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For all my peoples incarcerated, for those who ain't make it Wu-Tang Clan – A Better Tomorrow
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Locked down is a term for prison as it is a term for saying that when you are born in the ghetto you are born in a cell/prison that comes with less money and less choices.
The more freedom you have the more power you have and a way to make sure that they never have power is to keep them imprisoned in the ghetto and lock their freedom.
This goes out to not just the imprisoned, but to those who never came out of jail/ghetto in the literal meaning (as in died).
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The Pretty Toney Album is the fourth studio album by American hip hop artist Ghostface, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan.
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It’s a ghetto tradition:
They pour liquor on the floor for their homies that are no longer with them (whether they are in jail or dead).
ACCEPTED SUGGESTION: Actually it’s not just a ghetto tradition, it traces back to Ancient Greece.
Known as ‘libation’: The Ancient Greeks poured olive oil or wine on the ground or over a holy object (eg. altar) as a tribute to the gods, or a dead spirit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libation
“Libation was a central and vital aspect of ancient Greek religion, and one of the simplest and most common forms of religious practice. It is one of the basic religious acts that define piety in ancient Greece, dating back to the Bronze Age and even prehistoric Greece. Libations were a part of daily life, and the pious might perform them every day in the morning and evening, as well as to begin meals.”
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“By any means necessary,” a phrase from Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Dirty Hands, was made famous in Malcolm X’s 1964 Speech at the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. It had recently been reintroduced to the American public two years earlier, in 1992, by the release of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, which closed with Nelson Mandela quoting the speech. The phrase was also widely popularized at the time in the promotional merchandizing campaign that went along with the film.
One of the many streets Malcolm X has given his name to is Harlem’s Malcolm X Blvd (AKA Lenox Ave.), home of Billy Jean hair salon, which at this time was locally famous for emulating the trademark hairstyle of famous 1930’s child actor, singer and dancer Shirley Temple.
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Ghostface is a member of The Nation Of Gods and Earths.
It’s a black syncretism wich gathering Islam, Tao and Farrakhan.
“God” is a synonym for Male. He says “You caught me like a fish or I would not be a man.
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Parlez-vous français? Mi amor, merci, oui oui, bon bons and all that good stuff Raekwon (Ft. Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah & Method Man) – Ice Cream
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What is this?
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Masta Killa is probably talking about immunization/vaccination. Similar to Nas' line from “What Goes Around:”
Masta Killa could also be talking about crack and other drugs that are being used by mothers during pregnancy, leading to their babies being born with abnormalities and birth defects. The babies are considered crack babies and are already born dependent on drugs.
He could also be referencing medical trials, historically performed on low-income black communities with very little ethical oversight, such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
The last line is meant to read:
On their faces – that bear no relations
As the disfigurements caused by drugs have made the baby’s features unrelated to those of the mother..
3,755
Actually I think he’s talking about both – “Youths are injected .. irritations” is definitely about vaccinations IMO, and the rest is probably referring to crack babies.