GENIUS
Sign Up
Or bet your life on a bluff and a bad hand The Roots (Ft. Bilal & Greg Porn) – The OtherSide
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

This card-playing/gambling motif re-appears several other times throughout the record

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +1 Downvote
Copy Embed
3ea8207905f00b1574f600d8ac4f4f1a

1,779

2 years

the previous song Kool On shows that Redford is on a streak of luck so his bluff worked

Upvote +0 Downvote
Show all improvement suggestions
I drew a two of hearts from a deck of cards
A stock trick from my empty repertoire The Roots – I Remember
Genius Annotation 3 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Playing on the phrase “playing the cards you’re dealt”, he is telling us that he started with a 2 – the worst card in the deck.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +12 Downvote
Copy Embed
A4a295aa279277c8c3784f52f593f7e2

2,353

12 years

“2 of hearts” could also refer to Redford and a close friend he ended up losing in the midst of his downfall, like in this song

Upvote +0 Downvote
Mircea
12 years

“I drew a 2”: from all the possibilities to be born in a good life ( money to survive everyday with a good house, car, job etc ), he was born in a worst possible life. 2 of hearts as the lowest card in the deck.
“of hearts”: Even though it’s a tough harsh life, he still has a heart, a good soul.

“A stock trick” could mean that he’s doing what everyone else around him is doing to survive.
“from my empty repertoire”: Could mean that he was born with nothing and he is learning from the others how to survive.
And, as a whole “A stock trick from my empty repertoire”, could mean he learned from nothing everything from others, acting the same as them.

Upvote +16 Downvote
Marÿke
12 years

He’s looking back at his lifetime of memories, starting with the first thing he can remember at age 2– the bleakness of his life began then (the end of innocence?) and like he mentions in ‘stomp’ he wishes he remained a stain on the sheets instead of ever being born. he is “little what’s his name” even to himself.

Upvote +6 Downvote
Show all improvement suggestions
But I’m never paying up on my debt—or tolls, either
I’ll leave the memories here, I won’t need 'em The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Genius Annotation 2 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Redford knows that there will be a harsh reckoning for his murderous actions, but chooses to bury both that knowledge and the memories of his now-deceased friend

It could also follow the water and death metaphor to refer to the Styx River in Greek mythology. The ancient greeks would place a coin in the mouth of the deceased to pay the toll to cross the styx to the afterlife. The journey through Styx was also supposed to erase the memories of the deceased.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +6 Downvote
Copy Embed
The Grim Reaper telling me to swim deeper
Where the people go to—lo and behold, the Soul Keeper The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Redford here hints that he may actually be killing his former friend, and wrestles with the implications for his own soul. His antagonist is now likely swimming with the fishes

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +5 Downvote
Copy Embed
D4c421f4045fbd529c32875a62de24c2

656

8 years

This idea of souls collecting at the bottom of the sea comes out of African faith traditions. In Yoruba culture, Olokun (whose name means “owner of the ocean”) is an orisha, or spiritual deity who resides at the bottom of the sea and represents the mysteries and abundances of the ocean. He is closely associated with his lover Yemoja, the powerful water goddess and guides those who pass on to ancestorship (like those African who died during the Middle Passage).

Upvote +2 Downvote
Show all improvement suggestions
I stopped holding my breath The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Thought-as-Redford continues the nautical metaphors here when talking about how he stopped waiting for his former friend to make things right

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +2 Downvote
Copy Embed
Survive on my own thoughts of suicide that’s competing
With thoughts of tryna stay alive, which been weakened
By the feeling of putting on a smile while being beaten The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Genius Annotation 3 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Redford moves back and forth between suicidal thoughts and his determination to stay alive.

Part of what makes him want to just give up is the daily facade of putting a happy face on his suffering.

The theme of suicide or just giving up recurs throughout the album as in “Make My”

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +12 Downvote
Copy Embed
Troubled water neither one of us could swim across The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

In other words, neither one of them could be the bridge

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +8 Downvote
Copy Embed
The halted motion of a rebel without a pause The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Thought-as-Redford uses the image of “halted motion” to reference Public Enemy’s 1988 song “Rebel Without a Pause”

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +7 Downvote
Copy Embed
If you can‘t swiz-zim, then you're bound to driz-zown The Roots (Ft. Dice Raw) – Lighthouse
Unreviewed Annotation 2 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

A nod here to this famous Snoop line, but it’s actually a line from the movie Boyz n the Hood.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +13 Downvote
Copy Embed
Stomp The Roots (Ft. Greg Porn) – Stomp
Song Bio 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

This undun track finds the album’s narrator, Redford, falling deeper into the criminal life and even resorting to murder.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +28 Downvote
Copy Embed