let's move on.....
somebody try to decypher Think Piece, shit is like a lyrical puzzle..
let's move on.....
somebody try to decypher Think Piece, shit is like a lyrical puzzle..
Yo, manifest measures of life without the heat on
Phillies bare the central air, near the frozen green lawn
Eat by the handful, the handwriting sprawled
On 40 gold sinks, quicksand the colored thoughts
Bleed pre-meditation, we never get caught
He thinks to himself; would he bleed for the cause?
I'ma global warming heat soaring, street exploring rebel
Saw the face of the devil; it glowed like my blunt tip
Snake tongue, voodoo waterlogged imprint
Grand nationalist spin a web so thick
You can't escape, read the pro's prose see through the gate
Administer the sinister winds
To blend with similar slurs of vinegar darts create a curse
Elevated words measured on triple beams
Seasoned with regret, get skillful for our means
Self fulfilling profit from the bottom of scenes
Potent thoughts could kill if you discover what I think
Murder scenes covered in ink, all for the thought
Premeditated, levitated, sold and bought
'89 Pistons move in silence with no witness
Sling the grammar arm and hammer, Chambers Brothers bake shit
Gratiot to Gun Rule, get fitted for your hard hat
Spar with the shadow of self, perfect my portrait
Corporate drive-bys, tsunami rhyme high tide
Stand by, emergency mode damage the anti Wu related
My mind stay rejuvenated,
Flagrant holes in patients singing like Betty Davis
these are the lyrics for Bronze's verse or at least what i think they are on Think Piece
^^couple corrections or at least that's what it sounds like to me...Originally Posted by Bronze Feet
Ye those were the two spots i wasnt sure about at all
what you got makes more sense
peace
Bronze Feet is right on that first part:
Gratiot to Gun Rule, get fitted for your hard hat
Gratiot is a major street in Detroit and Grand Rapids is city in Michigan known as "Gun Rule". Basically, he's saying, "Detroit to Grand Rapids"
LA the darkman's line from Gun Rule:
Find yourself in the Hudson, rocking cement shoes
Middle east , Michigan, Grand Rap, Gun Rule
I love Bronze and Wisemen, they always drop little gems that you'd only know about if you lived here. They rep Detroit to the fullest and alotta people here don't even know who they are.
some examples:
Bronzeman
"With, splatter patterns, I'm dark like Rouge Park murders under camera lanterns"
Rouge Park is a grimey area in southwest Detroit
Good Morning (A nice Hell):
"On the road to nowhere, the boulevard; Rosa Parks"
two streets in Detroit on the west side, West Grand blvd and Rosa Parks
"Tears for D'wan Sims, this can't be life, flowers for sale, half off the funeral price"
D'wan Sims was a 4 yr old Detroit kid that went missing in 1994; his moms says she lost him in the mall, but the mall cameras had no pictures of them together, just the mother alone. So many belive that she killed him or had someone else do it. Still unsolved to this day.
"On a train to nothingness with Wildemere dreams"
A street in Detroit.
Honor's Promise
"Time's coming, but I ain't buying groceries with a bridge"
A Bridge card is a card issued by the State that low income families use to buy food.
Baronze Obama
"Detroit Schools shutdown, no money to teach
But we in the middle east settin' governments for free
Where's the mathematics, where's casino money from the gambling addicts?"
They built the three casinos here a while ago, with the promise that it would pump millions of dollars into Detroit Public Schools. In the last two years, ALOT of our public schools closed permanantly because the city has no money to keep them open. Yet all three casinos have expanded and seem to be raking in all kinds of money. It doesn't add up.
those are the ones off the top of my head, but just about every song has a Detroit reference.
Last edited by Jugganaut; 08-16-2009 at 12:24 PM.
Half dead platoon leader but woken by enemy heaters
Jugganaut on the block blast shots at all retreaters - Holocaust
In the melting pot, felt the shot heard 'round the world
We unstoppable like Jugganaut baby girl - Meth
Unbutton Ya Holsters
Kevlaar 7 - Unbutton Ya Holsters (Remix)
I had listened to this song a whole bunch of times before realizing the complexity and power of it...Initially, the amazing beat, the anthem-like chorus, and the punchlines take most of your attention but upon deeper review this song is superbly written. No surprise, of course, as evidenced by the other stuff in this thread but I really didn't expect this track to have the meaning that it does:
The entire verse is a metaphor. The whole "Unbutton Ya Holsters" is not just some mindless gun-talk but a call to arms for people to WAKE UP and also a call for those in the hip hop industry to bring their best work..
and Kevlaar makes it pretty damn clear he's bringin his best shit into this battle. Observe:
My words hold weight, observe the state
Great Lake rhymer, Obama gun climber
Show the holster's open for easy access momma,
it's war out here inside Medusa's stare
I'm on the fifth floor it's: Power restored
the first lines of the song (and of the mixtape) are perfect, these words are heavy as we're about to see..
He goes from the metaphor of "Medusa's Stare" or stair representing cement stairs or cement streets, a grimey environment caused by the gorgon's glare. Power and the number 5 are synonymous in the 5% Nation Mathematics with Power being truth, the truth is being restored through good, TRUE quality hip hop coming back. I also feel as if he's saying something of the sort that he is ascending and growing through stages or "floors" and he has reached the stage of power being restored which conjures to mind the character receiving a health boost in a video game.
As for the first two lines, he's "stating" that his words are HEAVY, they carry alot of meaning as evidenced by the prior paragraph. State can either be the fact that he is stating proof ("observe what I'm about to say") or observe the set of circumstances, the fact that he's become established to the point of becoming a dope MC. He hails from Michigan, amidst the Great Lakes and "Obama gun climber" is a head-scratcher for me....Next lines:
Hardcore Vietnam, an older son's encore
Steppin thru the jungle on a front line struggle,
scratchin double, gimme a culture of shots
Interesting one here, I'm not sure what "scratchin double" means exactly but "culture" again has a numerical connotation to it, the #4 in Supreme Math and "shots" could either be drinks or else you can interpret this whole stanza as one continuous sentence with "culture" keeping it's common meaning, so it would mean something like this:
"Hardcore Vietnam" - child of the generation that witnessed and was involved with the Vietnam War, I THINK Kevlaar/Bronze's father was in Vietnam based on what I've heard in past tracks ("Pops was a soldier, M-16s hit em") and thus he grew up with that thought and those images whether in movies or also it's just in his blood is what he's saying..
