I think the “Fuck Jay-Z” part is also a reference to the Ether intro / Pac line

reminds to a similar use of the word frío on the end of inglorious, where he mentions “hanging out with neos who’s marrow stays frío”

“frío” with an acute, is a spanish word in portuguese frio does not have an accent.

@RealPtyler Guess the “Global warming” reference makes him something bigger.. like don’t worry about global warming, because Tylers neck is so cool.. Tyler is the man who prevent global warming, which make him something big
Whether he cares or not care about global wariming is hard to say

A similar line is stated by Jasper in Tyler’s song “BSD” where Jasper says “Fuck global warming, this the ice age bitch”

@RealPtyler take a deep breath bro

he said fuck global warming for the punchline. it’s just a rhetorical device. i mean, i guess you could add that the joke here is that his neck is so “cold” that it negates global warming, but that is really obvious once it’s explained what frio means

Why did he say “Fuck global warming,” though? There are a lot of hot things he could compare is cold neck to. Why did he choose global warming? Is he passionate about global warming? Does he believe or not believe? Does he care or not care? You can’t totally skip over that part. He didn’t just accidentally say global warming and think, “I think I’ll keep that.” He said it for a reason. Explain the whole line.

I cosign the tate by @MarsJptr, definitely wordplay on ‘Boston’ and ‘boss then’

JAY-Z is not directly insulting Kanye here, rather Sean Carter is addressing JAY-Z from a wiser perspective, wondering why he believed Kanye would act in a manner “he” (meaning JAY-Z) expected. Extending to him believing that “everybody is crazy” whilst it is actually Sean Carter’s ego, JAY-Z, who is insane. This perspective cannot be ignored as its consistency throughout this song is flawless, cementing JAY-Z as one of Hip Hop’s greatest lyricists.

I thought Jay Z was saying “But you got hurt because you did coup bas ‘Ye”. Coup bas is a french expression which stands for “low blow”.

kim is fuckin up kanye, facts

Notice in the music video as Jay-Z raps the lines ‘But you got hurt because you did cool by ‘Ye’ the waving of a white flag. A white flag represents a truce or ceasefire. Within the context, Jay-Z can be making a truce with ‘Ye, an invitation for brotherhood and to resolve the negativity between them. Visually it can also be an internal ceasefire since he is suggesting to figuratively kill off his ego.

@Michael can we modify this now please?

Another interpretation is that Jay-Z is saying he’s the one that’s in sane (meaning in a state of well-being)

This might however might not be a diss.

It’s also a play on DJ Kool Herc’s name.

Hov is ambiguous. He is stating that if “one” think’s everyone else is crazy it is typically “one” who is insane. But this is def directed at Kanye…because if “You” is actually Jay, he is contradicting all the other logical statements that precede it and admitting he himself is the crazy one.

Jay-z is talking in the second person as he refers “you gave him 20 million, he gave "you” 20 minutes on stage he isn’t criticising Kanye he is criticising himself

Most people are assuming that Jay is talking to Ye “But if everyone is crazy, you’re the one that’s insane” – but he’s speaking to himself if you follow the framing of the previous bar. Also connects to his 4:44 lines about being “emotionless” and that “fuck everybody attitude is unnatural”

Jay-Z is saying that he is crazy. Each time he use second person in this song (‘you’) he is speaking to himself. For example ‘You almost went Eric Benet’ or ‘You stabbed Un over some records’ is referencing to things he did. This cannot be only line in the song when he is using ‘You’ as Kanye, it doesn’t make sense. Instead, this should be understand as ‘“Fuck wrong with everybody?” is what Jay-Z sayin’
But if everybody’s crazy, Jay-Z’s the one that’s insane' .

With its pronoun inconsistencies and overall self-flagellation this diss leaves much room for interpretation – is Hov actually interrupting this moment of apparent clarity and reflection to call his old friend crazy? Examining the cultural context may assist.

According to the public eye, Ye and Hov’s issues run deeper than business. The clues in this song point heavily to diss, and widely publicized issues in the two’s relationship seem to do the same.

For example, according to the Sun, the specific contents of Ye’s stage rant were highly personal:

“Kanye…accused Jay of neglecting him and his wife Kim Kardashian after her robbery ordeal.

The 40-year-old said: ‘Don’t call me, after the robbery, and say “how you feelin?”

You wanna know how I’m feelin? Come by the house. Bring the kids by the house. Like we’re brothers. Let’s sit down.‘"

Jay and Beyonce’s lack of presence at Ye and Kim’s wedding two summers prior was also a talking point at the time, often interpreted as a sign of the families' falling out.

@Theonlydjorkaeff right…the line “you got hurt because you did cool by Ye” wouldn’t make much sense unless you assumed Hov was switching between pronouns as well. Also according to reports the “20 Mil” that Jay is referring to here isn’t Tidal money – intended to keep him there – but an advance from Roc nation to cover the costs of the St Pablo Tour.

