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They out there every day, some true hustlers for you
I'm at it half way, none of my customers are loyal Rick Ross (Ft. Nas) – Triple Beam Dreams

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The already established dealers were moving farther and farther up because their customers trusted them, and they stayed busy all day. Nas, on the other hand, wasn’t an established dealer and couldn’t get many customers

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925

4 years

Nas flips the addiction narrative, making it clear he was “addicted” to gold chains and stuck in a cycle of spending money and going broke. Money used up to buy chains = no money to buy product (Nas' old broke formula). Hence despite his “Mercedes hopes”, this shit wasn’t cut for him means, whichever way you sliced it (literally, figuratively)–his commitment, his newness to the block, spendthrift ways, lack of loyalty of his customers, fact he was a rookie (you know, play on words)–the coke game just wasn’t for him.

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11 years

I think Nas is saying he’s not committed which is why the customers aren’t loyal.

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I brought it back to papi, ain't tryna take no losses
He focuses on my emotionless young dealer face, then pauses
He gives me powder, he has faith in Nas' ambitions to distribute coke Rick Ross (Ft. Nas) – Triple Beam Dreams

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Because, as he explained in the prior line, the coke he was trying to sell wasn’t good, he took it back to the guy he got it from. .

Nas tells him that he refuses to sell it because he can’t make a profit, and the man respects Nas for having the balls to do that, and knows that Nas really wants to sell it. So he gives him more coke, presumably better, which Nas continues to sell.

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925

4 years

By the 1980s and during the height of the crack epidemic, Washington Heights had a large contingent of Dominicans. Nas' use of the word “papi” therefore lends credence to the story, while it also shows the coke game was the way blacks and latinos (minorities in a “bastardized nation”) were trying to survive.

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In the bastardized nation, Magnum .45 carryin' Rick Ross (Ft. Nas) – Triple Beam Dreams

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The term “bastardized” serves a literal meaning here: this nation has made many people, particularly young black people, bastards, be it through their fathers being killed, or through their fathers walking out on them.

Partially because of this level of deception from their own fathers, people in the hood tend to carry guns to protect themselves.

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4 years

The bastardized nation is black and put down. Nas makes the case: He wasn’t far from that white stuff (“aryan”) to raise himself up. That is, a kid who is “project-minded” and without a father can find the temptation of the hustle to come up hard to resist.

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Mentally sex-crazed, dysfunctional, they describe us
They liars, at the end of the day, we're fuckin' survivors Rick Ross (Ft. Nas) – Triple Beam Dreams

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Although Nas is a bit of a sex fiend, people need to stop judging him & all the rest of the black community.

People see that they are shooting each other, selling drugs, etc., and label them as crazy or dysfunctional, not knowing that they’re doing what they’re doing simply to survive.

He is not just talking about surviving day to day, though, but also the bigger struggle against racism and for equality.

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8 years

Nas is saying that even though we are labeled as such, this is not true. He is also saying that we had to over come more obstacles that others so we are survivors and not what they claim us to be.

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A project minded individual, criminal tactics
Us black kids born with birth defects, we hyperactive Rick Ross (Ft. Nas) – Triple Beam Dreams

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Like Kendrick Lamar said:

You know why we crack babies
Because we born in the eighties
That ADHD crazy

Except…. Nas was born in 1973, not the eighties. But it’s the same concept: the crack epidemic had already started affected people, especially those in inner city NYC where Nas grew up.

This made the “crack babies” be born a little hyperactive, always needing something to do. Well, the thing which they found easiest to become a part of was hustling on the streets, so they did.

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925

4 years

To execute a project you have to have a tactic. So “project-minded” is a double entendre, meaning he has the mind to strategize (about crimes) but also meaning he’s a ‘product’ of the ghetto, or put another way, was educated there.

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Mahaliah

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7 years

Nas is alluding to racist stereotypes that have contributed to a myth of black pathology… myths that circulate to perpetuate that black children and black people are inferior. While mental conditions have arisen in the wake of the crack epidemic/as a side effect of decades of strenuous living conditions and general stressors, and it is true that black children are too often misdiagnosed as inherently unruly or disrespectful and punished instead of worked with constructively to diagnose and accommodate these conditions, it’s inaccurate and kinda racist to suggest that (black) children born to parents addicted to crack or born during the crack epidemic were innately “hyperactive” and “needing something to do” and that “what they found easiest to become a part of was hustling on the streets”…. not only is it inaccurate in relation to Nas' lyrics here, but it’s historically inaccurate and misguided.

“This made the “crack babies” be born a little hyperactive, always needing something to do. Well, the thing which they found easiest to become a part of was hustling on the streets, so they did.”

Nas is alluding to racist stereotypes that have contributed to a myth of black pathology... myths that circulate to perpetuate that black children and black people are inferior. While mental conditions have arisen in the wake of the crack epidemic/as a side effect of decades of strenuous living conditions and general stressors, and it is true that black children are too often misdiagnosed as inherently unruly or disrespectful and punished instead of worked with constructively to diagnose and accommodate these conditions, it's inaccurate and kinda racist to suggest that (black) children born to parents addicted to crack or born during the crack epidemic were innately "hyperactive" and "needing something to do" and that "what they found easiest to become a part of was hustling on the streets".... not only is it inaccurate in relation to Nas' lyrics here, but it's historically inaccurate and misguided.

"This made the “crack babies” be born a little hyperactive, always needing something to do. Well, the thing which they found easiest to become a part of was hustling on the streets, so they did."

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357

9 years

I think that Nas is referring to being born black as a “Birth Defect” ie; he believes it can hold people back, or have them perceived differently based on their skin…

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a police siren, woop woop, nah, that's just Diplo Rick Ross (Ft. 2 Chainz & Wale) – Fuck Em

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A reference to the Diplo-produced Wale hit Slight Work which featured a unique array of police sirens in the beat

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Smoke that Mark McGwire strong, Oakland A no basic smoke Rick Ross (Ft. 2 Chainz & Wale) – Fuck Em

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The West Coast is known to have the best, or strongest weed– much as former Oakland A’s ball player Mark McGwire was one of the strongest players in the game (steroids can do that for ya…..)

This isn’t the first time Wale has name-dropped McGwire in a song

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Ironic since my drive increased, my driver see the profit Rick Ross (Ft. 2 Chainz & Wale) – Fuck Em

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As Wale’s drive, or Ambition increased, so did his bankroll. Naturally, as he gets more money, the more money he has to spend on things like his chauffeur.

This is ironic because the more drive (ambition) Wale has gained, the less he actually drives, but still gets paid more

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Riding five deep and I'm as dirty as them congressmen Rick Ross (Ft. 2 Chainz & Wale) – Fuck Em

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A reference to the oh-so-appropriately-named congressman Anthony Wiener, made infamous through a scandal involving him sending nude pictures of himself to at least six girls.