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"Livin' my life, expressin' my liberty
It gotta be done properly, done properly
Livin' my life, expressin' my liberty
It gotta be done properly, done properly
Livin' my life, expressin' my liberty
It gotta be done properly, done properly
Livin' my life, expressin' my liberty
It gotta be done properly, done properly" Fashawn – Freedom

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Sampled Talib Kweli line from Definition, a song from his Black Star album with Mos Def.

This sample fits his career – he is expressing his liberty throughout this song and album and it’s gonna be done properly. He is not going to force it and that is part of the reason why he releases several mixtapes before his albums.

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I'm raunchy, but things I do is real, it never haunts me, while Raekwon (Ft. Ghostface Killah & Nas) – Verbal Intercourse

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No regrets, what was done had to be done. This line also suggests that authenticity and personal integrity are paramount regardless of the consequences.

Nas smokes, carries guns nonchalantly, and speaks in a vulgar, raunchy manner, but he does it in a ‘real’ and straightforward way. He doesn’t feel the guilt of his actions, because he knows the circumstances. After all, he’s fighting the system that ‘imprisoned his son’.

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Alvin

1 year

The previous line should be: “Smoke a gold leaf, a whole heap, nonchalantly”

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Marked this as missing something ?

5 years

IMO most contributors seem to confer upon nas some self aggrandising that I’m afraid is not apparent to me at all. This is a sad cycle of a mans life in black America and the subsequent low value placed on life itself hence not being haunted. Add to that the revolving door prison system and the lack of opportunity and education is the rise of the beast that nas predicts as inevitable, leaving savages to roam the streets. This is dystopic and real in every sense. This is as powerful a statement about life in America for black people as anything from king, Farrakhan, x, garvie et al

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8 years

As spoken, Nas is never visited by the spectors of his past, they do not haunt him as Jacob Marley to Scrooge.
While…
Pan out and zoom in on Rikers Island, Nas introduces us to those not as fortunate and reintroduces the previous verse. He makes us comeback to haunts.
The things I do is real it never (comeback to) haunts me
Otherwise he would be with them at Rikers.

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A lot of niggas came up off of a style that I made up
But if all I hear is me, then who should I be afraid of? Drake (Ft. Rick Ross) – Lord Knows

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Drake’s style is heavily influenced by R&B. He includes plenty of singing and emotion in his songs (as heard in 2009’s So Far Gone). Although they may have jacked his style, he’s confident that they can’t compete with him.

It also means if competitors in the game are “coppin” a style he’s generated then he has nothing to fear. He’s supplying the style that they are “jocking” so all he’s seeing & hearing his himself basically being funneled through other artist, why would he then be worried?

A dope punchline on the surface even though if you look deeper this argument is not entirely true since it´s widely recognised that Kanye West with 808s & Heartbreaks made that style up. That album is more of singing/R&B from a rapper and deals with the same themes as Drakes album – Love, loneliness, heartbreak and being introspective on that level. Drake has also citied 808s & Heartbreaks as his biggest influence.

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Drake's style is heavily influenced by R&B. He includes plenty of singing and emotion in his songs (as heard in 2009's [*So Far Gone*](http://rapgenius.com/albums/Drake/So-far-gone)). Although they may have jacked his style, he's confident that they can't compete with him.

It also means if competitors in the game are "coppin" a style he's generated then he has nothing to fear. He's supplying the style that they are "jocking" so all he's seeing & hearing his himself basically being funneled through other artist, why would he then be worried?

A dope punchline on the surface even though if you look deeper this argument is not entirely true since it´s widely recognised that [Kanye West](http://rapgenius.com/artists/Kanye-west) with [808s & Heartbreaks](http://rapgenius.com/albums/Kanye-west/808s-heartbreak) made that style up. That album is more of singing/R&B from a rapper and deals with the same themes as Drakes album - Love, loneliness, heartbreak and being introspective on that level. Drake has also citied 808s & Heartbreaks as his biggest influence.

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Wide World of Sport niggas Raekwon – Knowledge God

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An old ABC (and ESPN) show about what happened in sports that week.
World of Sports = he’s saying that while athletes sniff, project users inject (i.e. socio-economics)

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32,420

3 years

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6 years

He sayz “While Polo Sport niggaz”. He'z talkin' about hustlerz who wear polo clothez, which was very popular in the 80'z & 90'z, in NY…

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6 years

While Polo Sport Niggas

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104

7 years

Wide World of Sports could be a play off of the last part of the line. The intro to the show showed a big ski crash which symbolized the “agony of defeat.” Rae could’ve been relating the snow to coke and the snorters to the skier.

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Jim

11 years

He says “Wide World of Sports” which was the name of the ABC show in the 70s.