"an older son's encore" - I mentioned his father's war exploits and now the older son is stepping into a different
"jungle on a front line struggle" - I see this as the hip hop scene, more generally, the scene of artists/marketers/media demanding the ears, brains, and thoughts of a young generation that's exposed to and listening to music..
"Scratchin double, gimme a culture of shots" - Could either be that his background and the current situation (outlined in the previous lines) have given him a culture of violence or, it could be that he is demanding his fellow soldiers (real emcees and artists) to produce "shots" or well-delivered music, silent bullets (think 60 Sec's line on "As It Was Written": "Travel the world with a gift that shoots like silencers") that smash the brain into pieces causing the listener to collect and gather themself and figure out what just hit them. That's basically also the point of my writing this..
You think twice, I think in stealth Machs
and spit bloodclots all over O'Fay's plots
You crabs wanna crawl, get hit with that raw
footage my verbiage pull it, spit SK bullets
50 Cal vision, Barry Sanders precision
scary clocks is tickin, Larry Chambers intuition
Gun Rule bomber, my style is so bitchin
my vinyl voice so vintage hear the cracklin and the clickin
Pretty insane part right here..
He's painting some more camouflage-tinted detail into the war and battle scene, but all of it is a metaphor for the hip hop scene and, having painted the backdrop in the beginning of the song, for the rest of the verse he's describin what HE is bringin into this scene, his approach and the power of his art..
The first line is ridiculous when figured out, "Mach" is a measurement for things traveling at ridiculously high speeds, faster than the speed of sound and he's sayin "you think twice" while I think, and spit well-thought-lyrics, at an insane speed.."Spit blood clots" is referring to his music, spit from the heart and practically written straight out of the veins, aforementionedly saturated with the 'Nam burning gunpowder stench.
Visualizing the opponents as crabs (picture tanks crawling) creeping along the ground and he's yelling, about to smash them to pieces with his music: that is, raw footage and imagery coming out of his "verbiage" in the form of piercing bullets (wow). The gun or weapon that is delivering these ridiculous shots has a strong scope and line of vision, and will come at you fiercely and precisely like you're the end zone and the great Detroit Lion legend Barry Sanders (as a bullet) is making his way towards, ducking trees in the war jungle.
The clock is ticking as the bullet approaches and you must have the instincts of 'Nam soldier Larry Chambers (from Google, could either be the author of books of stories from Vietnam or the Detroit gangmember) to make it out of this scene alive. The last two lines are a clear statement closing out a warning, I'm a bomber with a ridiculous vintage rap style, so much so that you hear the record's crackle in his words. The "Gun Rule bomber" line is similar in sound and scheme to the song's second line.
This is Armageddon, emcees grab ya weapons
the region I'm reppin will leave ya soul dissected
My words are sharp, my nerves pierce ya heart
Swimming with the sharks, I'm the thirstiest by far!
Insane. Continuing the increasingly perilous war scene warning everyone to grab their weapons, arm themselves with their art, use it to survive. The region (Great Lakes, Gun Rule, again representing) is filled with emcees spitting sharp, fierce shit, and then the metaphor is maintained as one for the sharpness of his lyrics and words which are striking and emotion-provoking for the listener.
Having grown up playing hockey with the Staten Island Sharks for so many years, I love the last line, another way of describing the fierce scene we've been presented with in this song. (There's also constant references to swimming and sharks with June Megaladon in so many songs lately)
Don't make me risk my freedom, administer the rhythm
you see the snares bleed, hungry venom sink my teeth in
Jesus Christ what a line. First a warning sounding like 'don't make me risk goin to prison for killing you' but then he's referring to the beat which produces a crazy reaction on his part.
This line calls to mind a Hulk or Wolverine image of a monster tied down (or without "freedom") and shackled until the music ("the rhythm") comes on and he bursts out and tears the sound to shreds. Alotta blood references already and this is another one as he sinks his teeth into the beat as an emcee rhyming over it fiercely.
Wild Westerns in Michigan taverns,
in the jungle where the predators scavenge: Kevlaar is everlastin
Looking at it and dissecting it like this, the track is really an extremely well-thought-out collection of lines just like this one. It's amazing how much effort is put into these verses.
Again, the gun battle scene is portrayed, now as an old cowboy shootout in a saloon or tavern, then back to the jungle scene metaphor where vicious animals rule the territory and Kevlaar is lasting through it all. The line taken alone, "Kevlaar is everlasting" sounds like an aphorism, a concise statement summing up the artist we are listening to (and the music we're going to hear from him on the mixtape this song introduces) but it also refers to the material, kevlar, always strong and tough through anything and "everlasting" is also eternal, Kevlaar spits deep words straight from the soul, the everlasting part of man. Having said that, observe the ending:
Ignoring my sleep, yo, it's war in these streets
Emcees keep ya heat, my stride on water runs deep
"My stride on water" is a reference to the enlightened Jesus greeting his fishermen apostles while walking across water, a symmetrical synonymous statement to the "everlasting" line above it.
There's war in the streets, can't rest comfortably, need to keep one's head above water and be alert, but also saying I can't rest or be lazy, gotta stay motivated, the rap industry is competitive, gotta write and record the artform and stay up in this battle.
As for the chorus:
What was then, and what was now
Unbutton Ya Holsters my soldiers (chk-BLAOW!)
Draw the biscuit, actual facts in the distance
insist on the 12 Jewels now (chk-BLAOW!)
most importantly for a chorus, it sounds cool..and it's memorable..The beginning reminds of Priest's "Then Til Now" classic and, as in the lyrics to the song's lone verse, it's a calling-out of emcees to draw their weapons, there is competition in the foreground..."Insist on the 12 Jewels" is saying put out quality music, but also teach the seeds and uplift
Last edited by the silencer; 09-24-2009 at 07:26 PM.
