Genius | Song Lyrics & Knowledge

I punched a cop, knowing I would lose my freedom
I let journalists choose a reason Charles Hamilton – Correct

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A reference to a 2010 incident in which Charles assaulted a police officer. He had his own personal reason for the attack and didn’t care what journalists had to say about the situation.

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Know a dab will do ya too much Saba – Scum

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Dabs — a refined form of marijuana — are known to get people extremely high.

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I see the light at the end of the tunnel
And answers that I leave in empty pages to be written
Where is your pen? Lupe Fiasco (Ft. Ayesha Jaco) – Prisoner 1 & 2

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Sadly, racial equality is not something we have yet reached in America. People such as herself have been fighting for the end of this ignorant way of thought, but a lot more need to join in to finally win this fight. In her opinion, the end is close, for she can figuratively see the light of racial equality at the end of the tunnel. The next big step is for others to “pick up their pen” and start filling in the new pages of life with this “new” ideology.

Note the Pen/Penitentiary wordplay.

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They been speakin' about the evils of the Windy Coast Saba – Scum

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Chicago is often referred to as “The Windy City”. Sadly, it has a reputation among many of not being a good place to live due to its record high killings and its unfortunate nickname,“Chiraq”.

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Pre-paid collect call from (censor)
An inmate at (censor) Correctional Center
This call is subject to recording and monitoring
To accept charges, press 1
To refuse charges, press 2
If you would like to permanently block your number
From receiving calls from this facility, press 6
For balance and rate quotes, press 7 (button press)
Thank you for using Securus
You may start the conversation now Lupe Fiasco (Ft. Ayesha Jaco) – Prisoner 1 & 2

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This monologue is simply what you hear when receiving a collect call from prison. By observing the last line in the intro, you can note that the person receiving the call pressed 1.

In case you don’t know anyone locked down in one of the 2,200 correctional facilities that the company has contracts with in the United States and Canada, Securus is a real company. They provide “communication solutions for the corrections industry”.

Locking people up is big business in the United States.

Lupe also foreshadows the two songs, prisoner 1 “accepts charges” while prisoner 2 (the guards) “refuse charges”. He is also referring to how guards (or even the police) abuse their power & don’t accept the consequences of their actions.

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144

8 years

Maybe it’s just because I’m not a native english speaker, but the way she says “balance and rate” makes these words sound like homophones for “violence and rape” might be just my imagination or a subtle wordlplay by Lu that plays into the whole prison/crime theme.

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9 years

[Hey, I don’t know how to edit/suggest properly, so I’m throwing it here. It might be better to break down the summary of this paragraph into line-by-line, at least for some of it, as its such a dense part. Thanks!]

“Pre-paid”
- This conversation has been pre-paid by black history(?).
“Collect call”
- Terms used in a prison environment could be (the call for) the release of a prisoner.

The numbered options can relate with the options presented to the underprivileged (on trial?):
Number 1 (Accept charges) – Plead guilty and accept what you are dealt.
Number 2 (Reduce charges) – Try and fight the case/situation but are ultimately dealt the same, though maybe less extreme, hand.
Number 6 (Leave) – The penultimate option is to leave and block yourself off from the ‘system’/facility. This may meant to exile yourself from your situation – “permanently block”. This is an inherintly bad option as it requires leaving your family and life behind.

In short: Plead/get voted guilty or leave.

Number 7 (“For balance and rate quotes, press 7.”) – This reminds you that the prison/security system is controlled by a company (for profit/minimised losses). Reminding us that to them, the lives inside are a number and a profit margin.

“You can start the conversation now”. Lupe wants to start the conversation on race now, but starting with the twisted prison system.

[Hey, I don't know how to edit/suggest properly, so I'm throwing it here. It might be better to break down the summary of this paragraph into line-by-line, at least for some of it, as its such a dense part. Thanks!]

"Pre-paid" 
- This conversation has been pre-paid by black history(?).
"Collect call"
- Terms used in a prison environment could be (the call for) the release of a prisoner.

The numbered options can relate with the options presented to the underprivileged (on trial?): 
Number 1 (Accept charges) - Plead guilty and accept what you are dealt. 
Number 2 (Reduce charges) - Try and fight the case/situation but are ultimately dealt the same, though maybe less extreme, hand. 
Number 6 (Leave) - The penultimate option is to leave and block yourself off from the 'system'/facility. This may meant to exile yourself from your situation - "permanently block". This is an inherintly bad option as it requires leaving your family and life behind.

In short: Plead/get voted guilty or leave.

Number 7 ("For balance and rate quotes, press 7.") - This reminds you that the prison/security system is controlled by a company (for profit/minimised losses). Reminding us that to them, the lives inside are a number and a profit margin.

"You can start the conversation now". Lupe wants to start the conversation on race now, but starting with the twisted prison system.

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86,289

9 years

Lupe actually uses the service too (though he’s the one answering the calls – not making them)
https://twitter.com/LupeFiasco/status/521772107823202304

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And vicodin with inner tubes Lupe Fiasco – Mural

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Lupe refers to the opiate Vicodin, which contains a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone. These chemicals are often abused for their addictive effects, and junkies use inner tubes to tie their arms off.

