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let's do it
Thinking of a master plan
Sipping on disaster, smoking on gangster Nas (Ft. David Ranier) – Who Are You

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It’s probably not the smartest thing to get wasted while thinking of a plan… You might go out drunk driving again.. (cf. Drunk By Myself)

The “thinking of a master plan” formulation, of course, is Nas' ode to the these opening lines of Eric B and Rakim’s classic “Paid in Full”. Nas is such a Rakim fan that he wrote a tribute song to the God

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I'm Idi Amin, I'm Marcus Garvey
H. Rap Brown, I'm Muhammad Ali
I'm Reginald Lewis, George Washington Carver
I'm Nas with incredible music Nas (Ft. David Ranier) – Who Are You

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Nas' idols:

Idi Amin was the President of Uganda for 8 years
Marcus Garveywas a Jamaican who vouched for African American rights.
H. Rap Brown 1960s civil rights activist who said “If America don’t come around, we’re gonna burn it down”.
Muhammad Ali is considered by many to be the greatest boxer ever
Reginald Lewis was the richest African American in the 80’s, and made his money as a bussinessman
George Washington Carverwas born into slavery, but was freed and became a scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. He is most famous for inventing hundreds of uses for peanuts, including peanut butter

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4 years

what does nas admire in Idi Amin? i cannot believe one of his idols is a dictator, a man of blood that killed thousands of people. please clarify this for me

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There he go, that's him
Eating flan and ambrosia Nas (Ft. David Ranier) – Who Are You

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Foie: flattened goat or duck meat

Ambrosia: in historical perspective, the meat of the Greek Gods
In modern perspective, a special dessert that looks delicious

So you fancy huh?

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Tinkle twinkle little star, no one here knows who you are
Me I’m so big, notorious you dig 50 Cent – I'm On It

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Fifty is referring to all the smaller rappers out there who aren’t as famous as him, with a reference to the nursery rhyme , then he compares himself to being as famous the great one The Notorious B.I.G

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Never let a seed of doubt
Deter you from your lofty aims
The will is much stronger than the flesh
And it only grows stronger
When you’re going through duress The Bullitts (Ft. Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu) – Close Your Eyes

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Jay drops a Biblical references to illustrate that whatever you truly will yourself to do, you can do. This is only more true in times of stress

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1,701

10 years

*the will IS much stronger than the flesh

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Stick to the script like paper clips and coffee stains The Bullitts (Ft. Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu) – Close Your Eyes

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You need to get as close to scripture as the paper clips and coffee stains that adorn a writer’s screenplay.

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I thought of the words of pastor Dunn
When he said; “Son, at first they screamed
Hosanna on the highest then turned around
And crucified the christ after a week in jail” The Bullitts (Ft. Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu) – Close Your Eyes

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When Jay turns to religion, he remembers Pastor Dunn’s words about Jesus and is comforted: at one point, the people were rejoicing over Jesus, proclaiming “Hosanna on the highest” upon seeing him; later, though, they [crucified him]](296197). Jay likely compares this to his own situation: people were supporting him, but now they turned away. Such is life

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Tryna hold on a little longer teeth and nail
Without a hand to wipe the tears away from my cheek when they fell
When I couldn’t get peace from a pipe or chiefing an L The Bullitts (Ft. Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu) – Close Your Eyes

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Because he’s busy holding on for life, he can’t even spare a hand to wipe his own tears. With this stressing Jay out, he turns to smoking for comfort, but even that doesn’t help

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'Bout where I done been, who I done hit, your homegirl saying, "He a bad boy."
But I'm signed to the Roc, no time for the gossip, bitch, put down them tabloids! J. Cole (Ft. Trey Songz) – Can't Get Enough

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Cole had a rumor in the tabloids about him being engaged, so maybe he is signed to the Roc twice.
1. He’s signed to Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s label; not Diddy’s Bad Boy Records
2. He signed for a marriage license and gave his girlfriend a ring, commonly known as a rock.
Basically, he might be saying that he isn’t a bad boy and he is committed, so she shouldn’t listen to her homegirl or the tabloids that portray him in a bad light.

ALSO, not only is he denying that he is a bad boy type of person as the girl"s friend claimed.

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10,256

8 years

That last part’s grammar made no sense.

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[Verse 2] JAY-Z – Can I Live

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Jay-Z has identified this verse as the last verse he ever wrote down, and the track’s producer suggests Nas nearly ended up with this verse.

As Hov told MTV:

What happened was, I was doing that song with someone else, and they heard the first verse and they was like, ‘Man, you take that song. Finish it, ’cause it sounds like you got a lot more to say,’ ” Jay explained in a lengthy interview in which he discussed lyrics and songwriting. “You know, that type of thing. So I just wanted to get it down quick, I didn’t want to keep going over it. It was like [the album’s] mastering time, so I just sat down in the booth and wrote that [verse].”

Per Irv Gotti in the August 2006 issue of XXL:

Jay actually wanted Nas on it. He just did one verse, and we was leavin' the second verse for Nas. But the Nas thing didn’t happen. So we came back in, and he did the second verse.

And here’s more, from MTV in 2007:

According to Irv Gotti, who produced the track, the song was supposed to be a collaboration between Jay and a member of the rap group Original Flavor. Gotti mentioned he believed Nas was also set to appear on the track. But after the OF member passed on the guest appearance, Jay got to work finishing the song.

From what I remember, he actually didn’t write the full verse,” Gotti wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. “But since the verse was so long, he wrote a few words down, and that made him remember the whole verse.

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Jay-Z has identified this verse as the last verse he ever wrote down, and the track's producer suggests Nas nearly ended up with this verse.

[As Hov told MTV](http://www.mtv.com/news/1574995/jay-z-behind-the-rhymes-hov-reveals-why-he-hasnt-written-down-lyrics-in-a-decade/):
>What happened was, I was doing that song with someone else, and they heard the first verse and they was like, ‘Man, you take that song. Finish it, ’cause it sounds like you got a lot more to say,’ ” Jay explained in a lengthy interview in which he discussed lyrics and songwriting. “You know, that type of thing. So I just wanted to get it down quick, I didn’t want to keep going over it. It was like [the album's] mastering time, so I just sat down in the booth and wrote that [verse].”

Per Irv Gotti in the August 2006 issue of *XXL*:
>Jay actually wanted Nas on it. He just did one verse, and we was leavin' the second verse for Nas. But the Nas thing didn't happen. So we came back in, and he did the second verse.

And here's more, [from MTV](http://www.mtv.com/news/1574995/jay-z-behind-the-rhymes-hov-reveals-why-he-hasnt-written-down-lyrics-in-a-decade/) in 2007:
>According to Irv Gotti, who produced the track, the song was supposed to be a collaboration between Jay and a member of the rap group Original Flavor. Gotti mentioned he believed Nas was also set to appear on the track. But after the OF member passed on the guest appearance, Jay got to work finishing the song.

>From what I remember, he actually didn’t write the full verse,” Gotti wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. “But since the verse was so long, he wrote a few words down, and that made him remember the whole verse.

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