Kevlaar on 'Three Kings'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEkra...om=PL&index=28
28 years, 5 more to 33,
Cant predict my death, they say I'm lying through my teeth,
12 disciples follow me, hollow tips behind em,
Trying to find the light that glows from my roach is blinding,
Fitting with the theme of the kings, Kevlaar describes the 'king of kings' Jesus who died at 33 and how it parallels his life. Kev's saying he's almost at that age now and hopes to accomplish the same things Jesus did in his time, and he's also having premonitions of his own death. The whole verse is similar to the image of 'ghetto Jesus' that Pac and Priest talk a lot about. Kev puts himself in that spot as a savior to the people, but he's still in poverty surrounded by guns and drugs.
Hiding in a cave, a spider spun a web to save me,
Engrave me with a cross and the names of my babies,
Enslaved in the house of death,
a prophet hangs from my neck, Muhammad's mosque number one is where I slept,
Like a bandit, poverty crept,
the king was branded and handed debt, a mandolin wept,
'Poverty crept', 'handed debt', and 'house of death' expand the metaphor of a savior from the hood. Jesus carried the cross, but he's saying he's engraved with it, like he's stuck with that burden forever and that's what he has to look after while still taking care of home. He says that 'a prophet hangs from my neck', so he's rocking a Jesus piece himself while trying to carry out the same mission in today's time. Mosque number 1 is located in Detroit, and I guess it relates to how he's trying to bridge people of all faiths together.
Chased me to Medina, subpoenaed my family,
Burned me on cross and brought crack to my community,
Soon to be raised on the third day, or third week or third year,
understanding true when you first shed a tear,
His goals were cut short, so he could no longer help those in need. As a result, his family got fucked by the system, and the community as a whole got ravaged by crack. Jesus rose three days after his death, but I think Kev saying 'third day, or third week, or third year' is like he was sentenced to jail and the length of the sentence is still being determined, so he cant come back to help others until he serves his time.
endearment my nigga, its been 400 peers,
culture-cipher-cipher, ask the lifers, they'll enlighten ya,
'Ask the lifers' refers to people serving life sentences in jail, so the lines above could be talking about him in jail building with other prisoners about slavery and how blacks have been fucked in America for 400 years through slavery. Every time a black leader rises in the states, they have been murdered or silenced, and with the whole Jesus metaphor, he feels he's been put in the same situation.
Blend in with black roses, I'm the black Moses,
?? in dirt, hapless on earth,
my miracle birth reversed the hopeless oceans,
?? the ?? that's open,
Prophets call a prayer, the synagogue is open,
All hail, kneel to the king's casket closing
Not sure about some of this, but its a great closer to the verse. Silencer, maybe you could take a crack at this?
noyzhiphop.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/noyzhiphop
Peace!
PEACE!
Once again SILENCER, you are basically ON POINT with your breakdown of my lyrics. I’m kinda amazed at how you’ve surgically broke this verse down; ALMOSt EVERYTHING ON POINT! Word! The ENTIRE verse IS a metaphor. I was worried if cats would take this joint as mindless gun talk when I was actually going MUCH deeper than that. This joint is DEFINITLEY a call for PEOPLE to wake up, mainly our society and realize what’s being done to us as in being “hoodwinked” or “bamboozled”. That is ONE side of my metaphor for this track. The other side is also a call for HIP HOP to wake up and get on they game INDEED……..
My words hold weight, observe the state
Great Lake rhymer, Obama gun climber
Shoulder holster's open for easy access momma,
it's war out here inside Medusa's stare
I'm on the fifth floor it's: Power restored
On POINT with the breakdown of “medusa’s stare” representing our environment, but also meaning we as a people are turned to stone and basically used as ROBOTS in mainstream society AND also in the hip hop game. You’re ON POINT with your breakdown of “Power restored”.
What I mean by “Obama gun climber” is that now that he’s our president, African American, and the most powerful ruler in the modern world, A LOT of things are going to come to light because of his and OUR ascension (“climber”) to this position in the world. What I mean is racism that we thought has subsided substantially since the Civil rights movements, will come BACK out of the caves its been hiding in, and things that people believe, but would never say outside of their own homes will be the subject of national headlines and outrage. The “GUN” meaning it may come down to turning to the heat in situations where every other option has been attempted. It’s time for war, so UNBUTTON YOUR HOLSTERS!
Hardcore Vietnam, an older son's encore
Steppin thru the jungle on a front line struggle,
scratch a double, gimme a culture of shots
When I said “Scratch a double” In basic terms I’m saying fuck a 22 gimme a 4 pound, (Culture), a metaphor for my lyrics or what I want when the actual shit goes down. “Hardcore Vietnam” you basically have it on that. My pops is a Vietnam vet so we witnessed what happed to those vets when they came home from the war and the fucked up treatment of them by the government, and residual mental effects over the remainder of them and their families lives, even though these men put their lives and families lives on the line for that war. And hell yeah I’m a soldier so that shit is in my blood yo! “Oldest sons encore” means I’m also fighting my war in my generation, and the results could be the same if we don’t come together and GET IT IN. “Stepping thru the jungle/ on a front line struggle” is me fighting my war and I’m on the FRONT LINES trying to bring the REAL shit(hip hop and social awareness) back, just like blacks and other minorities who were forced to the frontlines in most of the U.S wars.
You think twice, I think in stealth Machs
and spit bloodclots all over O'Fay's plots
You crabs wanna claw, get hit with that raw
footage my verbiage pull it, spit SK bullets
50 Cal vision, Barry Sanders precision
scary clocks is tickin, Larry Chambers intuition
Gun Rule rhymer, my style is so bitchin
my vinyl voice so vintage hear the cracklin and the clickin
MACH, is the speed of an object moving through air, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance. It is commonly used to represent an object's (such as an aircraft or missile) speed, when it is travelling at (or at multiples of) the speed of sound.
When I say “you think twice/ I think in stealth machs” you are ON POINT with the basic meaning of lyrically I think in stealth machs on some bravado shit, but I ALSO mean we are going to have to think in this manner to get through what we as a people have been and are currently going through, to rise.
