Genius | Song Lyrics & Knowledge

"I think he's still up there with the biggest names, not just in hip-hop but music generally," Brailli said. " '808s & Heartbreak,' when that came out it was absolutely trashed. But now you see journalists ranking it as their favorite Kanye album." In defense of Kanye West: His supporters speak

590,977

7 years

Kanye even said something similar himself:

So many people rate Dark Fantasy as my best album, but Yeezus and 808s are so much stronger. Dark Fantasy to me is… almost like, an apology record. ‘Power’ was the least progressive song that I’ve ever had as a first single…. least challenging. – HNHH

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590,977

7 years

s/o @streetlights, ahead of his time.

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Thomas Brailli is ranked as a "top Kanye West scholar" at Genius.com, a website that bills itself as the world’s biggest collection of song lyrics and crowdsourced musical knowledge. Brailli, or "Vesuvius" to Genius fans, lives in Reading, England. In defense of Kanye West: His supporters speak

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7 years

Vesuvius is Kanye’s #23 scholar on Genius with
5,911 Kanye IQ. He’s done a lot of great work on Kanye’s records, most notably on Kanye’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo.

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It's the same way you showed me
Nod my head, don't close my eyes
Halfway on a slow move
It's the same way you showed me Frank Ocean – Pink + White

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Frank notes that this person taught him how to accept that he cannot impose his will upon the world. With their help, he learns to embrace the things he can’t control, including his love for this song’s muse. That’s also shown in the line “Nod my head, don’t close my eyes,” where he is taught to say yes to things more instead of being afraid of what you can’t control.

The lines “nod my head, don’t close my eyes / Halfway on a slow move” may also be references to cunnilingus. She showed him how she likes it, and to look at her instead of closing his eyes when he’s going down on her. It leads well into the next line about going south too. This is some subtle imagery tied back into the “Pink” part of the song’s title.

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1 year

I have such a different take on this. This is a story about someone imparting their wisdom on a younger and inexperienced person. A moment of intuitive understanding. Is this a first love at College?

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123

2 years

this could be a meaning for drive fast, in the halfway, to accelerate you press the accelerator while you nod your head cose you hear music or something, (maybe you press hard your neek down to fight whit the force of velocity) and look to all ways with the car mirrors and look in front looking the sky and the way.

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Nick L

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2 years

If the reference is to oral sex, it’s gender universal, not simply cisgender

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KacynJackson

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3 years

“Nod my head don’t close my eyes” Can mean multiple things, as we know the best writers can say multiple things with just a few words and this is what Frank is doing. We know Frank played sports as a kid since he talks about running at a track meet. In baseball a catcher is taught not to close their eyes when the ball hits their mask so that they can still make a quick play. In order to do this you have to get over your fear of the ball hitting you in the face. In the song Ivy the theme I interpret is fear that leads to regret, the ability to nod one’s head and take a pitch to the mask without flinching can be an example of overcoming fear. Later he says “older kids trying off the roof” which really means brave kids trying off the roof.

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4 years

This entire verse is about leaving New Orleans after Katrina. He’s literally talking about driving to Texas. “Halfway on a slow move” – it’s taking a long time – “if the ground is black and yellow” – they’re on a literal road. Obviously moving after the hurricane completely fucked a lot of the relationships that were important to him when he was young, and he’s singing about one of those.

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7 years

“Nod my head don’t close my eyes” is referring to how someone taught him to be polite and listen to what people and say and don’t close your eyes so you can pay attention to what someone may be telling you. I believe he is referring to his mom and the principals she could have taught him growing up on the basis of manners and basic social skills.

“Halfway on a slow move” means that he wasn’t doing anything right before when he would make moves on his girl. He would only go halfway before she stopped him to show him the “right” way. She showed him the way she likes it. Which is stated in “it’s the same way you showed me”. And then he goes on to say “you showed me love” meaning that she showed him how to show a girl/guy how to love them physically and emotionally.

“It’s the same way you showed me” is also like a childlike way of asking for approval. Saying how he can’t be doing “it” (“it” most likely being pleasing his partner) wrong because he’s doing it the way she told him to. It shows that he’s doing his best to pay attention to his partner telling him how she likes it. Just like his mother told him to listen and focus on what others are saying.

"Nod my head don't close my eyes" is referring to how someone taught him to be polite and listen to what people and say and don't close your eyes so you can pay attention to what someone may be telling you. I believe he is referring to his mom and the principals she could have taught him growing up on the basis of manners and basic social skills.

"It's the same way you showed me" is also like a childlike way of asking for approval. Saying how he can't be doing "it" ("it" most likely being pleasing his partner) wrong because he's doing it the way she told him to. It shows that he's doing his best to pay attention to his partner telling him how she likes it. Just like his mother told him to listen and focus on what others are saying.

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7 years

Can we get more on what “Nod my head, don’t close my eyes” means? Maybe this person taught him to say yes (“Nod my head”) to a challenge instead of hiding from it (“don’t close my eyes”). Also, what does “halfway on a slow move” mean?

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Bending up my Nikes
Running out of melpomene, nicotine
Stealing granny cigs (Take it easy) Frank Ocean – Pink + White

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The Melpomene projects are located in New Orleans. Frank lived in NOLA until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and moved to L.A shortly after.

“Bending up my Nikes” refers to the toe-crease you get when you wear the same shoes regularly.

Interestingly, “Melpomene” was also originally the Greek muse of singing, eventually becoming the muse of Tragedy while “Nike” was the Greek goddess of strength speed and victory, making a double meaning to bending the same way wings bend when the goddess is flying. Once again this shows a duality of life and victory with death and tragedy and also references the first song of the album ‘'Nikes’‘.

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TerroristCrackerMob

1 year

The Melpomene projects are located in New Orleans. Frank lived in New Orleans, LA until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and then he moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter.

“Bending up my Nikes” refers to the toe-crease you get when you wear the same shoes regularly.

Melpomene was also originally the Greek muse of singing, eventually becoming the muse of Tragedy while Nike was the Greek goddess of strength speed and victory, making a double entendre in reference to bending like the way Nike’s wings bend when the goddess is flying. Once again this shows a duality of life and victory with death and tragedy and also references the first song of the album ‘'Nikes.”

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393

2 years

BEYONCE IS THE FUCKING GREEK MUSE OF SINGING THEN

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owen

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4 years

the line about stealing his grandmothers cigarettes relates to the fact that kids living in projects and bad areas are prone to nicotine addiction. back before every kid had a vape, kids would steal cigarettes from family members, friends or whoever else

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"Page views for the subreddit went from 196,000 in June to 981,000-plus in July to an insane 6,803,993 views in the month of August, and we're only halfway through!" Andres tells us, incredulous. "The page views on August 5, the supposed due date, were more than a 10-month span between September and June combined." What It's Like Running Frank Ocean's Subreddit | PigeonsandPlanes

590,977

7 years

This is actually insane

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