The latest example of this trend is the D’s former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was convicted and sentenced to jail in 2010 for obstruction of justice and parole violation, dating back to a 2007 scandal where he fired two policemen in order to prevent them from learning about his affair with his chief of staff

Ever repping the D, Invincible even snacks local, sipping on the country’s oldest surviving soft drink, Vernors root beer while eating Better Made potato chips (ever and always made in Detroit at 10148 Gratiot)

Detroit was an important stop on the Underground Railroad beginning in 1830, well before the Civil War. Escaping slaves had to cross the Detroit River in order to get to Canada. Below, a monument in Detroit to the Railroad:

The Roostertail is a private club that is rented out for weddings, proms, corporate events, etc. It dates back to 1958. A big thanks to Invincible herself for helping us with this lyric

The rapper is on her way to the D’s Belle Isle park, listening to an artist with whom she presumably feels a sense of kinship. Eunice “Nina Simone” Waymon was a singer and pianist who, like Invincible, made her politics central to her music, life, and image. See here for a short summary of Simone’s relationship to the civil rights and anti-war movements. Below, one of her most vicious civil rights anthems, “Mississippi Goddam”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBiAtwQZnHs

These opening lines, where a sleepy Invincible mistakes a sunrise for a fire, serves as an introduction to the themes of the rest of the song

In 1967, Detroit erupted in the 12th Street riot, which was one of the deadliest and most destructive in U.S. history. Forty three people were killed, and over 2,000 buildings were destroyed, mostly by fire, a trail of destruction that can still be seen in the city today. A picture from the riot, below:

Here, Invincible refers to this part of the city’s past with the “buildings in flames” imagery, but it all turns out to be an illusion, as what she really sees is the sun. Similarly, she and the people she is commemorating in this tune are building a new, hopeful Detroit

For example, that time the U.S. allowed its businesses to ship tear gas to Egypt so it could crack down on protesters. Oh wait, maybe that’s not such a good example..

The words “nation-building” here hearken back to George W. Bush. In a Presidential debate in 2000, Bush famously said:

[W]e can’t be all things to all people in the world. I am worried about over-committing our military around the world. I want to be judicious in its use. I don’t think nation-building missions are worthwhile

Of course, once he actually got into office, President Bush got the U.S. involved in “nation-building” efforts in multiple countries, most notably Iraq and Afghanistan