You on point with the Barry sanders and Larry Chambers metaphors, but I also said their names to rep Detroit and with the double meaning of Larry Chambers (the decorated Vietnam vet) and the Detroit drug kingpin who had the CRAZY DRIVE to do what he did and TAKEOVER a major American city.
This is Armageddon, emcees grab ya weapons
the region I'm reppin will leave ya soul dissected
My words are sharp, my nerves pierce ya heart
Swimming with the sharks, I'm the thirstiest by far!
You’re on POINT with your breakdown if these bars silencer, and I’m basically saying ARM YOURSELVES, with the double meaning of in this hip hop shit and our realities as we know them now. Also the all the lines you hear about sharks and swimming and shit is a relation to the natural fierceness and also bigging up our fam, June Mega!
Don't make me risk my freedom, a menace to the rhythm
you see the snares bleeding, hungry venom sink my teeth in
You ON POINT with this one too even if you misheard or misremembered (LMAO) the “a menace to the rhythm” line!
Wild Westerns in Michigan taverns,
in the jungle where the predators scavenge: Kevlaar is everlasting
ON fuckin’ POINT once again!
Ignoring my sleep, yo, it's war in these streets
Emcees keep ya heat, my stride on water runs deep
Your breakdown is MAD impressive Silencer because EXACTLY how you wrote and broke down these last 2 bars is PRECISELY what I was saying fam….
What was then, and what was now
Unbutton Ya Holsters my soldiers (chk-BLAOW!)
Draw the biscuit, actual facts in the distance
insist on the 12 Jewels now (chk-BLAOW!)
As for the Hook, this is PRECISELY a calling-out of emcees to bring they A- game, and there is competition that WILL rise to the top VERY SOON."Insist on the 12 Jewels" is saying put out quality music, but also to teach the seeds and uplift, and aim to achieve, realize and LIVE the 12 jewels ideology…..
next 2 reviews of ya'll breakdowns coming SOON... THANK YA'LL!!
Last edited by Kevlaar 7; 09-28-2009 at 12:44 AM.
thanks for comin thru and contributing, especially this part I was always wonderin this line:
Bronzeman
"With, splatter patterns, I'm dark like Rouge Park murders under camera lanterns"
Rouge Park is a grimey area in southwest Detroit
also, "engrave me with a cross" can be a reference to his last name: Cross
this verse is tough, some crazy shit going on in it (and the other emcees brought amazing verses to the table too, this track is special)...Chased me to Medina, subpoenaed my family,
Burned me on cross and brought crack to my community,
Soon to be raised on the third day, or third week or third year,
understanding true when you first shed a tear,
His goals were cut short, so he could no longer help those in need. As a result, his family got fucked by the system, and the community as a whole got ravaged by crack. Jesus rose three days after his death, but I think Kev saying 'third day, or third week, or third year' is like he was sentenced to jail and the length of the sentence is still being determined, so he cant come back to help others until he serves his time.
I read the biography of Muhammad years ago and i could be wrong but i think he started experiencing alotta beef from the people in Mecca and he was basically "chased" up to Medina which I think the first line is a reference too..
the "soon to be raised" line I interpret as the people, black folk in this nation, have been mentally in the grave for years and there's that HOPE that they will come out of it and be resurrected but.....who knows when
^endearment my nigga, its been 400 peers,
culture-cipher-cipher, ask the lifers, they'll enlighten ya,
'Ask the lifers' refers to people serving life sentences in jail, so the lines above could be talking about him in jail building with other prisoners about slavery and how blacks have been fucked in America for 400 years through slavery. Every time a black leader rises in the states, they have been murdered or silenced, and with the whole Jesus metaphor, he feels he's been put in the same situation.
i look forward to Kev's explanation of this line
i put in what i think those lyrics are..Blend in with black roses, I'm the black Moses,
dapplin in dirt, hapless on earth,
my miracle birth reversed the hopeless oceans,
reverse the tongues that's open,
Prophets call a prayer, the synagogue is open,
All hail, kneel to the king's casket closing
Not sure about some of this, but its a great closer to the verse. Silencer, maybe you could take a crack at this?
"reverse the tongues that's open" refers to the snake's tongue and i see it as referring to the Garden of Eden scene....theologically speaking, Jesus reversed the original sins of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden so i think this is a reference to that..
PROPS FOR COMIN THRU!!
much appreciated...the track is amazing, took me almost a month of listening to it before I actually realized what was being said..
the explanations and the outlook of the whole track is powerful..I was just readin article about Detroit and how bad things are getting there, here's an excerpt:
nice to hear and see the perspective thru the eye of an artist (an armed artist) amidst this scene..The wounds are open. Since the scorching riots of 1967, no other city has suffered more depressing economic trends. The politics can be toxic, and there are continuing issues of race and class, as well as health care and education. Not one national chain operates a grocery store within city limits; the functional illiteracy rate is pushing 50%; the unsolved murder rate is near 70%; unemployment is up to 29%. And yet outside of Michigan, Detroit has been underreported.
Last edited by the silencer; 09-28-2009 at 05:29 PM.
28 years, 5 more to 33,
Cant predict my death, they say I'm lying through my teeth,
12 disciples follow me, hollow tips behind em,
Trying to find the light that glows from my roach is blinding,
WORD this is a DIRECT connection to my age and Issa (Jesus’) age when he was supposedly crucified. I am trying to parralell it to my life because of my attempt to bring the TRUTH to the people. I’m trying to be a “savior” to my people and bring the TRUTH to the forefront while at the same token trying to UNITE us. Premonitions of my own death is real also as I’m trying to get my message to ya’ll before I die and in the conditions I live in I can vision my death…. We live to die u feel me?
