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Malenkov Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire
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1953

Immediately after Stalin’s death, Georgy Malenkov, who had been Stalin’s deputy prime minister and right-hand man, became the prime minister of the Soviet Union from March of 1953 to February of 1955.

His reign on top was short, as a five year long power struggle ousted him and brought Nikita Kruschev to the premiership in 1958.

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and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. William Shakespeare – The Seven Ages of Man ("All the world's a stage")
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Treble is the higher part of a piece of music. The human voice goes from the high pitched squeak of a child to the deeper adult voice and returns back to a higher tones during old age as we once again become helpless and need assistance to meet our own needs.

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Default_avatar_100

0

5 years

Is explaining the obvious

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046a010daf353eb0353ac7ecce5bb784

100

6 years

PuffyMuffy says ‘pronunciation’: shouldn’t that be ‘enunciation’?

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hasmin
7 years

explanation

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7 years

Whistling is also because he needs help with pronunciation.;

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a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; William Shakespeare – The Seven Ages of Man ("All the world's a stage")
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As men grow old, their shanks or legs shrink and they become more and more immobile. The whole world, in a sense, is too big for old men because they can’t move and explore as much as they used to.

In addition, shank could also mean male sexual reproduction organ. Shakespeare was very fond of sexual puns and innuendos. This innuendo may have titillated the audience somewhat, but it also addresses the centrality of sex in our concept of self, especially as we age.

And in a literal sense, this refers to hose fitting loosely now in the crotch, what with the whole shrunken shank and all.

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2e893ace9c7c23d24cc30421b96a042c

5,825

5 years

Notice the alliteration – >Well saved, a World too Wide

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3a11317d3be633b0fc02788da61d5a1a

99

7 years

sexual puns, awesome

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hamibullah
8 years

its awesome dude perfect.

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All I do is count my blessings, Weezy F for Fortunate Ace Hood (Ft. Lil Wayne) – We Outchea
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The blessings here refer to the millions that Wayne has stacked over the years, rapping for the masses.

Oh and by the way,

There’s another one! The list of things that the F in Weezy F Baby has stood for is really stretching. We’re thinking Wayne’s going to run down every F word there is. To see the whole list, check the end of our blog post dedicated to Wayne’s obsession for nicknames.

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Sneaker store terrorist, Busta Rhymes (Ft. Nas) – Don't Get Carried Away
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Suede Timbs on my feets makes my cipher complete

Sneakers have always been an integral part of hip hop culture. One of the signs of making it in this business is being able to buy the best of the best in terms of sneakers. A metaphor, he kidnaps/empty shoe stores and destroys the sneakers, since he always use them. Nas is basically saying that the sneaker store has seen more than a few visits from him.

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Listen, these niggas is tripping
These niggas been thinking we ain't tripping off lyrics Wale – The Perfect Plan
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Over the past couple of years, in terms of mainstream attention, lyrics have taken a backseat to beats and hooks. Wale says anyone who thinks we haven’t fallen off lyrics is deluded (tripping is slang for going crazy).

Note: Wale uses homophones as much for emphasis as for wordplay.

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Today has been an obstacle to overcome
The polyrhythmic numb sips statistics
Liquidated over the dry ice to come
Some are truth combined with lies Illogic – Birthright
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Illogic is a master at creating metaphors and similes between things that are barely related. Here again he compares ‘today’ which is an entity of time, to an obstacle, which is something entirely different.

Now the lines that come after are tricky to understand. We at RG are ourselves surprised that we got anything at all.
The polyrhythmic numb refers (probably) to the two things that make life worth living for Illogic, refrenced in the next line. These two reasons are set in his mind and will not change. Thats why they’re numb. Now these reasons are occasionally reinforced and validated by facts(i.e statistics), and those statistics (compared to some sort of a drink) play out(liquidated) as important factors when a doubt or challenge appears(dry ice to come). Some of these statistics are lies and some of them are truths, but whether its blind or not, thats the belief and conviction that drives illogic.

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Ja1i57hdoq

1,016

4 years

“The polyrhythmic numbs, sip statistics”.

After a long day, Illogic plays music to unwind and inspire him to write. The water vapor from the dry ice is his brilliance, the product.

When waxing philosophic/poetic, one often charts uncharted territory, so some lines may be “lies”. Either that or he’s talking about the statistics, which could be referring to Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent theory of disinformation of mass media.

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Ff1c0b19ca65e5f481aee1b1689641c9

880

10 years

I’m not sure you understand it but I’m glad you tried lol

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And plane of exist crashing into this
Everlasting black market Illogic – Birthright
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The existence of rappers and other artists is being compared to a plane that crashes into a black market; The market being a place onto which they can dump their lives in the form of art.

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Floodgates open to obscure mind lashing Illogic – Birthright
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Rap or any art form for that matter provides a place for people to go crazy and express the weird lashings of the mind (strange thoughts that often pop up unexpectedly).

Observe how he expresses the mind as being a living beast. I guess it’s fitting if you think of the brain as a expanding creature, growing through the expanses of the world, absorbing knowledge and occasionally lashing out and expressing a strange idea.

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The gruesome brilliance
Gripping on to the lifeline of the mic-line Illogic – Birthright
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The sadder, more gruesome aspects of life often fuel the lyrics of rapper, and this can become the lifeline of that rapper, just as break ups are the lifeline of several pop figures. The brilliance of this lies in the fact that rappers can take the gritty details of life and flip them around, translating them into something beautiful.

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