Just as humans are made of chemicals, vitamins, and minerals — so is Vicodin. Some people float through life on drugs as if they were floating through water on inner tubes.

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5 months

this also connects to the first line where “we’re all chemicals” can be heard as “we’re raw chemicals”. lupe refers to the drug by it’s brand name contrasting the rawness of our body’s natural chemicals

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Nicholas Grzegorzewski

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5 years

also a double meaning “vicodin within her tubes” referring to the opiod epidemic

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250

6 years

Do they really use “inner” tubes or just plastic tubes to tie their arms off. I think Lupe is using it artistically to 1) connote floating on inner tubes; 2) since we’re chemicals, relate the plastic tube to the body ; 3) contrasting this tube with the vein, the actual inner tube the user is trying to manifest with the plastic tube, (for the purpose of getting high, “inner tubing” by bringing in the Vicodin which we already are.

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6 years

I think Lupe is also suggesting that we are made up of all these substances/elements and therefore are naturally “dope” just like the feeling one gets when taking vicodin.

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250

9 years

We are all humans and looking for another form of elevation, to get higher, as humans.

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We're all chemicals, vitamins, and minerals Lupe Fiasco – Mural

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Humans are all made of chemicals, vitamins, and minerals. Moreover, the fact that all of us are made out of these same materials makes every single one of us equally beautiful. Our lives truly are a blessing and this blessing itself is beautiful — much like murals.

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5 years

Lupe also pronounces we’re in a way that sounds like raw. This refers to us being organic and not synthetic.

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380

6 years

Not sure if anyone said this yet but the first bar sounds a lot like O.C.’s “Time’s Up…”.

“You lack the minerals and vitamins, irons and the niacin
Fuck who that I offend, rappers sit back I’m bout to begin/”

Not sure if they’re related or not but I get that vibe.

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118

7 years

More than being equally beautiful I think that Lupe means that if we’re all made of the same thing, then racism and other kinds of discrimination can’t be justified and he’s saying it’s wrong with one of the best arguments ever heard

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290

7 years

same things made us up, from the president to the street beggars. same chemicals,vitamins and mineral… make sense 😐

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4,310

7 years

He simply meant that we are all the same and not different irrespective of races and any other boundary and barriers we tend to create. that’s deep.

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kanyefan

8 years

One of the greatest accomplishments of 20th century psychology is the move toward viewing diseases of the mind in terms of chemicals, or more specifically a “chemical imbalance.” Lupe’s wordplay here mimics the mindset of a person with schizophrenia, which is marked by both a literal understanding of words as they are spoken (the expression “You get the picture?” would be answered with “What picture? Where?” and loose associations (the word “picture” will prompt the word “pitcher,” as in a container for liquids, which will lead to “pitcher,” as in the baseball position; in the mind of a schizophrenic, all three sense of the word are appropriate in a single sentence, even if the sentence does not make any sense).
It’s too much of a stretch to say that Lupe meant this technique to represent a comment on mental illness, however. It’s more likely that he uses it because it allows him to do two things: 1) make a comment on the nature of reality (which is the result of “chemical” processes in our minds, but isn’t any less “real” to us). And 2) bring up a number of themes and topics (fame and the nature of celebrity, drug use, the violent world we live in) in a way where we as the listener have to come to our own conclusions. This is a form of socially-conscious “message” rap where we as the listener are forced to do a little work, to look inside ourselves and not just repeat the chorus. Lupe is stretching as an artist and becoming comfortable with putting things out there that baffle us, confuse us, and force is to come to our own conclusions. The song is a “Mural” in the sense that it has different parts that have different meanings, but can be understood as one vast statement on various things that were on his mind when be wrote it.

One of the greatest accomplishments of 20th century psychology is the move toward viewing diseases of the mind in terms of chemicals, or more specifically a "chemical imbalance." Lupe's wordplay here mimics the mindset of a person with schizophrenia, which is marked by both a literal understanding of words as they are spoken (the expression "You get the picture?" would be answered with "What picture? Where?" and loose associations (the word "picture" will prompt the word "pitcher," as in a container for liquids, which will lead to "pitcher," as in the baseball position; in the mind of a schizophrenic, all three sense of the word are appropriate in a single sentence, even if the sentence does not make any sense).   
It's too much of a stretch to say that Lupe meant this technique to represent a comment on mental illness, however. It's more likely that he uses it because it allows him to do two things: 1) make a comment on the nature of reality (which is the result of "chemical" processes in our minds, but isn't any less "real" to us). And 2) bring up a number of themes and topics (fame and the nature of celebrity, drug use, the violent world we live in) in a way where we as the listener have to come to our own conclusions. This is a form of socially-conscious "message" rap where we as the listener are forced to do a little work, to look inside ourselves and not just repeat the chorus. Lupe is stretching as an artist and becoming comfortable with putting things out there that baffle us, confuse us, and force is to come to our own conclusions. The song is a "Mural" in the sense that it has different parts that have different meanings, but can be understood as one vast statement on various things that were on his mind when be wrote it.