Hiding in a cave, a spider spun a web to save me,
Engrave me with a cross and the names of my babies,
Enslaved in the house of death,
a prophet hangs from my neck, Muhammad's mosque number one is where I slept,
Like a bandit, poverty crept,
the king was branded and handed debt, a mandolin wept,
“Hiding in a cave” is the story of Muhammad when he fled from Mecca to Medina and his persecutors were following and Muhammad hid in a cave. While he hid in a cave his persecutors saw the cave, but since Muhammad hid in there a spider formed a web on the outside of the cave and his pursuers thought he couldn’t possibley be in the cave since there was a web in front of it so they kept moving. Basically saving Muhammad’s life.
chased me to Medina, subpoenaed my family,
Burned me on cross and brought crack to my community,
Soon to be raised on the third day, or third week or third year,
understanding true when you first shed a tear,
you on point with this one fam. And the 3rd day, or 3rd week, or 3rd year is a direct connection to the 3rd day Issa (Jesus) rose, but in these days and times im not sure when it is so it’s like awaiting my sentence in the bing, so I’m waiting just speculating on how long it will be. Soon to be raise also relating the question to when we as a people will be raised to our proper position in the world as KINGS. Not just us blacks but the “meek” to inherit the earth.
endearment my nigga, its been 400 peers,
culture-cipher-cipher, ask the lifers, they'll enlighten ya,
Exactly my gee. “Endearmeant my nigga” refers to how we have taken that word and reversed it as a term of endearment in these days and times. 400 peers means its been 400 years and I’ve shed 400 tears for them, referencing a line from Ice cube off of his song “Us” from his “Death Certificate” LP, one of my biggest influences in hip hop PERIOD.
Blend in with black roses, I'm the black Moses,
dabbling in dirt, hapless on earth,
my miracle birth reversed the hopeless oceans,
revert the tongues that's open,
Prophets call a prayer, the synagogue is open,
All hail, kneel to the king's casket closing
Basically what im saying here is my immaculate birth, relating myself to Jesus and other in Immaculate conception, reversing the evil tongues influencing our world today. Also all prophets called to prayer “the synagogue is open” connecting the 3 major faiths of the world, to come 2gether and bow to the TRUTH being spoken throughout the world….
once again THANK YA'LL for the support and KEEP bringing these breakdowns as it sheds light on the true meaning of REAL lyrics in hip hop 2day!!
FIRST OFF PARDON MY ABSCENSE I GOT SOME CHILL TIME SO I CAN HIT THIS OFF!!!!!
NOYZ – you are on point with the breakdown of black royalty, looks like you really researched!!! my writing is in green....
BaRonze Obama
[first verse]
Yo I was born with that black oil in my veins,
civil war of the brain, let's dig to the core of the pain--
alot is being said right off the start..."that black oil" is a reference to the rich African heritage (see Noyz' Black Royalty breakdown above) that's in his blood but then the next line expresses something deeper...Bronze is bi-racial, and being born into a world with a tragic history of racial strife between whites and blacks there's a metaphorical battle going on inside his own mind, using the Civil War to express this because of the implications of slavery involved in that war but also how it's a fight between mutual parties in the same place...it's really an amazing line
but now (keeping with the 'black oil' metaphor) we're gonna dig deeper..
Yes you are on point here, being bi-racial is a different experience, especially being mixed between the two most opposing races. But I am a stable and stand up man so something has casued this “civil war” –it’s not ME!! So digging to the core is to find the truth.
Guantanamo Bay torture chambers hidden away,
there's a double meaning about Guantanamo Bay, keeping with the theme in the previous line about his own personal inner strife there's areas of pain (of torture) hidden away inside his psyche but it's also just a reference to the fucked up shit the United States has going on at Guantanamo Bay where they keep ppl that are captured as 'suspected terrorists'...
it's pretty amazing once u read up on the shit going on at Guantanamo Bay and realize the US, a country tryin to constantly put forth the illusion of being a force for peace and freedom and all that shit, has ACKNOWLEDGED that they torture detainees in Guantanamo Bay....I saw that movie "Body of Lies" yesterday with alot of it taking place in the Middle East and a few gruesome scenes displaying the torture that goes on with some of these terrorist groups but it's disheartening, at the very least, to realize that the US has stooped down to that level...shit is FUCKED up..
Exactly, it’s like what else are you hiding? Cause we know there’s more..
Nigga my kid will get sprayed if I stayed in the ghetto too long
the way this beat is, it's got a strong emotive kick at the end of it and throughout the verse (which has been written according to the beat so well in all respects) Bronze's lines work the same way...he'll say a couple things and then top it off with a powerful confession....here, after characterizing this emotional weight on his chest he just spits it right out clearly: "My child is in danger inside this dangerous situation I'm stuck in"..
I take it that there's few things that can worry a parent more than that...
Yes siiiir. It’s being left in an inevitable situation….you know something is coming so you gotta get over or around it.
Like Gepetto been pawned,
now the puppet back with the Bushes next to the White House lawn
Gepetto was the puppeteer in the famous story of Pinocchio and, if I'm interpreting this right, he's sayin how it's like Gepetto is gone and now there's a puppet for all to see (the President) being controlled by a puppeteer hiding behind the 'bushes' of the White House lawn.....it's a pretty cool metaphor but I'm not sure I'm catching it completely especially the Gepetto part..
you pretty much got it, Bushes meaning the family as well as the bushes out in front of the whitehouse.
Unemployment checks make us think they tryin,
I ain't buyin it, can't afford it
One slip and it's off into that mental coffin
One mistake, one ticket, one license plate outta date
led to jail time cuz my bail climb too high to pay
this whole thing is about poverty..
and when the cops are targeting young black man all the time, if u get bagged for some little infraction you'll be fucked cuz the $ for bail is crazy high...
not only that, it mean that it is a cycle. For minorities, it often comes down to a mistake that could hold us back for awhile or for life. Like myself,
- I was low on money and I needed to get my vehicle tags…I said fuck it I’ll get them later.
- So of course I got pulled over in the suburbs of Detroit (a city called Farmington hills) and get a ticket for expired tags…
- didn’t have money for the ticket (or didn’t have extra for it) so my license got suspended.
- At this point maybe it’s jus me being ignorant, but I need to drive still to handle shit so I kept driving with no license, so of course I got pulled over again in the suburbs (Livonia) – and now I’m locked up.
- Now I need bail money….so I use money that’s supposed to go to bills…..on and on and on
While lock up in the county, I did however write a verse for “Farewell” on School for the Blind-man, which will feature Rza as well.