^agreed. this track is filled with statements on jay z’s own wrongs, i dont think this is 100% aimed at making ye look bad, i think its an acknowedgement of jay’s mistakes

in the song Jay-z is talking about himself and to other people. he starts talking directly to kanye when he said he gave you 20m without blinking. kanye said in the song Saint Pablo he will have took the 100m from Apple and gave 20m to Jay so that Jay won’t at least be mad cuz he turn down the 20m deal from his company tidal . its like you giving 20m deal to someone and there is another party ready to give him a 100m deal . so he can just take the 100m and give you 20m. he will still be 80m richer. hope you guys get it

this song is Jay speaking to himself. whenever he says the word “you” he is referring to the Jay Z persona, hence “you gave him 20 million without blinkin'”. He isn’t calling Kanye insane at all, and it’s disrespectful to assume he is. Kanye is suffering from a mental illness, Jay might even be taking some responsibility for Kanye’s issues, maybe it was Jay Z who pushed him to that point? @genius-editorial-board this needs to be edited heavily.

“‘Fuck wrong with everybody?’ is what you’re sayin'. But If everybody’s crazy, you’re the one that’s insane.” is totally separate from the Ye part. Hov is talking about himself. (Anytime Hov says “You” he’s talking about himself)

Being insane is more extreme compared to being crazy so if everybody is crazy ( stage 1 ) then he is insane (stage 3 )

In the last 2 lines, JayZ is talking is talking to himself. Before that, JayZ called out Kanye for being crazy. Now, he’s saying that if everyone else is crazy, then he (JayZ) is crazier.

jay is saying Kanye wasn’t the crazy one but infact jay was

Y'all flirtin with death, I be winkin through the scope. The play on flirting and winking

Jay is referencing how Lil Uzi Vert plays off of “death” and imagery thats related to death (he wears upside down crosses) and even says the line, “I’m from the lowest part of earth” (hell?) on the track ‘Malfunction’ from ‘Love Is Rage 2’. Also, “winking” is associated with “flirting”. He’s simply saying (in the most clever way possible), If you want to flirt with death, i can help you with that (with the ‘gun’).

I literally believe he’s talking about holding up an uzi (gun) after he shoots (it). Letting it smoke, as you would see in a movie or cartoon.

A bit obvious here but “bustin off the roof” could also mean freestyling off the top of the dome

The flirting with death and winking through the scope line also continues the ongoing rhetoric throughout the album that younger artists have been subtly taking shots, not remembering who he is and what he does on the mic. The Drakes of the world have flirted w/ death a few times with slight jabs but J is letting them know at any given moment he will oblige and destroy them.

“Flirting with death” may also be a reference to the “XO Tour Llif3” lyrics, and Uzi´s stage diving.

You guys should add the fact that lil uzi vert responded jay’s line by recording an gold uzi holstered vertically on his instagram story.

I agree with the winking/flirting annotation, but who hardscopes with an Uzi? Too much recoil lol

Jay is saying rappers are “flirting with death” that is, playing dangerously while he has them as his target.
Jay cleverly uses ‘Winking’ and ‘flirting’ to create a double meaning.
So while his rap colleagues are flirting with death he’s aiming (winking [back])at them through the scope of his Uzzi.

@Tyrone_Nathaniel he’s not exactly alluding to it, but the parallels between the Bible verse and the line are at least interesting

The 2, 4 and 8 pattern follows the y=2^x exponential trend where 2¹=2, 2²=4, 2³=8 and 2³⁰=1,073,741,824

Possibly a reach… but “Turned that 2 to a 44” could mean the experience with the 2 girls in the menage trio’s led to the apology in song 4:44. “What good is a menage trios when you got a soul (sole) mate”.

In a sense he’s using the negative experiences in his life as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.

Nah this I a reach. Lol

“nice first week release date”, when sales of a product (album) are high and the artist is the talk of the town, earning bank during that time. but jay has his entire life like that, making news and earning bank is not new or irregular to him, but a regular occurence.

two interesting suggestions here, thoughts @genius-editorial-board?

the line is also reminiscent of one of his other iconic lines where he says “1 million, 2 million, 20 million…oh im so good at math”. It also alludes to his hustler mindset of multiplying whatever he is given or he has. Reminds me of the parable of the sowers in the bible who were given seeds/talents by their masters and were blessed because they multiplied them.

Also, on Jay Z’s first album, “Reasonable Doubt,” he had a song called “22 Two’s.” Ten years later at the anniversary concert for this album, Jay released the sequel “44 Four’s.” Like this line, the songs progress from 2 to 4. Side note: the above referenced song “44 Four’s” could be stylized as 44 4’s, very similar to the title of this album.

“I turned my life into a nice first week release date” may refer to how Jay raps about his experience selling drugs, and flipped that into a way of making money and securing huge sales. It might also have something to do with his actual release dates. I remember during Decoded he said he planned to drop The Black Album on the same day as a G-Unit record, and an A&R asked him if he’d like to push it back, to give them a run. He declined, but his career was such that he could just decided when and how to release his albums while 95% of rappers are at the mercy of their label

🥶🥶🥶🥶 swag like a broken faucet

The line “Fresh to death like he got dressed in a coffin” is also a reference to the song “Pass The Dutch” off the Young Money album “We Are Young Money” where Gudda Gudda says the same line.

D R I P S S W A G L I K E A B R O K E N F A U C E T

when he says “fresh to death like he got dressed in a coffin” it is wordplay with death and being dressed in a coffin because when you die you go in a coffin. So being “fresh to death” it is because he was dressed in a coffin.

There’s a song called Running on Cherry Bomb

Idk if these are related, but jig originally refers to a dance.

@ScopeY – mfw

this sounds like a good time. we should do this one day.