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The speaker places considerable value the man at the bottom since he’s called “a piece of gold”.

The second line suggests that the submerged guy is too weak to save himself (“too heavy to swim”). Indeed, gold (which he is called) is denser than water, so it would sink to the bottom.

Since this all starts with “I wish I was you”, the speaker wants to the one who is rescued, even if that means she’ll be frail (“too heavy to swim”).

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Neither Islam (as signified by the month of Ramadan and its holy book, the Qur'an) nor Judaism (as signified by the holiday of Hannukah and the yarmulke, an Orthodox hat) had as much of an effect on Jay as hip-hop (signified by the DJ).

In interviews, he has said his “mission from God” is to make hip-hop music.

Also, see this line from “Voodoo Man”.

The Christ told me “Come close to the light, man”
I went blind, woke up in front of a mic stand.

This couplet is reminiscent of the intro to Killer Mike’s “R.A.P. Music”.

I’ve never really had a religious experience, in a religious place. Closest I’ve ever come to seeing or feeling God is listening to rap music. Rap music is my religion. Amen.

Lupe Fiasco has also made a song titled “Hip-hop Saved My Life”.

Jay might also be referring to the 1982 song, “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtfZbj4J71A

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Jay lifts his verse’s first two lines from “Paid In Full”, by Eric B & Rakim.

Rappers often say that they should’ve died before 25 due to life expectancies of young black males in urban environments plagued by drugs, homicide, etc.

Jay Electronica and Erykah Badu had a daughter on February 1st, 2009 named Mars Merkaba Thedford. They live-tweeted her birth.

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Though Travi$ Scott recites this hook, it’s likely that Pusha wrote it. Under this assumption:

Pusha sells his crack to his devoted fiends.

The fiends might be called a “flocka” (flock) in a religious sense, given that Pusha proclaimed himself the “new god”, even controlling the elements. Or it could just be a comment on their crack dependence, since sheep depend on their shepherd for protection from wolves and such.

And, of course, Jesus is known as a sheperd. Peep John 10:1-21

14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

The line also sounds like he’s saying “Servants in my flocka” which would imply that his crew’s got his back no matter what

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“Nothing is for certain” and “until they close the curtain” are lifted from the hook of “Aquemini”, the title track to OutKast’s third album.

Even the sun goes down, heroes eventually die
Horoscopes often lie and sometimes “y”
Nothin' is for sure, nothin' is for certain, nothin' lasts forever,
But until they close the curtain, it’s him and I – Aquemini

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Unreviewed Annotation 1 Contributor ?

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Gunplay uses some football terminology here.

  • He says “play on the yay (cocaine)”, alluding to the strategy involved in dope dealing what with the deadly business deals and rival crews and police dodging and all.
  • He then uses “field goal” to signify how close he and his partners are to some serious dough (“we ‘bout to reload the safe”).

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Time = money. C-notes are 100 dollar bills.

The Muller refers to a brand of Swiss watches founded by Franck Muller. Jay-Z mentioned the brand on “Gotta Have It”.

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Booze (“living in the bottle”) has been many a man’s refuge in times of distress.

These lines might be inspired by Nas’s father, Olu Dara, a blues-inflected jazz musician, but moreover, Olu Dara had a rocky relationship with his wife and Nas’s mother, Anne Jones. Dara was feautured on Nas’s tribute to his mother, “Dance”, from his album God’s Son.

Nas might also be speaking about himself as he had a nasty divorce with Kelis, especially since he says “Writin' songs is how we solvin' the problem”. Nas’s latest album, Life Is Good deals with his personal life, including his marriage to Kelis.

Music is therapy for him. Also note the word play: It´s the relationship that left him at the bottom the bottle/with a empty bottle all drunk and depressed.

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Unreviewed Annotation 1 Contributor ?

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How can a heterosexual (or bisexual) women not be attracted to this handsome mug?

Kanye echoes L’s supreme cockiness on “Bring Me Down.”

Your girl don’t like me, how long has she been gay?

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Oddisee has said before that his musical compositions are planned not only through an artistic lens, but also a business lens. The “coulds” are what Oddisee does when not thinking about business and consumer reception. Peep this interview with Complex Magazine.

I will say that moving to D.C., it was right in the same time where I had a mental shift. But not because I moved, it was just a coincidence that at that time my mind kind of shifted toward thinking about music with a lot more of a business sense and using a lot of the things that I’d learned over my career and applying them directly to my own artistry, applying them to my own marketing.

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