Had me buyin Similac with iron while you ate for free,
Similac is baby food but I'm still tryin to fully get this line...i don't think it's as simple as it sounds, I think (and this might be an embarrassing reach) it could also be sayin that he was having to pay for inferior food (and thus 'baby food') while we're getting his music for free (downloading or whatever) and 'eating' for free, eating in the Thought for Food type of way......that could be totally wrong but I'm just suggesting it..
A bit off on this one. I was referring to the establishment, how all the rich privileged ppl live compared to those on the grind budgeting so you have enough for the baby food.
and Enron robbed employees and they had steak for beef,
like Irwin in the reef, when we burnin' in the streets—
this one's great...the same line about Enron is used in a song on TFF Volume 1 as well but here it works well cuz he's keeping along with the food metaphor from the previous line and (I think) saying how fucked up it was that Enron completely robbed their own employees and fucked up their life savings and all that, and they 'had steak for beef' which means they had a case to bring up with government about how these corrupt aristocrats (who probably had connects with Senators and things like that) took all their money for years...
now 'steak' could mean they had a legit beef to bring to court, but it also here means a 'stake' like a long pointy thing that stabs...which he then compares to "Irwin in the reef", Steve Irwin dying from the stab of the stingray's stinger (like a stake) in the Australian Barrier Reef......
I'm sure that I've got the imagery right, but admittedly the meanings might be off...
pretty close, this is saying they (ppl & entities like enron) really didn’t have much repercussion(beef), they went home and ate steak. Us? We die inside (like Irwin in the reef) if we do something as horrible.
they used to hang us, bag us, tag us same as Katrina relief
Some say they heard explosions when the levies was breeched
Detroit schools shut down, no money to teach
first line is equating the history of when blacks used to be lynched and murdered in the streets with how the government totally botched the Hurricane Katrina situation and let tons of ppl die in the streets...exactly
second line almost sounds like he's reading a newspaper headline and it's (yet again) fucked up how they gotta close schools, educational institutions, because there's not enough federal money to keep them open:
literaly some of these schools have NO BOOKS. Just a teacher and a chalk board, and a copy machine. Then the teacher has 40 kids in class because of teachers….learning is FREE right? How could you have no money to teach?
But we in the Middle East, settin' up governments for free
Where's the mathematics? Where's casino money from the gamblin' addicts?
this is something that annoys me alot personally and I've written about it in the KTL section in the past, how this country has tons and tons of money in the military so we can go out and take over countries around the world but domestically we don't have the money for education or health care....simple as that
then he's sayin where's the numbers on this shit? How is it possible that we're setting up an entirely new government in a foreign country but we have no money here?..."Where's casino money from the gambling addicts?" is a pretty damn good question too...
where is the money? Especially when you hear about these execs getting these bonuses and they are already millionaires…
Automatics sorta tragic, but it's reasons
bullets tore across ya fabrics, you left us behind
with no choice to react quick
saying here, that crime can be tragic, but it’s not like people do most crime just
to do the crime. They are trying to eat or pay a bill or whatever.
Let's widen the gap, confront a machine to his face
tryin to kill Africa with AIDS,
Here I’m calling out the establishment, confronting the machine, and doing this ppl take a chance on widening the gap between opposing sides. Im just sayin fuck it, because I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that Africa has all the AIDS tallies.
just like crack when it spreads to the people they want relief..
....but I ain't buyin it nigga that's RAW beef...
nobody eats raw beef….so I aint buying it….aka I don’t believe it!!!
[Verse Two]
He keep his thoughts with the bushes
dope pushers, crack addicts, that's where he stash at, skyview transactions
Can feel the pulse in my palm, grip the steel like handle bars
raised near the slums, where graves get dug
here it seems like, after beginning the song in the first verse by digging deep into the material that's been pushed down into the deep recesses of his mind and then elaborating on how fucked up things are, he's saying how that he keeps those thoughts to himself usually.....
and now in the second verse he's sayin how on the surface (instead of deep in 'core' where the material of the first verse came from) he keeps his thoughts on the shit going on in the streets..."the bushes" i take to mean weed, big buds of that greenery, but he's also always focusing on the folks out in the streets dealing dope, the crackheads roaming around...
that's where he's at and where he makes his 'skyview transactions' which I take to mean drug deals (skyview = high, cloudy....exchanges)..
yes bushes = weed. I keep my thoughts on them, and also the bushes, the president
who keeps his people’s eye on my area, with the pushers etc.
skyview was a whole apartment complex owned by infamous crack kings marlowe chambers & BJ chambers…
he's gripping a heater to hold on, like a handle bar, throughout this scene....these first few lines are just painting the image of the streets B is in the midst of..
Grandmas knit rugs until cancer devours they thoughts
from flouride spiked tap water in vaults
first line kinda hits me personally cuz it reminds of my grandma who just died from cancer in June and she used to knit and sew quilts her whole life...I saw her like everyday in the hospital and cancer was certainly devouring her thoughts and her body, it was sad to watch..
the second line I'm sure has SOMETHING to do with flouride in our tap water and how it's so unhealthy and probably causes cancer but I ain't hearing it right...fluoride is linked to alzheimer s well, and s you know they put it in the tap water…
a cauldron of thoughts, stay bakin' in my mind oven
without pay...realize it ain't no ways other
a scorching cauldron of thoughts (rhymes, verses, etc.) stays freshly cookin inside his mind cuz that's the only way he's gonna get by...gotta keep spittin that fire..right
Summarizing other men, when the time is chosen
How could a tree grow upright, if the roots is poisoned??
probably the best lines in the song right here...
1st: others will become enlightened in time and stand up and be leaders..
second one is a deep metaphor, exactly the kind Bronze is becoming known for: how could a kid grow up the right way if their path to adulthood is poisoned along the way with bullshit, poor education, malnutrition, lies, materialistic illusions, whatever fill in the blanks...indeed
summarizing means to shorten, or in my context to shorten the lives of men,
so trying to get that pay can summarize you.
