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This is a reference to Jay Z owning his own recording masters and a subliminal jab at Drake. On “Summer Sixteen,” Drake rapped:

I used to wanna be on Roc-A-Fella then I turned into Jay

Hov plays on “free” and “slave,” implying that other artists can’t get on his level of success until they’re free of a record label deal. While slavery was abolished in America with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865, Jay likens current conditions in the music industry to slavery. Drake, for example, is currently locked in a reported $19 million dollar Apple Music deal and is embroiled in Birdman and Lil Wayne’s Young Money vs Cash Money lawsuit.

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https://genius.com/a/reasonable-doubt-contest

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What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

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What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

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tirant

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