✦ to flood somethin'

So I'ma^✦ throw rope that ain't tied to nothin'^✦

Tell your crew use the H2 in wise amounts since

It's the New World Water;^✦ and every^✦ drop counts

You can laugh and take it as a joke if you wanna^✦

But it don't rain for four weeks some summers^✦

And it's about^✦ to get real wild in the half

You be buying Evian^✦ just to take a fuckin^✦ bath

Heads is acting^✦ wild, sippin^✦ poor, puffin^✦ dank

Competin' with the next man for higher^✦ playin' rank

See I ain't got time try to be Big Hank

Fuck a bank; I need a twenty-year water^✦ tank

'Cause while these knuckleheads is out here sweatin they goods

The sun is sitting in the treetops burnin^✦ the woods

And as the flames^✦ from the blaze get higher^✦ and higher^✦

They say, "Don't drink the water!^✦ We need it for the fire!"

New York is drinkin^✦ it (New World Water)^✦

Now all of California^✦ is drinkin^✦ it (New World Water)^✦

Way up north and down south is drinkin^✦ it (New World Water)^✦

Used^✦ to have minerals and zinc in it (New World Water)^✦

Now they say it got lead and stink in it (New World Water)^✦

Fluorocarbons^✦ and monoxide^✦

Push the water^✦ table lopside^✦

Used^✦ to be free now it cost you a fee

'Cause oil tankers spill they load as they roam cross the sea

Man, you gotta^✦ cook with it, bathe and clean with it (That's right)

When it's hot, summertime you fiend for it (Let em know)

You gotta^✦ put it in the iron^✦ you steamin with (That's right)

It's what they dress wounds and treat diseases with (Shout it out)

The rich and poor, black and white got need for it (That's right)

And everybody in the world can agree with this (Let em know)

Consumption promotes health and easiness^✦ (That's right)

Go too long without it on this earth and you leavin^✦ it (Shout it out)

Americans wastin^✦ it on some leisure shit (Say word?)

And other^✦ nations be desperately seekin^✦ it (Let em know)

Bacteria^✦ washing up on they beaches (Say word?)

Don't drink the water,^✦ son they can't wash they feet with it (Let em know)

Young babies^✦ in perpetual neediness^✦ (Say word?)

Epidemics hopppin up off the petri dish (Let em know)

Control centers try to play it all secretive^✦ (Say word?)

To avoid^✦ public^✦ panic^✦ and freakiness^✦ (Let em know)

There are places^✦ where TB is common^✦ as TV

'Cause foreign-based companies go and get greedy^✦

The type of cats who pollute the whole shore line

Have it purified, sell it for a dollar^✦ twenty-five^✦

Now the world is drinkin^✦ it (New World Water)^✦

Your moms, wife, and baby^✦ girl is drinkin^✦ it (New World Water)^✦

Up north and down south is drinkin^✦ it (New World Water)^✦

You should just have to go to your sink for it (New World Water)^✦

The cash registers is goin "cha-chink!" for it (New World Water)^✦

Fluorocarbons^✦ and monoxide^✦

Got the fish lookin^✦ cockeyed

Used^✦ to be free now it cost you a fee

'Cause it's all about^✦ gettin^✦ that cash (Money)^✦

Said it's all about^✦ gettin^✦ that cash (Money)^✦

Johny^✦ cash (Money)^✦

Rosanne^✦ Cash (Money)^✦

Give me cash (Money)^✦

Cold cash (Money)^✦

Johny^✦ cash (Money)^✦

Rosanne^✦ Cash (Money)^✦

Give me cash (Money)^✦

Cold cash (Money)^✦

Cash rules^✦ everything around me

Move!

Technical Breakdown

8.5

Multisyllabic Rhymes9.5

Complexity of rhyme schemes (data-driven)

Internal Rhymes9.5

Rhymes within a line (data-driven)

Wordplay / Double Entendres8.0

Clever language, metaphors, punchlines

Cadence / Rhythm8.5

Flow variation and timing (data-driven)

Vocabulary Complexity7.0

Range and depth of words used (data-driven)

Delivery / Breath Control8.5

Performance and control

Computed Score8.50

Production

— Psycho Les

Be the first to rate the production

Critic Analysis

RAPLEDGER BAROMETER™

Mos Def utilizes a stark juxtaposition between consumerist pop-advertisement tropes and apocalyptic environmental commentary to ground high-concept social critique in relatable, granular imagery.

9.5

Multisyllabic

9.5

Internal Rhymes

8.5

Cadence / Flow

Vocabulary

Wordplay

8.5

Delivery

Satirical subversion of commercial jinglesHistorical personification of geographyInternal multisyllabic nestingEnjambment-driven flowAphoristic warning structure

Rhyme Architecture: Predominantly AABB/CCDD coupled with highly dense internal multi-rhyme chains (e.g., 'wanna/summer/gonna') that anchor the thematic shift from satirical ad-speak to serious sociopolitical critique.

Verified Doubles & Entendres

"I'ma throw rope that ain't tied to nothin'"

① A literal reference to the hopelessness of trying to save oneself from a flood with ineffective tools.② A metaphor for the lack of spiritual or systemic support systems available to people during man-made ecological catastrophes.

"H2 in wise amounts"

① A literal reference to H2O (water) as a finite resource that requires conservation.② A phonological play on 'H2-in-wise' suggesting that intelligence ('wisdom') is required to handle the chemical building block of life.

"We need it for the fire"

① A literal reference to using water for firefighting.② An ironic critique of priorities, where the preservation of capital/property (symbolized by the fire threatening the 'goods') outweighs the preservation of life-sustaining water.

Masterful use of ironic contrast between the opening jingle and the reality of ecological crisis

Historical contextualization of 'Old Man River' providing emotional weight

Strong structural arc transitioning from individual consumer habits to existential societal collapse

High-level flow efficiency using long-form internal cadence

Occasional reliance on standard hip-hop tropes (knuckleheads, sipping) which slightly dull the sharpness of the environmental thesis

The concluding imagery, while vivid, leans into a familiar dystopian archetype compared to the more specific historical critiques earlier in the verse

User Scores

Notes

Mos Def's environmental and social commentary was decades ahead of its time