Keep a loaded shell-spray tucked away, meet my left deltoid
Grim reap make you sleep, animation void
like bounced checks, empty clips, send me fifths to sip
certified mail, burning hot ale, smile still
I have a grim reaper tattoo on my left upper arm, so if you meet him, he gon make you sleep, animation (life) void (cancelled)
A bounced check = void
Empty clips = void of bullets
So send me fifth to sip for relief, thru certified mail!
Thru the liquor and all the shit I smile still…
Deepened skin, burgundy laced within
Puzzled lights dim, hemorrhaged tissue underneath the brim
And skull cap hiding, deteriorated faded hair patch
Cold abscess, eye lashes flared like boat crashes
Skin resemble cells of broken glasses
He's frozen as time in, diamond Rolex
Those who watch his soul divided from this physical essence
Realize without both eyes the crows came for collection
Staring at the stairs of heaven, the brain's dead end
Weak veins turn to ash, syringes hit the capillaries
Dosage varies for this airborne, float like Ferries
His raw elbow; lay in the basins of oppression
Zombie like organisms whose symptom's exposed
Now receiving bites from mites who bend and burrow
Knuckles ripe, tissues stiffen by the time we see light
This throws us, but notice how we walk, real pain
Electrical message to the brain predict he'll meet Cobain
Dormant until unknown lights told him the way home
His sixth sense; sees his father writin ghostly poems
As he floats toward the underground they plot his gravesite
in The theater made of clouds, no chance for stage fright!
here's the lyrics, any interpretation needed please post and I got you.
Last edited by Bronze Nazareth; 11-27-2009 at 05:41 PM.
i attempted an interpretation on pg 4 of this thread..
yo THANK YOU for comin thru Bronze...this shit is much appreciated..ya see there's already damn near 30,000 views on this thread, the fans definitely appreciate being able to come in here and check out these deciphered darts
analyzing the "McKinley SHOT BURST"!
i've been wantin to look at this song for a while:
"McKinley Shot Burst" off Thought for Food Volume 2..the GRIMEY-ass sequel to “Reagan Shot Burst” from the first mixtape..
the title refers to the assassination of President McKinley who was actually killed by a dude from Detroit..and I see it as meant to symbolize their music, specifically the lyrics which are as carefully devised and powerful as a presidential murder (from gunshot)..
Yo, Street lieutenant, never get caught like Drew Bennett,
Near the project with no science book in it
Opens with a parallel to the first lines in what is essentially Part 1 to this song, “Reagan Shot Burst” off Thought for Food vol 1.. Very direct parallel actually.. Drew Bennett (sorta like Steve Largent) was a short, speedy wide receiver in the NFL recently..He had a couple good years but he’s a pretty obscure reference actually. Steve Largent, on the other hand, is a Hall of Famer.
The other verse is “near the building where the boat barge is” whereas here he’s near a projects that grimey enough to where the kids aren’t even going to school or getting educated (no science textbook, similar to the chorus of ‘Wisemen Approaching’: “keep ya science books open”)
I spoke in hymns, soul soaking in grim,
Meteor showers from nine-month double pimp*,
Speaks in beautiful couplets like hymns although he’s amidst the gritty, nasty street environment and that’s what he’s absorbing. That first line essentially sums up what he’s bringing with his lyrics. He lives amidst and absorbs the grimeyness but speaks beautifulness.
The second line is..I’m really not sure what the last word is and that makes the line hard to comprehend (maybe Pimm's??)
Thought Davidson, microphone heretic, exotic blend,
Appear in knotted wind, drink worms in my gin,
These first darts are all sharp as fuck to open up the song but they gotta be analyzed to really be comprehended..
I’m not sure who “Davidson” is exactly. My first thought is the college basketball team, an underrated small school that had an awesome year in the NCAA tournament a few years ago (led by Stephen Curry).. But, less likely, it could be referring to a modern philosopher named Don Davidson. That’s another really obscure reference though, I think..
“Drink worms in my gin” makes it seem as though the unknown line from above (“pimp” as I have it) could be Pimm’s which is a brand of liquor..
There’s been a cool image of mixed chaos being etched kinda under the surface with “meteor showers”, “exotic blend”, “knotted wind” and then
Spin gats like synapse, collapse in ya bitch lap,
Which makes what we have just heard pretty insane..Maybe that word in the 4th line* is indeed Pimm’s. So he’s been drinking gin and liquor heavily, “soaking in grim” and now his head is basically spinning until he collapses on some random chick’s lap..
If so, it would be parallel to “I sip thunderbird” from Reagan Shotburst
("spin gats" could also be like he's so fucked up he's playing Russian Roulette)
I'm mad ?speaker? pitch rap, free to slick hacks
This line is said so quickly I can’t decypher what’s being said but I know it’s heavy with substance (as almost every line in the song is)
Slam graves on top of mismatched semi-dug holes,
Load rockets in rifles, Mind went sightful
Now he’s goin crazy, it’s like he absorbed these harsh shots, exotic blends til he passed out and now he’s up and now he’s speaking some CRAZY, psycho-killer images. “Mind went sightful” (if it’s not “went psycho”) sounds like he’s saying the killer sees things clearly now, although in reality he’s gone insane.
Use bourbon when I'm servin sniper shots off the Eiffel
Charles Whitman pipe blow, Continue violent cycles
Another liquor reference but tying it into the scene of a crazed killer who just loaded a rifle and now is busting shots off the top of a tower like Charles Whitman who massacred students on a college campus in 1966 after killing his wife and mother, obviously having lost it. He was shooting a rifle from atop a pretty high tower. Pretty gruesome, grimey image here from Bronze..
Scripts from Glasgow, hassle like white wolves
Bodies on the rafter every time the mic blows
Glasgow I’m unsure of. Could be the place or the Pulitzer prize winning author Ellen Glasgow but I doubt it’s the latter. “Bodies on the rafter” conjures bodies hanging from nooses
Engineers disappear only their story's on the white news,
Bodies are left hanging “everytime the mic blows” so the engineer who’s present when he’s recording is dead, he’s disappeared aside from the fact that his story is appearing on the news.
