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He wishes that he would’ve stayed with his baby mama and son, but he never had a father figure giving him advice while growing up so he didn’t know any better.

For those who currently want to make the same mistake now, Andre 3000 is now that “cool ass older man” who’s letting them know about their mistakes in advance.

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Clever wordplay. New Jersey’s NBA team was called the Nets, now there Brooklyn. Notice the sentence with Jersey is past-tense, then he “lost his team”, and none of his shots touched the “Nets”.

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Like his idol said:

You have to be able to smile through all the bullshit

The “Crash Site” represents the repetitive sad result. For example, someone always being killed, shot, raped, etc.

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After the hell they went through (setbacks, critics, obstacles), they stand on top of the rap game. They knew this would be the case, as we are all instilled with an meritocratic attitude from a young age, meaning that American values are dependent upon hard work being rewarded.

There’s also some “rain/ reign” wordplay, which is juxtaposed with the fire they’ve come through.

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Although he has a great new lifestyle (revered by the rich), he keeps the message real for the poor (approved by the poor).

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Lupe was born in West Side Chicago, a low-income dangerous environment (systematic brokeness) and came out of it by rapping about it and created a great lifestyle (developed into dopeness). Because he came from the bottom, he has sympathy for; the Afghani kid without a home, Iraqi with no daddy, because he too was from the bottom of society.

West Side ChiTown

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