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What is this?
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A couple of things aren’t right about this picture:
- A cat is typically a rat’s predator.
- Additionally, some say that a good man shouldn’t be with a hoodrat, because he’s going to end up being the one caught in the trap.
…I guess they’re just breaking stereotypes.
And like a black college, a lot of niggas ran through Common (Ft. Cocaine 80's) – Congratulations
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Reference to FAMU (short for Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University), which is arguably the premiere school among historically black colleges and universities. “Ran through” relates to how many Blacks have graduated from the university and to how many guys the bride had slept with.
(A 2010 article in the Huffington Post listed it as the largest historically Black university.)
FUN FACT: Common attended FAMU on scholarship majoring in Business Administration.
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RIP Lisa Lopes: May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002
Better known as “Left Eye”, she was indeed “all that”: rapper, dancer, and singer-songwriter, …
A-1 shouts her out not only because she was fine, but also because she was part of TLC, the band who sung the All That theme song which is sampled in this song.
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Wordplay by using the show Clarissa Explains it All (1991-1994). As events unfold in her life, the main character (Clarissa) narrates her stories and talks about the motivations behind people’s actions. Click here to watch/listen to her theme song…
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Doug (1991-1994 & 1996-1999):
Pete & Pete (1993-1996):
Hey Arnold! (1996-2004):
(“Hey Arnold!” and “Doug” are currently aired on the “90’s Are All That” TV block on Teen Nick… every Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.)
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A play on words off of the first line of the famous hook from “Bitches Ain’t Shit” off of Dr. Dre’s album, The Chronic:
“Trick” is usually used as a broad term directed towards women who, simply put, manipulate men. Gates uses “trick” in the context of the dictionary’s definition instead… but the line practically means the same thing.
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1949
The pioneer of gossip and the credited creator of the gossip column. In an era dominated by sober analysis, Winchell is colorful, emotional, and fiercely opinionated. He is particularly known for his aggressive style and his perfect usage of slang.
A year earlier, his radio show became the top-rated radio show in the country. He starts losing popularity in the 1950s as he continues his admiration of (then) Senator Joseph McCarthy, who becomes a highly controversial, and ultimately disgraced, public figure.
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The father’s distraction from his own life is the lived-out sexual fantasy with their neighbor.
This line puts an unorthodox spin of a common theme used in music: infidelity. Many people can relate to the scenario of a husband being unfaithful to their significant other.
Shoutout to Hank Williams, one of the most significant country music artists and another one of Kacey Musgraves' musical influences. She mentioned him when talking in response to her critics calling her a “rebel”:
When Hank Williams sang about … cheating and heartbreak (i.e. “Your Cheating Heart“ […] he wasn’t being rebellious[;] he was being real.
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This is referring to the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the Greek Titan Helios that was built between 292 and 280 BC. It stood over 107 feet (30 meters) tall, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.
As you can see in depictions like this engraving from the 1500s, it was widely believed to straddle the harbor. But this is now regarded as “highly unlikely” by historians.
“Brazen” puns on the sense of “made of brass” and “audaciously bold.” His limbs are considered “conquering” here because the city of Rhodes overcame the odds and was victorious over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus (whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC).
Little did they know that the giant’s limbs would not only be conquering, they would be “conquered” as well; the Colossus was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC.
It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Helios is a god, not a titan