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DOOM likens himself to The Mask, and references one of his catchphrases.
They both wear a mask and, apparently, guns too, namely a pump action shotgun.
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In the musical The Phantom of the Opera, a man wearing a mask lives in an opera house and dedicates his life to music and the opera
DOOM always publicly wears a mask and is fairly reclusive (MF stands for Metal Face—and sometimes Metal Fingers)
The Grand Ole Opry is a country music radio show/house. This fits with the name of the track which references a 1975 song of the same name by Glen Campbell, a country singer and a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
The ‘dumb hottie’ may be directed towards a character in the Phantom of the Opera, country music singers, or both.
Like he hold the microphone and stole the show for fun
Or a foe for ransom, flows is handsome Madvillain – Rhinestone Cowboy
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DOOM introduces himself as a cowboy gunslinger character here, comparing his effortless prowess on the mic with that of a sharpshooter handling his trusted weapon, as nonchalantly as one might hoist a beer. He approaches his craft as though he’s perpetrating a crime. Because in a sense he is: when he raps he “steals the show.”
Note the sets of double-syllable internal rhymes: “cold one”, “old gun”, and “fo' fun,” and “foe for ransom” and “Flows is handsome,” — as well as the string of assonant “O” sounds, which he congratulates himself on in the following “O’s in tandem” line.
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Could I count on you to be there to support me mentally? 50 Cent (Ft. Nate Dogg) – 21 Questions
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50 has his own fragrance, so there is no way he doesn’t always smell fresh! These women would love to hug him, no question.
You drive me crazy, shorty, I
Need to see you and feel you next to me
I provide everything you need, and I
Like your smile, I don't want to see you cry 50 Cent (Ft. Nate Dogg) – 21 Questions
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To “stunt” is to show off. 50 plays on the car reference by stating that the girl drives him crazy. He is so infatuated by the girl that he finds himself trying to impress her by “catching stunts” in his 745. The girl is driving 50 crazy, as 50 is literally driving his 745 in an attempt to stunt.
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What is this?
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“21 Questions,” released on April 29, 2003, is the second single from the album. It became 50’s second number one song in the United States after “In Da Club.”
The music video for 21 Questions features cameos by G-Unit members, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck.
Lloyd Banks (left) Young Buck (right)
Kanye references “21 Questions” in “We Don’t Care”:
You know the kids gon' act a fool
When you stop the programs for after school
And they DCFS, some of ‘em dyslexic
They favorite 50 Cent song 12 Questions
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Before it was an insult, the word retard meant “to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.” As DOOM says later on the track, a rough version of Madvillainy was leaked online before it was finished – an event that led to the hard copy’s being delayed, i.e. retarded. Basically, DOOM is saying it only makes sense that he’d come tight on this album, given how much time he had to polish his performances.
Also, digital music was already hip by the time DOOM wrote these lines, so he might be half-seriously dissing physical music.
Is it not also a play on “stupid/crazy hard”, as in the contents hit super hard?
Before Madvillainy came out, the version that leaked had a computerized voice interrupting the song and said “Madvillain Retarded Hard Copy” every 30 seconds.
retarded means it’s extremely good. it’s referring to the leaked demo, who he mentions again in the next verse. https://genius.com/Madvillain-rhinestone-cowboy-lyrics#note-6268
the vocals on the demo was more hazy, so it might be a comment about how he redid the vocals for the hard copy. i prefer the demo vocals tho.