Ghetto candid cam so the sidewalk's slight bruised
My mind off too, Cloverfield high mountain view
Going from the TV news reference back to (I think) a metaphor for Bronze’s rhymes. The sidewalks are “slight bruised” or dark and blood-stained. The next line is one of my favorites of the song, a sick, cryptic description of being high on herb. Cloverfield makes reference to the weed plant but also to the film which uses a “candid cam” technique throughout.. It’s really a sick double-meaning and double-image. “My mind off too” meaning not only he’s high from the clover but he’s gone crazy and is similar to the huge monster in Cloverfield with a “high mountain view” tearing shit apart in the city..
Roaming in twos, goons with scopes in our shoes
You never saw bullets float like smoke from shrooms…
Some melodic wordplay describing the image of his crew and the damage they can inflict. The second line kinda maintains the chaotic image of the Cloverfield monster tearing shit apart, “shrooms” is both a mushroom cloud from an explosion and a parallel to clover and the weed reference from above..
There’s a slight pause here which allows the listener to visualize the mushroom cloud in slowmotion
Re-open still-open wounds,
^^A nice, gruesome way to jump back in..
Hoping I choke ‘em wit opium laced news
Flash through…skulls crushed like cashews
The first line is the best in the song. A dope description of his approach with his writing, trying to “choke em” which could either mean make them cough from the potency of his “opium-laced” art or make them FEEL it emotionally, get choked up.
The second line reminds me of Rza “crack ya skull without penetratin ya skin”.. It’s violent but it’s also describing how his music educates the listener.
One blast from the slug cause Cash Rules,
Habitual offender, Exodus lateral
I love this last part of the song, painting some crazy images in so few words. Here he seems to be describing a robbery and subsequent capture. He’s had a few offenses now and he’s thrown in jail. “Exodus lateral” is fuckin awesome. In football a “lateral” is a player tossing the ball to another and here he’s thrown into jail which leads to:
Escape jail with thirty days of careful plan patterning
Alley gunman, dungeon blue print plan running
“Exodus” conjured both the Israelites being chained and enslaved and also their journey to escape that environment. That’s maintained here as he’s devising a scheme (“blueprint”) like the dude in “Shawshank Redemption” to escape jail, the “dungeon”
Schemes to eliminate teams by the dozens
Time Square or the boxing ring, shots bustin
Now he’s out and continuing the thrashing that was being described at the beginning. The goal is to eliminate the competitors, whether it’s in the streets or with the music, “boxing ring” could be lyrical battles with “shots” or darts being thrown..
Tear into rocks and watch me bury bodies underneath production
106th and Playground emcee abduction
“tear into rocks” conjures a gravestone being carved but also sharp bullet darts blastin thru stone..
the second line is similar to the ending of “Reagan Shotburst” but it’s a funny play on the show which so often now features whackass “playground emcees” with simple shit..Here they’re abducted kids on a playground
Direct Effect a sudden death you know who get the rock first,
McKinley shot burst leave ‘em in a hot hearse..
“Direct Effect”, I think, playing on the MTV show.. “Sudden Death” is a football reference, going into overtime and Bronze gets the rock first.. If you look closely, “Exodus lateral”, blueprint plan running (like a team running plays), eliminating teams by the dozen, and this last part are all football talk..
thx for the love y'all and especially my man Silencer who asked the question in the blue green color, my answers are in lime green. Here we go:
goin thru some Thought for Food volume 2 lines that I'm not sure of while i sit and watch football.....lotta crazy wordplay on the mixtape but some of it goes straight over my head
need some clarification with these..
Street Corners
"Fuck Israel, it's kill hills.." –
I don't hate Israel for being a Jewish state. I Love Jewish folks, I do however disagree with the way Israel has come to exist. The big picture is how Israel was formed and how many many people suffered and lost their lives. Israel is considered stolen land by many.
As for myself, I believe that the modern day Israel came to be in a grimy way and will always have that as a history, even though new generations have been born, and new blood feels empathy for those that suffered, many of them hate to see how the Palestinians are treated and want changes.
"There's more of us than Florida oranges and lost orphans"
was always guessing the oranges line has somethin to do with how such a huge percentage of black men are in prison
there’s more of us looking for a way, than all the oranges in FL and years of lost and confused orphans.
McKinley Shot Burst
(crazy wordplay all throughout but so much I don't catch)
"Meteor showers from 9-month double ??/
bullets from nine month double M (9mm) – my nine clip is pregnant (full)
Thought Davidson, microphone heretic exotic blend"
Stalk Davison (Detroit Street),
Heretic = : one who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine : nonconformist
And I got many different flavors and blends
"Hopin' I choke 'em wit opium-laced news"
choke em with dope words
"Habitual offender, EXODUS LATERAL"
we leave in masses (exodux) out the side (lateral)
Detroit Taliban
[Bronze]
"I'm safe as the face is ugly"
I don’t consider myself very ugly, so I’m not very safe if I oppose you
"Smoke float like smog in criminal court, it's useless"
just an exaggeration of how bold we can get
"Rap smack, endless gray spoonful hat trick"
rap heroin, in and endless (gray=heroin) spoon
hat trick = 3 times
"He dry snitch, they migrate and fry fish
send Africa a kite to see thru ancestors tint (?)"
you dry snitch, they migrate (go away) and fry fish (variation of sleepin with the fishes)
send a letter to Africa to see what my ancestors went thru
World Bred
"I peace-pipe it out, smoke thoughts to burn a house
turn a young Tina Turner out, walk in the precint with the burner out
No shots, blow shots, sparks to scream about
Verner (?) three ounce, sermon's remount "
I smoke out / so much it could burn a house down
No shots from the cops, then I walk in and give em shots that horrify (sparks to scream about)
Vernor Street Ounce, sermon’s remount
Used to buy from a spot on vernor in Detroit, which re-loaded my words (sermon’s remount)
Blade Runner (and Associated, same line)
"Mace never cold case, catch a bay stretcher
erase ya base set up"
Mace never/ cold case catcher (never get caught)
Beige stretcher (ambulance, stretcher color beige sheets)
Erase your base setup (delete you from the roots)
Last edited by Bronze Nazareth; 11-27-2009 at 06:55 PM. Reason: clarification
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