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Live and direct, live and direct!
You know what live and direct mean?
Live and direct, come! A Tribe Called Quest – His Name Is Mutty Ranks

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This is from the intro of the Live and Direct album by reggae band Aswad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-wCN4KlvqA

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But I feel like ruins wound me Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian – Battle Scars

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This is the beginning of an extended metaphor: love as war.

Lu is stating that heartbreak (ruins in love’s war) is trying to draw him in (woo him as a lover would).

He’ll never let the pain destroy him.

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100

6 years

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101

7 years

Lupe Fiasco feels that people who are still ruined are trying to bring him down.

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310

7 years

But his past love or (relationship) still bring him down on some matter.

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794

11 years

The ruins – being the ruined memory of good thing, feel like they drawing him back, possibly because he wants to regain what was once good

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11 years

“But I feel like ruins WOUND* me.” As opposed to using the word ‘wooing’, Lupe is literally reversing the order of wound and ruin from the first line. The “ruins” are the old remnants from a past relationship(s), which cause wounds, yet he never lets those wounds ruin him, this making the word “ruin” effectively a double entendre. He follows the line with his “arrow holes that never close…” to continue the wound metaphor (wounds usually physiologically close on their own, as we all know from experience). Classic Lupe here.

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My words is the sword, my skill is the shield Common – Gladiator

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His words are his offensive weapon, but his shield is people knowing that his style is not for the weak.

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Here to leave a trail like Nelson Mandel' Common – Gladiator

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Com Sense is here to leave a legacy like the great leader, South African President and nobel laureate Nelson Mandela.

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Keeping It Moving A Tribe Called Quest – Keeping It Moving

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On “Keeping It Moving,” Q-Tip states the group’s neutrality in the midst of the East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop beef.

The Ummah’s West Coast-style production is funky and guitar-driven, sampling works by Howard Roberts.

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So pucker up and whistle my melody Eric B. & Rakim – I Ain't No Joke

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A reference to “My Melody,” which was released originally before it appeared on the Paid in Full album.

In the track, the recurring tune is similar to the sound of a whistle.

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And we gonna get around like 2Pac's here Common – Celebrate

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A reference to Pac’s classic “I Get Around”

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As the Rhyme Goes On Eric B. & Rakim – As the Rhyme Goes On

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The seventh track from Eric B. & Rakim’s debut album Paid in Full.

Samples included:
- “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby” by Barry White,
- “Love’s Theme” by Fausto Papetti,
- “Hold It Now, Hit It” by The Beastie Boys,
- “Funky President (People It’s Bad)” by James Brown.

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Beeper's going off like Don Trump gets checks A Tribe Called Quest – Skypager

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A simple simile: Phife gets pages at the rate Donald Trump gets paychecks.

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3,796

3 years

I always wonder why Trump always got shout out on Hip-Hop tracks when he’s always been a piece of shit, especially considering how he paid around $10,000 to have a racist front page ad calling for the death penalty for the innocent Central Park 5 around the time of this song.

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Arthur

6 years

Trump’s the man!

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