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King compares the intensity of black Americans' upcoming push for equality to the heat of a very hot summer, but says that, if equality is achieved, then the bliss that follows will be comparable to a fair autumn after the aforementioned hot summer.

The use of the seasons here is pretty powerful, considering that summer is usually considered the season of passion and autumn as the season of peace and change.

“Sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent” is a reference to the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Richard III:

GLOUCESTER
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

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Continuing the check metaphor, Martin hopes that his actions will not make the black race rich, necessarily, as a real check would; but rather give them the rights established for all American citizens in the Constitution.

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Both black and white citizens had certainly pushed for racial equality before, but politicians and leaders had always disregarded these requests, insisting that it would happen later. Here King urges leaders to take it upon themselves to make the change happen now, not to put it off further.

Many white liberals in King’s day, including Eleanor Roosevelt, advocated a gradualist approach. (“go slow doesn’t mean, don’t go”). King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which he wrote approximately five months before delivering this speech, was a response to gradualism–he was responding to an open letter written by clergymen who in fact considered themselves pro-civil rights, but who also advocated the “go slow, don’t make waves, wait” approach. From their letter, titled “A Call For Unity”:

“We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.”

By calling gradualism a drug, King was doing at least two things. He was 1) arguing that gradualism stupefied white liberals, in particular, like a drug, allowing them to feel good about supporting civil rights even as they did nothing to advance it. Such good feelings were therefore delusional, as hollow as a drug high. And 2) he was urging African-Americans to steer clear of gradualism in the same way one might say “don’t drink the Kool-Aid” today – that is, don’t buy into stupefying, mind-controlling beliefs.

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He tries to stay good, but with all the evil surrounding him, he can’t help but be affected by it.

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Many kids these days think that being “free” means to live their lives the way they want (often through selling drugs, being shady with weapons, etc.). What they don’t understand is that, by doing these things, they are taking away their own freedom, because they are leading themselves to jail.

This line is also about more than just societal freedom vs. jail, though. “Keys” is a homophone of ki’s, as in kilos of drugs, like crack. The lifestyle of chasing the dream of moving these quantities of drugs as a dealer means you’re already “locked up” because your actions are set within a determinate course. We are “naïve to being free” in this sense because we do not even ACKNOWLEDGE our existential freedom – that we are absolutely free – because we are pursuing paths given to us that necessarily preclude other avenues being taken. We think we have freedom within this lifestyle, but it is ironically an impingement on freedom.

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To say a “glass is half empty” is usually a pessimistic way of looking at life, Wale here is saying don’t look at your life in a bad way.

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A reference to one of two things:

1) The prostitutes abundant in the D.C. streets, who are making love to all the people in the streets who are hungry for sex, so they feed them.

2) People who sell drugs. They are always speaking about how they love the streets and how they are married to the streets. Which is why he says “they aint sleeping until they know every customer fed,” referring to drugs.

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A song off of Cyclone’s upcoming mixtape, “FreshMan”.

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Some wordplay referencing the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints' fans often chant, “Whoo dey?”. Cyclone wants to know who can beat him in a reference to this chant, which sets up the next line.

At the start of the next line, “N-O” serves as a double entendre:

  1. It stands for New Orleans, continuing the Saints wordplay, and
  2. It shows that no one can beat Cyclone

The Drew Brees reference to end the verse completes the Saints wordplay.

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A reference to Rick Ross, who frequently refers to himself as the boss, and, in “John”, says:

I’m not a star, somebody lied

Ross also has a less-known song, which inspired that line in “John”, titled “I’m Not a Star”

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