The first person to say, “party like it’s 1999” was likely the pop artist Prince, in his song “1999” from the album of the same name released in 1982.

This phrase was also perpetuated in the 2000’s due to the belief that the year 2000 aka Y2K would bring widespread network and system malfunctions causing serious repercussions and, as some people believed, effectively sending us back to the stoneage. Hence, people were partying pretty hard in 1999. As you can imagine, in 10 years time, people may very well be saying “party like it’s 2012” instead.

Also Pre-9/11 back in 1999 Computers Internet social Media and Terrorism didn’t exist to the point it does today life was much simpler back then we could ignore stuff and just party on.

As a white rapper tackling issues of race, he is reluctant to get involved since it could alienate some of his fans as well as come off as tacky.

While teenage pregnancies have steadily declined since the ‘80s, probably due to female birth control, lifetime rates of STDs among people under 25 have reached epidemic proportions.

If teenagers are getting pregnant less often but continue to get STDs at higher rates, it is condoms that must not be getting used.

This is a common phrase in pop culture referring to the advances in health and medicine that allow people to live longer and look much younger than their age. 30 is not considered to be as old as it was just a few decades ago.

Jay-Z has a song, 30 Something, that expresses this idea and has made the phrase popular in Hip Hop.

He regrets not doing more to win her heart and affection. If he would have just treated her right and let things happen on their own, the outcome could have been much different.

The image of holy water mixed with a gallon of sherm, or liquid PCP, paints a vivid picture. It represents the struggle between temptation and moral vice vs. righteousness. It is similar to the concept behind his song “Kush & Corinthians (His Pain)”.

I’m a loser, I’m a winner
I’m good, I’m bad,
I’m a Christian, I’m a sinner
I’m humble, I’m loud,
I’m righteous, I’m a killer
What I’m doing, I’m saying
that I’m human

Again, there’s a lot of this imagery on Kendrick’s Section.80 project:

• “Have you ever had known a saint that was taking sinner’s advice?
• “You think about it, and don’t call me lyrical
  Cause really I’m just a nigga that’s evil and spiritual”
• “I pass the weed to the pastor, we all are sinners, won’t you send us to bible study faster”

As Kendrick attempts to point out again and again, even the most righteous can sometimes fall, and the path towards wickedness is never too far removed from the human condition.

While “sherm” usually refers to a joint or cigarette dipped in PCP (Phencyclidine) – aka angel dust or wet – Kendrick seems to use it in reference to liquid PCP. Rather, “sherm-sticks” is the term most often used to describe the wacky tobacky laced with liquid PCP.