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Now let's go, take 'em back to the plan
Me and my momma hopped in that U-Haul van Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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At the end of “Last Call”, Kanye recounts the day he and his mom packed up his belongings in a U-Haul van and moved to Newark, New Jersey.

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Charles Spradley

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4 years

“take them back to the plan” means he is now talking about himself in the blueprint era. Him and his mom in the U-Haul van is something that happened when he was still just a producer for Jay-Z. Small but important

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Baby, I'm goin' on an aeroplane
And I don't know if I'll be back again Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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Recalling John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane”:

Cause I’m leavin' on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again

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119

7 months

FYI mos def was also referencing this song

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1 year

it’s a bit of a stretch, as kanye has no reason to reference this song. Its a reference of “Travellin’ Man” with Mos Def and dj honda

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Carlito C

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2 years

Kanye West was born and raised in Chicago. In hopes of getting signed to a label to promote his music, he dropped everything and moved to New York, but his then partner, Sumeke Rainey, lived in Chicago still. Kanye is directly speaking to Sumeke in this line

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shn

3 years

pretty sure its from mos def – travellin man

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Uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh uh uh onnn, uh uh-uh onnn
Uh-uh onnn, uh uh-uh Kanye West (Ft. Cam'ron & Consequence) – Gone

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Kanye is imitating Slick Rick’s similar “uh-uh-uh"ing from "The Show” here.

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113

3 months

The “uh"s also appear to be synced with the drums in a way.

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19,666

9 years

What I find to be very interesting about this verse is that, the tone of the whole song changes–the violins become sharper, Ye delivers the first times with that classic lilt to his voice of a kind of angst– and to be sure, we hear Ye rap in that aggressive way that he does these days, a transgression not only into walking across the stage a Graduation, but truly being able to move on to bigger and better things. In some ways, Kanye was already feeling the heat that he gets for his beats now, not only from critics, but from fans alike who (as noted) believe that this verse, this original trilogy composed of The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation is his best work and he’ll never able to surpass it, even when he’s using heartbreak to innovate, watching the throne, or preaching his sermon on Yeezus. I think what really makes this verse great is that it’s a culmination of all things that he’s been through and all the things that he will go through in the next few years of his career.

What I find to be very interesting about this verse is that, the tone of the whole song changes--the violins become sharper, Ye delivers the first times with that classic lilt to his voice of a kind of angst-- and to be sure, we hear Ye rap in that aggressive way that he does these days, a transgression not only into walking across the stage a Graduation, but truly being able to move on to bigger and better things. In some ways, Kanye was already feeling the heat that he gets for his beats now, not only from critics, but from fans alike who (as noted) believe that this verse, this original trilogy composed of *The College Dropout*, *Late Registration*, and *Graduation* is his best work and he'll never able to surpass it, even when he's using heartbreak to innovate, watching the throne, or preaching his sermon on *Yeezus*. I think what really makes this verse great is that it's a culmination of all things that he's been through and all the things that he will go through in the next few years of his career.

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Wished I had told ooh was (the) only one (uh oh)
But it's too late
It's too late
He's gone Kanye West (Ft. Cam'ron & Consequence) – Gone

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The track samples Otis Redding’s classic version of Chuck Willis’s “It’s Too Late.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bbv8PYQD-0

Redding’s rendition clearly has him singing “she’s gone,” but in Kanye’s version, it says “he’s gone.” Kanye must’ve manipulated the sample to fit his song theme. (Note that he also removes “her” and “she” in the first line, and says “the” where Redding sings “my”.)

Sure enough, Kanye is “gone” after this song, as it is the final^† track on the album.

† OK, technically there’s also a bonus track, “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” and even after that, a hidden track, “Late.”

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So, I represent the first Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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He represents the record label that he started, 1st and 15th Records – named after the days of the month when welfare checks arrive.

Notice too, that this is the fifteenth line in his verse.

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664

5 years

Throughout the verse Lupe has been doing a subtle countdown. Starting with “3rd” in the first line, followed by “Touché” (acoustically ‘TWO-ché’), and finally with “first” in this line.