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797

12 years

It’s also “Wild World of Sports”

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undun undun

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undun is an existential re-telling of the short life of the fictional Redford Stephens (1974-1999). Through the use of emotives and Redford’s internal dialogues the album seeks to illustrate the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out ‘on the corner’. Utilizing a reverse narrative arc, the album begins as the listener finds Redford disoriented–postmortem–and attempting to make sense of his former life. As he moves through its pivotal moments he begins to deconstruct all that has led to his (and our own) coming undun.

“undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn’t born criminal. He’s not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner… he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment… At the end of the day… isn’t that what we all do?”

–?uestlove

Here, Black Thought explains the recipe to creating a coherent album.

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*undun* is an existential re-telling of the short life of the fictional Redford Stephens (1974-1999). Through the use of emotives and Redford's internal dialogues the album seeks to illustrate the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out 'on the corner'. Utilizing a reverse narrative arc, the album begins as the listener finds Redford disoriented--postmortem--and attempting to make sense of his former life. As he moves through its pivotal moments he begins to deconstruct all that has led to his (and our own) coming undun.

>"***undun*** is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn’t born criminal. He’s not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner... he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment… At the end of the day… isn’t that what we all do?”

--[?uestlove](https://genius.com/artists/Uestlove)

Here, [Black Thought](/artists/Black-thought) explains the recipe to creating a coherent album.
http://players.brightcove.net/4863540648001/HklmClHkx_default/index.html?videoId=5237782788001

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Earth is boring to 'em, shit is making my dick soft JAY-Z & Kanye West (Ft. Beyoncé) – Lift Off

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The competition from other rappers is so boring Jay ain’t even gettin' excited (hence his limp dick syndrome). Don’t worry Jay – I’m sure Bey will be more than happy to perk you up again.

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the evil is illegal substance sold Nas – One on One

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DRUGS are the cause for the rottenness of the apple. They, like the snake which persuaded Eve to sin, are behind the nastiness and atrocities which the ghetto is subject to.

As Nas said with his own words in this interview with Tyler the Creator:

Crack fucked up the world, and I wonder if they realized the damage
I mean, they come from an era who made a lot of money of that shit
I wonder if it fucked with their conscience
It fucked with me being out there, I couldn’t stand it
I couldn’t stand seeing people fucking themselves up like that on the shit
And that’s where the money came from

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DRUGS are the cause for the rottenness of the apple. They, like the snake which persuaded Eve to sin, are behind the nastiness and atrocities which the ghetto is subject to.

As Nas said with his own words in this [interview](http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/1364716504_tyler-nas-9.jpg) with [Tyler the Creator](http://rapgenius.com/artists/Tyler-the-creator):

> *[Crack fucked up the world, and I wonder if they realized the damage
I mean, they come from an era who made a lot of money of that shit
I wonder if it fucked with their conscience
It fucked with me being out there, I couldn't stand it
I couldn't stand seeing people fucking themselves up like that on the shit
And that's where the money came from](http://rapgenius.com/1621545/Tyler-the-creator-48/Crack-fucked-up-the-world-and-i-wonder-if-they-realized-the-damage-i-mean-they-come-from-an-era-who-made-a-lot-of-money-of-that-shit-i-wonder-if-it-fucked-with-their-conscience-it-fucked-with-me-being-out-there-i-couldnt-stand-it-i-couldnt-stand-seeing-people-fucking-themselves-up-like-that-on-the-shit-and-thats-where-the-money-came-from)*
http://images.genius.com/ab198af633090be7e0103c9341364cc3.291x349x1.jpg

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Yo, I need an encore y'all, you should welcome me back Nas – Nastradamus

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Encore is an extra performance. Since he already released another album that year the whole album Nastradamus is just an extra perforamnce for us and we should cherish it! We can’t deny that we enjoyed “Project Window”, “Life We Chose”, “Shoot ´Em Up” and “Come Get Me”.

Nastradamus was Nas' second album of the year (after I Am…) which was ORIGINALLY MADE FROM material that DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT for I Am. So stop hating.

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And man, you put yourself in your own shoes Nas & Damian Marley – Strong Will Continue

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He doesn’t want other guys messing with his business. This may be a continuation of the previous line, you have to wear the shoes you that you have purchased. Just like “self defeat is your own dispute.”

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174

7 years

“and WHEN you put yourself INNA your own shoes”

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But, uh—a thug changes, and love changes
And best friends become strangers (Word up) Nas – The Message

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This line is about love, envy, and betrayal and how pride and egos get in the way of important relationships. Change in everything is inevitable – everyone and everything eventually changes.

This could be another subliminal shot (here and here) at Biggie. They were once friends before Biggie blew up with Ready To Die. They were busting freestyles in concerts, and a few pics of them together. They did somewhat become strangers even after the source awards where people claim Nas was angry Biggie won all of the awards. Nas also said that he hadn’t heard or talked to Biggie since Ready To Die until after he released It Was Written that this record was featured on.