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Joey B & La Meme Gang may have just gotten away with a highway robbery before our very eyes. Call the Sheriff!

Stables, Joey B & La Meme Gang’s latest song was released to rave reviews, shooting straight up the charts. Joey B showed the world what he had in his stables by displaying the musical prowess of the La Meme Gang in a wild west themed video directed by David Duncan. After watching the video and listening to the song again and again, it finally hit me that Stables is not just a rap song it’s actually a cypher. They managed to deceive all of us, here’s my argument.

La Meme Gang (from l to r: Kidd Black, Darkovibes, RJZ, $pacely, Nxrth and KwakuBS).

The word ‘cypher’ is derived from the english word ‘cipher’. The oxford dictionary definition of the word is; “a secret or disguised way of writing; a code”. The rap cypher originated from the heart of South Bronx in the very early stages of Hip-Hop when MCs showed off their lyricism by going one after the other, continuing where the previous rapper left off using the rhyme scheme of the last word uttered. It was reignited in post-modern Hip-Hop culture when BET inserted it into the presentation of their annual awards. It has maintained its relevance in Hip-Hop ever since.

Joey B and his gang arranged this robbery so deceptively creative that it took a forensic audit of the numbers from us freetuners to figure it out. Six artists on a song where the hook is sung twice along with a bridge and four rap verses. Two rap verses come first then the hook, bridge, another two rap verses and another hook to finish it off. A very unusual structure for a rap song right? Right, because they needed to throw dust in our eyes before their getaway.

Joey B in a scene from the stables music video

Joey B takes off with a verse about hitting the spot and getting it right followed by Kidd Black in hot pursuit continuing the rhyme scheme and theme heating it up from where Joey left off. Darkovibes breaks the monotonous fast pace with his trademark crooning voice singing the hook aptly about him and his cronies taking off, the ever eclectic RJZ bridges the gap between the hook and the next rap verse with a sweet and saucy melody. KwakuBs ups the pace of the getaway ride with an energetic verse about his baby’s coca-cola body and how he cracks it. $pacely then takes it up another notch with his out of this world flow, rapping at double the pace of BS about getting money with his crew until Darko slows down their escape to land with the hook.

Watch the lyrics video here to get a better understanding of why I think ‘Stables’ is a cypher.