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Before one is hung he is usually standing on a chair or pedestal. In the game of musical chairs everyone fights for a chair, and after each round a chair is removed. When Kendrick say “they play musical chairs once I’m on that pedestal” he means once the government has had enough of him, or whoever disagrees with his views, he will be tied to a rope by his neck, and the chair/pedestal he is on will be removed.

Once Kendrick is hanged other good souls will want to fill his space, be the next to die for the cause.

Also the KKK were known for lynching African Americans who tried to express their views, or the ones who were in the government.

Musical chairs is a game where everybody tries to find a seat to sit down in before the music ends (there are fewer chairs than people). Whoever is left without a chair loses. Kendrick is saying that once he gets on the pedestal to speak, people begin scrambling for seats so they can listen.

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It’s a fight to be successful in the rap game. If he was nonviolent like MLK, his mother would be happy. His mother is obviously a MLK fan while he’s all for Malcolm X, while those two figures were always unhappy with one another.

Another possible explanation could be that he’s talking more about the fact that MLK was extremely religious and had a very turn-the-other-cheek type of mentality which Kendrick’s (and probably most parents of young black males living in places like Compton) wish they would emulate, but in the next line Kendrick says he cannot live like that.

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The people who critique his music won’t even listen to it or give it a chance.

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Dom is always winning like Charlie.

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A “chopper” is a gun, usually an automatic one. Sometimes, inner city kids keep them in their friend’s locker, so if they were suspected of having a weapon, the weapon wouldn’t be in their locker.

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Common interpolates Pete Rock’s line from the C.L. Smooth assisted track “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).”

The line was previously interpolated in Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” which is most likely what inspired Common to include it due to Kanye’s involvement in Finding Forever and the fact he appears on the music video of this song.

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Referring to Fats The Big Fella (@dabigfella) who is also from NorthEast.

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He’s too good for some of these rappers. If they were literally a meal, the materialism they preach about wouldn’t be digested in Jay Elec’s body, thus coming out in his #2.

Also similar to the MF Doom line from Danger Doom’s “Sofa King”:

Order a rapper for lunch and spit out the chain

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Women are from Venus, as well as Venus being the Godess of Love, Sex etc., Big Sean is talking about how he only thinks about women

Pluto is a giant ball of ice. His neck is iced out with jewelry.

by Venus he could also be saying his thoughts/mind frame is out of this world.

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Very often, hotels issue two keys to your room upon checking in. Chuck lost his, but he wants to give the girls his name and the location of the party! This relates to 313, area code of Chuck’s hometown of Detroit/Mt. Clemens, Michigan. .

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