Yesterday, Katie Got Bandz released a video for her song, "39 Bars." Correct us if we're wrong, but this might be an innovation in the Chicago trend of choosing a random number of bars as the concept for a track—finally we've been given a number that isn't divisible by two. This was bound to happen.
In 2012, Lil Durk released a song called "52 Bars," an exercise in lyrical prowess at a time when the drill scene was characterized mostly by lack of bars. He may have not been the first to do this, but he set the standard.
He followed that eventually with an arguably better sequel, entitled "52 Bars (Part 2)," which he begins by stating that he's not actually about to spit 52 of them. "It ain't 52 but it's bars!"
Lil Mouse, Chicago's golden boy, proceeded to raise the bar (no pun intended), with his release of "100 Bars." This continued the trend of not actually spitting as many as the song's title suggested.
...And naturally, the first warranted a part two. Perhaps it's 100 bars in total?
...But no one was brave enough to lower the bar until Chief Keef, with "12 Bars," the empty space of which is filled in mostly by his "Bang" ad libs.
And now we have come full circle back to what seems like an accurate count, with Katie Got Bandz "39 Bars" video from yesterday.
BONUS: King Louie was a pioneer. He said fuck a number and just made "Bars."
Who will be the first to name their song after a prime number of bars? Who will be the first to use fractions? Stay tuned.
