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On “Stay Woke,” Meek and Miguel portray a broken justice system—ranging from police brutality, and gun violence to mass incarceration, and prison reform.

The song premiered at the 2018 BET Awards. His performance featured a street corner with kids playing in the background, who were later shot by police officers. At the near-end of the song, men and women were shown behind prison bars. At the end, the prison bars were dropped.

Meek paid respect to late rappers XXXTENTACION and Jimmy Wopo during his performance by wearing a hoodie with both of their faces on.

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Meek interpolates the intro from “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. The ‘80s classic is considered by many to be one of first hip-hop records to feature socially conscious lyrics versus the sound at the time, which mostly catered to the party scene. Like the original song, Meek’s message is one of resilience and strength.

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Now they wanna do your boy like Mike in his prime
Billie Jean, the goddamn boy ain’t mine!

“Billie Jean” is one of Michael Jackson’s most famous songs and is about a woman who spends a night with Michael and then claims he is the father of her newborn son. Michael repeats the lyric “but the kid is not my son” throughout the chorus.

After first coming forward in July 2016, aspiring rapper Rymir Satterthwaite resurfaced in May 2018 claiming that he’s JAY-Z’s son. Rymir’s mother told The Sun she met Jay in 1992 in Philadelphia and hooked up with him at her aunt’s apartment in Brooklyn, New York.

Rymir and Wanda tried contacting Jay in 2009 but only dealt with lawyers. They claim that Jay has dodged a DNA test for over 8 years. According to a report by RapRadar, Rymir’s case will be tried in the Family Civil Liberties Union court in December 2018.

Calling someone “dad” on social media is a form of endearment for a male figure. Jay feels like some fans are — quite literally — taking their adoration of him too far.

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In 2016, Kanye reported that he was in $53 million dollars of personal debt after trying to make it on his own in the fashion world. Since then, Kanye’s YEEZY shoe line with Adidas and his own YEEZY clothing line have reportedly made him “the highest paid person in footwear.”

Kanye’s also referring to his recent struggles with prescription drugs and controversies like his comments on slavery which he addresses on “Wouldn’t Leave.”

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In 2016, Kanye reported that he was in $53 million dollars of personal debt after trying to make it on his own in the fashion world. Since then, Kanye’s YEEZY shoe line with Adidas and his own YEEZY clothing line have reportedly made him “the highest paid person in footwear.”

Kanye may also be referring to his recent struggles with prescription drugs and controversies like his comments on slavery which he addresses on “Wouldn’t Leave.” While many of his contemporaries unfollowed him on social media and distanced themselves from him, it seems Kanye’s closest family and friends have stayed by his side.

Pictured: Some of Kanye’s oldest & closest friends in Wyoming including Ibn Jasper, Don C, and Malik Yusef.

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On “No Mistakes,” Kanye reflects on the financial and mental health issues he has struggled with since his 2016 hospitalization. He also takes shots at Drake following his “Duppy Freestyle,” on which he addressed both Ye and Pusha-T.

The song samples Slick Rick’s 1988 song “Hey Young World,” and the chorus starts with the piano sample by The Edwin Hawkins Singers, “Children Get Together.”

The song features Kid Cudi and Charlie Wilson, two artists Kanye has collaborated with on multiple songs. Eight days after ye was released, Kanye and Cudi released a collaborative album, KIDS SEE GHOSTS.

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Kanye may be responding to Drake after he dissed Kanye and Pusha T on “Duppy Freestyle.” Pusha-T previously threw shots at Drake for being light skin on “The Story of Adidon”:

Confused, always felt you weren’t Black enough
Afraid to grow it ‘cause your 'fro wouldn’t nap enough

“These two wrongs’ll right you” calls all the way back to Kanye’s 2005 song “Touch The Sky” where he raps:

I’m tryin' to right my wrongs
But it’s funny them same wrongs helped me write this song

Drake referenced this line on both “Poetic Justice” and “Legend,” which Pusha flipped recently on his Drake diss “Infrared,” rapping:

How could you ever right these wrongs
When you don’t even write your songs?

