Let's face it: Raph adores his mother. He probably dedicates and name drops Beth Meier as much as he does his hometown of Toronto, and no matter what his woes, she's always been there for him. She raised him all by herself and Raph's never forgotten. He might be tight lipped now, but in 2009, Raph gave one of his first and saddest interviews ever about the financial and emotional strain his family was going through when he was making So Far Gone: "My dad left when I was a kid and I always knew we had money problems. My mama suffered trying to give me a good life. It was just not easy what she went through when she got sick. I had to promise her everything was going to be all right."
Well, he wasn't lying. And Raph clearly knows what his mother's sacrifices gave him. He raps about her on a ton of tracks, none as emotional as "You & The 6" from his surprise mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. It's tremendous. Raph just continues to out-Raph himself.
So, in honor of his adorable relationship with his mother and Mother's Day, here are some of Raph's sweetest, adorable, and sometimes emotionally traumatizing lyrics for Beth. Because even though he started from the bottom (he literally used to live in his mom's basement), he wouldn't be here on top if it weren't for her.
"You and the 6 raised me right / That shit saved my life"
To be honest, the entirety of "You & The 6" will make anyone with a soul cry like a baby. The whole song is a love letter to his mother, and consists of him apologizing for being a mess and not calling enough, making her resort to Google alerts on her phone to track him. It's emotional and it's perhaps the most Raph we've ever seen Raph, but "that shit saved my life" takes the cake as far as sweetest lyrics go.
"You love me and I love you / And your heart hurts and mine does too / And it's just words and they cut deep / But it's our world / It's just us two"
This line from "Look What You've Done" always gets me. The song's a thank you ode to the family that supported him through his younger years and Beth's struggle with cancer. After So Far Gone exploded and Raph set off one of the industry's biggest bidding wars to get himself signed, the first thing he did with his advance was pay for the operation Beth dreamed of. He literally saved her life. It slays me every time.
"Fuck you, bitch / I'm more than high / My mama probably hear that and be mortified / This ain't the son you raised"
Success had Raph on his "Worst Behavior." There weren't many people out to see him succeed as a rap star besides Beth and he's clear about it. After being on the grind for so long, he just wants to act out and enjoy his vices, but he knows this isn't the polite young man his mother raised him to be.
"Dedicated to my mom / And I swear my word is bond / Everything will be okay / And it won't even take that long"
Still, Raph just wants to do right by Beth, even if all the success has him acting up and showing out. On "The Calm," Raph raps about how strange and hectic his life's become since his breakout, but he reassures Beth that the mania is temporary and he's still got a grip on reality. Once it settles and he's in his zone, everything will be okay.
"I hate the fact my mom cooped up in her apartment / Tellin' herself that she's too sick to get dressed up and go do shit / Like that's true shit"
With "Too Much," Raph opens up about what fame's done to his family and admits that he's not around enough for them anymore, especially Beth. He premiered the track live on Jimmy Fallon a week before Nothing Was The Same dropped, telling his family that he loves and wants nothing but the best for them and rapping "since my text message didn't resonate, I'll just say it here."
"My mother is 56 / And her favorite line to hit me with is / 'Who the fuck wants to be 70 and alone?'"
The line is pretty self-explanatory. Even though Beth doesn't think anyone's good enough for Raph, she tells him to let his guard down so he can let the right one in. She just wants to see him happy. In "From Time," we see her worrying about her son cycling through women while he raps about "hashing it out like a couple of grown ups" with his ex.
"I was on TV makin' fifty racks a year / After helpin' mama out that shit would disappear / I am not a man / I can't do this on my own / So I started askin' them if they would put me on"
"Star67" goes back to Raph's teenage acting years. Between his mother's health problems and his school expenses, Raph struggled to keep both of them afloat and started running a variety of scams with his childhood friends to make extra money. He dropped out to support Beth full time but no longer regrets doing it. The track closes with him singing he had visions of the life he's been living since he was Jimmy. All he had to do was just go and get it.
@MAI_TREAT