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228

9 years

This line recalls the first line of “Time’s Up,” the classic battle record from O.C.:
“You lack the minerals and vitamins, irons and the niacin.”
Where O.C. is saying his opponent doesn’t have the same makeup as him, Lupe is saying we all have the same makeup.

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They on their hunt, kind of salty that I'm going hard Lupe Fiasco – Mural

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The shotguns mentioned in the previous line are now being used to hunt Lupe. Moreover, just like the saltiness of deer piss and tear drops mentioned in the previous lines, people are getting salty — or mad — that he is simply doing his thing. I guess you could say they’re pissed.

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5 years

Hunts ketchup is also salty. Relating back to hot dogs.

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457

6 years

The answer to all 3 of the questions that Lupe previously asked was the word ‘salt’. Lupe then uses the adjective ‘salty’ to describe the bitterness of his contemporaries who fail to reach his level of lyricism.

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Joe

6 years

The line could also mean that the bars leading up to it were referencing salt. Hot dogs and tear drips taste like salt. Pantomine and clear bricks look like salt, deer piss smells like salt. Those could be him cleverly mentioning how the people feel while trying to solve the riddle.

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501

7 years

Salty, in most competitive video games circuits, means to be angry that you lost a match and are metaphorically crying, mostly with your words exclaiming that your loss was out of your hands or your body language screaming frustration with the loss. I think Lupe is referring to that video game term in this line.

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103

8 years

Alright so I think this entire group of bars is incredible. So incredible I had to start a genius account to annotate. I believe everyone here is pretty much on the right track but missing one final interpretation out of these bars that YGJ was onto and so close but didn’t finish it seems like.

“What tastes like hot dogs and tear drips?”

The American dream. From the bottom eating hot dogs and crying.

“Looks like pantomime and clear bricks?”

Climbing up the ladder in said American dream seems like you’re making no progress. You just don’t see it like miming or clear bricks.

“And smells like shotguns and deer piss.”

The sense of freedom held buy some of what is known as “redneck” america that are “living the dream”.

“They’re on the hunt, kinda salty that I’m going hard.”

The true devils of the american dream all the way back up to previous lines and “illuminati” references I see; He is deep down going for some sneaky secrets he really has to hide cause they are “on the hunt”.

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YGJ

9 years

He was asking questions.

“What tastes like hot dogs and tear drips?”

Tears are salty. Hot dogs could be considered salty.

“..looks like pantomime and clear bricks”.

I think this line is a little deeper. Especially with the “clear bricks” part but nah. Bricks are hard.

“ and smells like shotguns and deer piss?”

As someone has been hunting? Those are very pungent smells. Overpowering if you’re not used to it. Off putting.

“They’re on the hunt, kinda salty that I’m going hard”.

Hunting = shotgun, deer
Salty = Hotdog, tear drips
Hard = Pantomime (?), Bricks

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mark b

9 years

deer urine is used by hunters to hunt deer. I believe deer are attracted by this smell and is therefore easier to kill.

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nova

9 years

Adding to the whole cartoon theme, it could be a reference to Looney Toons. Lupe being bugs bunny and they being elmer fudd

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or two feet on a Riesling (Yeah!) slow wind Lupe Fiasco (Ft. Ab-Soul & Troi Irons) – They.Resurrect.Over.New.

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A Riesling is a delicate variety of grape often used in the making of white wine. One of the methods to make this alcoholic beverage involves slowly using your two feet to stomp the grapes into a juice. Also, note the wordplay with wind/wine and the word defeating a few lines back.

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Dre Dey

3 years

Slow “wind” should have been typed as slow “whine” as a homophone for “wine”

The connection here could be to the previous words “beating it” to reference Micheal Jackson’s dance battle in his “Just beat it” video …..where two gangs met, for the evening in a manner of conflict

He finishes up this train of thought with “or two feet on a Riesling” which is a slow and old fashioned way to make wine……but to “slow whine” is to dance in a manner of pleasure and harmony, contrasted to a dance battle.

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Mr. Ink

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5 years

This plays on the last line, as two rival gangs meet for the evening, its actually to end their war or “squash” their beef. Using two feet on the Riesling refers to squashing grapes with your feet to make wine.

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Still left out the life, also left out the will, grief
Will cheese never touch your teeth Lupe Fiasco (Ft. Nikki Jean) – Little Death

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When most people die, they leave a will that tells who to distribute their material possessions to. The person in question was left out of a will, and, consequently, will be receiving no cheese.

Cheese, in this case, is a slang term for money. That cheese distributed in the will – aka will cheese – will not be going to him.

“Cheese never touching your teeth” continues the theme of dietary restriction as vegans don’t eat any dairy products and Jews won’t eat non-Kosher cheese.

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9 years

Will as in Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

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276

9 years

Also, since most of this song is about the ills of American Society, saying no cheese is a triple for:
1. No Smile because you’re going nowhere (with no transmission)
2. No Money because you’re going nowhere (with no transmission)
3. No Cheese because this assumed character is vegan.

Also if the transmission goes, it is common to get rid (death) of the car instead of fix it.

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