“Too close to snipe you, truth told, I like you” may refer to the proximity of Kanye and Drake’s houses. They both live in Calabasas, a wealthy area near L.A. A sniper rifle is a long range weapon, and Ye and Drake not only live close together but they also have a history of having a good relationship with one another, appearing together on the songs “Forever” and “Glow.” Their intimacy in location and music means Kanye cannot just send shots at him thoughtlessly.

Ice Cube is considered one of the greatest song writers in hip-hop history and is revered for not backing down or compromising his art. On the song “Chain Heavy,” Kanye similarly compares himself to Ice Cube along with Michael Jackson:

I am the day Ice Cube met Michael Jackson

Kanye is willing to take shots at Drake on wax (too bold to type you) but feels he’s too rich for an all out war. Kanye’s estimated net-worth is $160 million, while Drake’s net worth is estimated to be around $100 million.

Also note that “too bold to type you” is a play on bold typeface formatting.

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In Greek mythology, Adonis was conceived through incestuous love between Myrrha and her father King Cinyras. Cinyras could not accept the child, and caused Myrrha to be turned into a myrrh tree. The goddess Aphrodite gave the infant to Persephone to be raised in the Underworld, though he would later become Aphrodite’s lover. Cinyras rejecting Adonis parallels Drake allegedly rejecting his son.

Drake is rumored to be joining Adidas in June 2018, the same apparel company Pusha and Kanye West have deals with. Push went on The Breakfast Club the morning after this song released and claimed that Drake’s new Adidas line was going to be titled “AdiDon” after his son.

Pusha added: “But we couldn’t know about your child until you started selling sweatsuits and sneakers?” clearly pressing Drake to be better than his father who he addressed earlier in the diss for leaving Drake at the age of 5. Push also said “I don’t even hang with my friends who have child support issues. I’m big on kids, for real.”

On 17th October 2018, Pusha T revealed on the Joe Budden Podcast that the information about Drake’s son did not come from Kanye, rather Drake’s very own trusted producer Noah “40” Shebib.

Apparently the Virginia rapper said that the info he told the world in The Story of Adidon was actually given to him by 40, as he mentioned during his interview with Budden:

The information came from 40…It didn’t come from Kanye, at all. 40 is sleeping with a woman, who begins to… he talks to her daily. Five, six hours a day… And ultimately speaks about how he’s disgruntled about certain things, notoriety and things involving Drake and his career, and so on and so forth. With that also came the fact that Drake has a child. With that also came the trip that everybody took to go see the child, and bring him gifts, and all this information. She divulged this information. That’s where it came from.

“Let her be your world” is a reference to Drake’s 2015 Meek Mill diss track “Back to Back” where he told Meek to give his then girlfriend, Nicki Minaj, the world.

You love her, then you gotta give the world to her
Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour?

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Speaking on an interview on BigBoyTV, Pusha confirmed that this line is indeed a response to Drake’s “Duppy Freestyle” title (duppy means ghost in Patois) and these lyrics from the song:

I really shouldn’t have given you none of my time
‘Cause you older than the nigga you runnin’ behind

Pusha has been in the rap game since 1999 when he dropped “The Funeral” with his brother No Malice as the Clipse. Since then, he’s released a slew of critically acclaimed albums as part of the Clipse and as a solo artist, including modern day classic Hell Hath No Fury.

“The only ones I chase are two ghosts” refers to The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac as he confirmed in the aforementioned interview. Push has mentioned both late rappers numerous times in his lyrics. For example, he sampled Biggie on “Untouchable” and paid homage to 2Pac on “What Would Meek Do?”

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“Surgical summer” is a direct response to Drake’s line on “Duppy Freestyle”:

I’m too resilient, get out your feelin’s
It’s gonna be a cruel summer for you

Pusha-T will be “surgically” picking Drake apart during the summertime. Their beef reignited towards the end of May of 2018 with Pusha’s Drake disses on “Infrared” and Drake’s response track, “Duppy Freestyle.” The mention of “Volume 1” may hint at further diss tracks Push has in store.

It may also refer to Drake reportedly getting liposuction surgery in 2016, which Joe Budden previously pressed Drake about on his 2016 diss track “Afraid.”

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