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I got the Feds sending me letters, 'cause I'm schooling the youth
But they can't lock me down, 'cause my tool is the truth JAY-Z (Ft. Memphis Bleek) – Can I Live II
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Reasonable Doubt was released less than 4 years after 2 Live Crew took the sheriff of Broward County to the federal court of appeals after he discouraged stores from selling the album “Nasty As They Want to Be.” Even earlier, prudish political wives were known to shit themselves when someone said a naughty word in a song

Luckily, Jay-Z’s speech is protected by the First Amendment

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1d0b3eb9289ca81fd70ac0834f56f0e2

251

4 years

Jay is simply saying the feds are after him because of how much his music talks about drugs and it is without a doubt that most people who listen are youth. He further stressed that you can’t lock him up because his tool is the truth and in reality you can’t hold back the truth (The truth will always surface).

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David Franco
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6 years

The Feds sending letters are probably, the government trying to censor Jay-Z’s teachings of the truth.

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Ba8bb2b897001e3d045db57370a26a8c

2,880

6 years

This is a double entendre. First he is saying that he uses the truth as a tool to school the youth. Second, he is saying the cops can’t get him because his weapon is the truth.

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'Specially when I'm drunk off the liquor The Notorious B.I.G. – Machine Gun Funk
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Just as Biggie states on “Warning,” his trigger finger becomes itchier as he gets more intoxicated:

The more weed smoke I puff, the more dangerous

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Appeal that you're screamin', maybe I'm dreamin'
This ain't Christopher Williams The Notorious B.I.G. – Machine Gun Funk
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“I’m Dreaming” is a treacly New Jack Swing love song performed by Christopher Williams which is also sampled here. The song featured on the soundtrack to New Jack City, a film in which Williams also acted. Biggie and Williams were also label mates on Uptown Records in the early ‘90s.

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Default_avatar_100

279

2 years

Biggie’s real name is Christopher Wallace, so this line could also go after people who mixed him up with Christopher Williams.

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Chicks get hammered, big-dicked bandit Drake (Ft. Jeezy & Lil Wayne) – I'm Goin In
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Drake treats having sex with women like a robbery; he leaves just as fast as he got in

“Big dick bandit” is a standard nickname in hip-hop; Drake probably bit it from MJG or The Seventh Floor Crew (specifically, current NFL linebacker Tavares Gooden)

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Default_avatar_100

15

5 years

Also, this could be a reference to Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up”, also featuring Lil Wayne, where Mannie Fresh refers to himself as a, “Dick Bandit”

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But Ice Cube had more amps, get in, bitch Ice Cube – Steady Mobbin'
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Fuck an SPL–Ice Cube’s speakers are so powerful they literally disintegrate a bitch’s panties

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Told all my friends
Don't drink 8-Ball 'cause St. Ides is givin ends Ice Cube – Steady Mobbin'
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Olde English 800 malt liquor

This is a subliminal shot at N.W.A (especially Eazy-E), referring to their song “8 Ball”, which is mainly a solo by Eazy-E.

Due to discrepancies between Ice Cube and Eazy, he left N.W.A in 1989.

So, instead of drinking 8 Ball, like the members of his former group, he moved on to endorse another popular malt liquor: St. Ide’s

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8 years

Also Ice Cube wrote 8 Ball for Eazy-E.

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keith peru
9 years

During this time in hip hop a lot of rappers gave companies free promotion by co-signing their products such as 8 ball malt liquor. However, those companies were not paying the rappers who name dropped their products, for free. St. Ides Malt Liquor actually paid rappers such as cube, Snoop and Dre, and Mc Ei8ht. You can find the commercials they did for the beverage on the internet.

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Or the bootleg t-shirt of the month
With "U Can't Touch This" on the front Ice Cube – Steady Mobbin'
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In 1991, Bootleg T shirts were a popular hustle. You would see guys on the corner selling Simpsons, MC Hammer or anything the urban community latched onto.

Cube would sell t-shirts with corny ass phrases on them to keep from going broke.

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Regulate Warren G (Ft. Nate Dogg) – Regulate
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A storybook rap, marking the meeting point of old, early rap traditions with the “gangsta”-image being formulated at the time.

In a sense, the entire song is an allegory: Nate Dogg must overcome the burden of “gangsta” before moving onto bitches and laying down the G-funk philosophy.

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C19d6369507cff93f90a5fe597dd3918

721

7 years

G-Funk never caught on?

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Cbf96b5a500e6b077c0d1cd9daa970f5

37,576

7 years

Wikipedia-esque explanation Regulate

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Default_avatar_100

2,189

7 years

@mohacario yeah I agree G-Funk became very well known in that era.

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Da51d74e7a230d77598d461141b0a022

2,799

6 years

How did the name G-funk never catch on? Please do more research before making annotations.

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Cbab3de27d56c8c4f66cf857b06c9ffb

224

6 years

lmaoooo G funk never caught on what

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Default_avatar_100

16

5 years

Literally everyone refers to that era of West Coast rap as G-Funk the hell you talking about

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B71b884baea9de35a952eaea563590f1

104,752

5 years

There is no way this marked the beginning of fusing story rap with gangster themes. The earliest gangster rap (back when it was called “reality rap”) was about telling stories. Look up Ice-T’s “6 ‘N The Mornin’,” from seven years before this song.

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C19d6369507cff93f90a5fe597dd3918

721

5 years

ay someone finally got rid of that G-Funk never caught on shit 🙏🏽

shoutouts to them

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B71b884baea9de35a952eaea563590f1

104,752

5 years

Not only is this not the first time gangster themed raps told stories, it’s not even the first time g-funk rap told stories. The Chronic came out two years earlier, Doggystyle one year earlier, and both have storytelling on them.

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Go to room 112, tell 'em Blanco sent ya The Notorious B.I.G. – Niggas Bleed
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Maybe Biggie chose this room number as a reference to the R&B group 112, who were also signed to Bad Boy Records (they are featured artists on “Miss U” and “Sky’s The Limit” – other songs on Life After Death). Or maybe Bad Boy artists just have a weird thing for room 112. In any case, the drug deal is going down in room 112, where the players dwell.

“Blanco” is Spanish for white, as in Frank White, Notorious BIG’s nickname

“Go to room 112” is also another reference to King of New York when Frank White tells some kids who rob him to go to a hotel he owns and ask them for work.

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Niggas Bleed The Notorious B.I.G. – Niggas Bleed
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The eleventh track on the first CD of Life After Death, “Niggas Bleed” is a track about a drug between Big, Ron, and the guys in the “Range.” The hook of this song is Big saying that he isn’t afraid to make someone bleed to get the money.

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Frank Lucas
5 years

Non have reached but their own wayz.

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12 months

The drug deal was between BIG, Ron, and the crew in room 112.

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