This countdown ties into the music video as well, where ‘Evel Kanyevel’ launches his stunt rocket after Lupe finishes his verse. In the music video, Lupe also throws up three fingers when he says the first line and two fingers when he says ‘touché,’ reinforcing this numerical interpretation.

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Or touché, Lupe cool as the unthawed Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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Lupe does this on various songs, especially the extended metaphor in Lupe the Killer or his recent song “Super Cold”. At that time people that rocked ice, i.e. jewellery, were viewed as being cool, and obvious contrast to Lu who feels just as cool without the bling.

Also note that if something hasn’t thawed out yet (i.e meat), it is still cold or cool, adding to the wordplay.

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Two Time Tone

4 years

another meaning is that en garde signals a fight where as touche is a compliment (like “nice”) … either you’re against him or you’re with him

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5 years

Touché is something you say in fencing, continuing the previous en garde line

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I'm tryna stop lyin' like I'm Mumm-Ra Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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Mumm-Ra was the antagonist of Lion-O in the ‘80s animated series, Thundercats.

Actually a triple entendre of “lyin'”:

“Lion” – as Lion-O of Thundercats, and Mumm-Ra’s attempts to stop Lion-O
“Lying” – as in “to lie down”; Mumm-Ra spends most of his days lying in a sarcophagus, only going after Lion-O when granted power by some evil cartoon demon-god… things
“Lyin'” – as in the next line

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Bottle-shaped body like Mrs. Butterworth Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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Coming from talking about syrups, Lupe references the famous syrup brand Mrs. Butterworth’s and their distinctive bottle shapes. Although used above to mean “sizzurp” or “purple drank”, the transition to maple syrup is seamless.

It’s quite nice when your girl has those bottle curves.

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6 years

But it mostly references shape of a “Coca-Cola bottle” figure, so called because Coke’s original packaging was inspired by the curves of a woman’s body.

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Let's slow it down like we're on the syrup Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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Cough syrup mixed with grape soda, collectively called “purpledrank”, is a common drink in the South. It is said to “slow down the world” because of the effects it has on you when you consume it.

The effect of purple drank is later emulated in the outro to “Drive Slow”, where the song’s hook is slowed down.

It is also a reference to actual syrup which has a thick viscosity, causing it to move slow.

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334

1 year

isnt syrup smooth like lupe’s raps?

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2 years

Syrup is made to sound like serve, as though he is bringing it to the table and owning the competition. There are possible allusions to tennis with the serve slowing the (rap) game down.
Serve additionally could suggest Lupe is dishing out his lines i.e voicing criticisms or insults.

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Peachfuzz buzz but beard on the verge Kanye West (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Touch the Sky

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When this song was released, Lupe was still a fairly new rapper but he produced some buzz (hype) with his evident talent. Peachfuzz is a term used to describe a little bit of facial hair starting to grow. The analogy is that his buzz is inevitably going to grow, sooner rather than later, just like a peachfuzz grows to a full beard.

Additionally, at this point Lupe had a buzz cut and a peach fuzz resembling beard and moustache.

On top of that, Peach Fuzz is also the name of a manga, released in the United States the same year the song was recorded, (un)intentionally continuing the anime theme.

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1 year

“Buzz” could also refer to the buzzing people hear when hair is being cut.

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Swerve_Gotti

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1 year

The “buzz” you catch from drinking also tied back to the “beer on the curb” of the previous line and the “syrup” (lean) reference of the next line.

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Swerve_Gotti

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1 year

The “buzz” you catch when drinking also ties back to the “beer on the curb” of the previous line.

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Agamemnon

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3 years

Peachfuzz buzz could also be a reference to the KMD single, Peachfuzz, which created a lot of buzz for the group prior to their full length debut.

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Fortune Ajayi

3 years

Peach fuzz is referencing a womens buttocks. But his beard on the verge=virgin. Its a myth that if you eat butt you’ll grow a beard.

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