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“Great by Choice” is a rap song created by employees of Insys Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company known for producing the opioid Subsys. The song and its companion video were released to the public after they were presented as evidence in a court case against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor, who was on trial for racketeering.

The purpose of “Great by Choice” as evidence was to show Insys Therapeutics used dubious tactics to improve sales of its drugs. Reportedly, the video was played during national sales meetings to encourage increased dosages of Subsys. The song’s chorus promotes titration, which is the process of giving patients increasing dosages of a drug.

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“Heavy Rhyme Experience Theme” (sometimes shortened to “HRE Theme”) is a promotional single for Brand New Heavies‘ 1992 rap-acid jazz fusion album, Heavy Rhyme Experience: Vol. 1. The song is a medley of three records from the album; “Who Makes The Loot?”, “Wake Me When I’m Dead”, and “Bonafied Funk.”

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Orlando Aguillen is a manager, A&R, and producer with close ties to the hip-hop labels Delicious Vinyl and Southpaw Records. His credits include Tone Loc, Young MC, Brand New Heavies, Masta Ace, and WhoRidas.

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This song is G-Eazy and Blueface’s ode to the West Coast of the U.S.; the two grew up in Oakland and Los Angeles, respectively. Throughout the song plays a pitched-up vocal sample of “Let’s Ride” by Bay Area legend Richie Rich. Additionally, the music video features cameos from fellow West Coast musicians such as E-40, Ty Dolla $ign, and Richie Rich himself.

The cover art for “West Coast” only includes three out of four West Coast states, as it’s missing Alaska. West Coast rap as a genre, however, usually only represents the states of California and Washington.

Los Angeles rapper YG was originally rumored to be part of the song because he was seen filming a video alongside G-Eazy and Blueface. Indeed, a subsequent remix of “West Coast” featuring YG and Oakland’s ALLBLACK was made available exactly a month after the original.

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The Deadpool movies have become closely linked to DMX’s “X Gon' Give It to Ya”. The song plays in the first movie when Deadpool, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead approach the final showdown. It also appeared on Deadpool’s soundtrack and was featured in the film’s official trailer.

Although the song stems from 2003, the RIAA certified the song Platinum in May of 2017, signifying it had sold a million copies in the US. The timing of the award might indicate Deadpool, which only released the year prior, significantly boosted the song’s sales.

Notably, “X Gon' Give It to Ya” was originally recorded for a film, Cradle 2 the Grave, in which DMX took on a leading role alongside Jet Li.

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Common breaks up the title of Ice Cube’s debut solo album, 1990’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, to continue the rhyme scheme. When “The Bitch in Yoo” received an official release in 1996, Ice Cube had already released three more albums—all of which Common belittles.

Cube was the subject of multiple controversies throughout this period. While his ‘wantedness’ in the Midwest only stemmed from his beef with Common, he had more history in the East.

For his first two albums, Ice Cube sought the help of East Coast musicians like Public Enemy, Bomb Squad and Das EFX after his fallout with N.W.A. Cube decried this on “Westside Slaughterhouse”:

Hip-hop started in the West
Ice Cube bellin' through the East without a vest

Specifically “hip-hop started in the West” caught the attention of many because it’s known to be false. It would be fair to assume Cube knew hip-hop began in New York—it was common knowledge among rap fans. Instead, it is more likely the line’s intent is to certify West Coast rap as the truest form of the art. Yet, it denounces rap music from other regions at the same time.

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“Moon River” is the Henry Mancini-composed and Johnny Mercer-penned hit single from the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Originally sung by Audrey Hepburn, Mercer’s lyrics were inspired by the waterways near Savannah, Georgia, where the writer spent his childhood. Stevie Wonder’s rendition was recorded in 1967 and 1968 but went unreleased until late 2018.

Before Wonder recorded this studio version, a live performance at Fox Theatre in Detroit from 1964 was released as part of Recorded Live the Motortown Revue, Vol. 2. Motortown Revue was a series of tours throughout the ‘60s which showcased artists signed to Motown Records. It is notable for spawning Wonder’s first chart-topper, a live performance of “Fingertips Pt. 2”.

Wonder also played harmonica on 2004’s “Moon River” by The Ultimate Mancini Orchestra, who released a cover album of Mancini’s greatest compositions 10 years after his passing. On this version, all vocals were performed by gospel quartet Take 6.

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Wale references the Oct. 4th, 2014, episode of the ESPN sports show College GameDay. Viewers were treated to singer Katy Perry ripping an elephant mask off football analyst Lee Corso’s head. The mask was part of the costume for the Alabama Crimson Tide mascot, Big Al. Perry correctly predicted the Ole Miss Rebels would break their 10-year losing streak against Alabama that day.

The event is used as a metaphor for shooting someone in the head, along with “watermelon leaking”, where the watermelon represents a head and ‘leaking’ implies a hole in said head. The previous line doubles up on the sports analogy with the mention of ‘courtside’.

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LFO recalls the chorus from the 1995 single “Rock On” by rap outfit FunkDoobiest. While M.O.P. and FunkDoobiest bear no obvious connection, this quote is a clear indication of what’s to come farther down the song.

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This line is a paraphrasing of a popular William Shakespeare quote. In act 5, scene 1 of his play As You Like It, he wrote

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man
knows himself to be a fool.

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