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Common Sense and the UnAmerican Caravan
The true b-boys, dem dere and we in here Common – A Penny for My Thoughts
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The majority of the album tracks mention a collective named the UnAmerican Caravan, with which Common must have been affiliated in some way.

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Smokin' on the finest dope, ayy-ayy-ayy-ah
Drank until I can't no mo', ayy-ayy-ayy-ah
Really I'm a sober soul
But I'm with the homies right now
And we ain't askin' for no favors
Rush a nigga quick, then laugh about it later, ayy-ayy-ayy-ah
Really, I'm a peacemaker
But I'm with the homies right now
And Momma used to say (Say, say, say, say)
One day it's gon' burn you out (Woo)
One day it's gon' burn you out, out, out
One day it's gon' burn you out (You, you, you, you, you, you)
One day it's gon' burn you
But I'm with the homies right now Kendrick Lamar – The Art of Peer Pressure
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Kendrick doesn’t smoke, drink, nor commit acts of violence, but he feels pressured when all his friends are doing so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AgBU3M25j4

Now on the threshold of manhood, Kendrick’s mother can no longer make decisions for him, only give him advice. She warns him that this lifestyle of being in the streets will eventually tire him out or bring about more serious consequences. He pays no regard to her warnings because he’s still faded with the homies, not worrying about inevitable future events.

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7 years

He also would normally listen to his mothers advice he’s a “Good Kid”. But when he’s with the homies he’s being influenced by the “Madd City” .

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9 years

“Rush a nigga quick then laugh about it later, aye aye aye aye. Really I’m a peacemaker, but I’m with the homies right now”

K.dot and his homies go out and rush a nigga (Which could mean rob, beat up, etc) then laugh about it later. But really, K.dot is a peacemaker, meaning he doesn’t really want to hurt people. But, due to peer pressure, since he’s with his homies right now and he doesn’t want to look like a punk, he will change himself and “rush a nigga”.

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'Cause every basket was a reaction or a reminder
That we was just moving backwards Kendrick Lamar – Black Boy Fly
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He sees Afflalo who is an oddity in the city of Compton because he is a great athlete and outstanding student. But on the other hand, Kendrick sees his friends joining gangs and selling drugs. This is when Kendrick realizes that it should be more abnormal for people to join gangs than be great athletes. But, in reality it’s the other way around, with very few good students, and a shitload of gang members. That’s why they’re moving backwards and there are so few success stories.

Similar in rhyme scheme in one of his lines in Sing About Me:

“‘Cause last night was just another distraction or a reaction/ Of what we consider madness, I know exactly what happened”

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Tommy Tucker? The neighborhood sucker? Eric B. & Rakim – Musical Massacre
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“Little Tommy Tucker” is a nursery rhyme that orphans would sing in an orphanage. The orphans were often reduced to begging or ‘singing for their supper’ because they were begging for food and had no food. The neighborhood sucker refers to somebody who is being begged to by a little orphan who pretty much has no choice but to give the child some food or some coins. The nursery rhyme went like:

Little Tommy Tucker sings for his supper,
What shall we give him? Brown bread and butter.
How shall he cut it without a knife?
How shall he marry without a wife?

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You're in the mood for empathy, there's blood in my pen Kendrick Lamar (Ft. Drake) – Poetic Justice
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A metaphor for the pain and heart he puts into his music. If you need someone to relate to or feel for you, he puts the life experience, blood, sweat and tears ‘in his pen’ – i.e into the music he’s created.

Black Hippy cohort and TDE label mate Ab-Soul has something to say about “Empathy”.

“Blood in my pen” is a euphemism for an erect penis and this lyric refers to the intense emotional experience of sexual intimacy.

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7 months

Empathy: Kendrick indirectly tells Drake not to expect empathy, because remember this is a poetic battle between the two, and shots at Wayne.

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I live inside the belly of the rough, Compton, USA Kendrick Lamar (Ft. MC Eiht) – ​m.A.A.d city
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Compton is one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S.A.

The “belly of the rough” is a play on the phrase “the belly of the beast,” which means the most dangerous, difficult part of something. It can also refer to being locked up in jail, with the “beast” as a metaphor for the justice system. However, Kendrick has never been to jail.

“Belly of the Beast” is also the name of a 2003 action film starring Steven Seagal.

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6 years

“Belly of the rough” could also be a reference to the biblical story of Jonah, the prophet who got swallowed in the belly of a whale. Jonah’s time inside the whale was trying and difficult, as was Kendrick’s time in Compton…both were rough places to be. However, God delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and brought him to Nineveh to teach the evil people there about righteousness. In the same way, God delivered Kendrick from the belly of Compton and all its corresponding evils in order for him to share his prophetic words with his audiences. Jonah’s experience in the belly of the whale was necessary for him to understand his own propensity to sin, just like Kendrick’s experience in Compton. However, God delivered each from their “belly” in order to do His work, sharing a message of repentance to society. A whole book of the Bible, Jonah, is dedicated to the story of Jonah.

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Sexy Boy Lil B – Sexy Boy
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Is this legal? Lil B doesn’t rap. It’s just the song “Sexy Boy” by Shawn Michaels, no remixing, no rapping, nothing. And it’s number 181 of his 676 song mixtape. Oh, and Shawn Michaels is a WWF professional wrestler. “Sexy Boy” is his theme music.

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Whip the shit Lil B – It's a Based Freestyle
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LIL B:

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I guess I know now
Paper's something, paper's something Lil B – It's a Based Freestyle
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Lil B is informing everybody who doesn’t know that paper is a noun.

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It'll make Limp Bizkit give in to Fred Durst (Ha-ha) D12 – Pistol Pistol
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Fred Durst is the lead singer of the rap/rock band Limp Bizkit and is pretty much the reason they’re famous.

Bizarre implies that if he were to threaten Fred Durst to leave the group with the 9mm…. he would do it.

Also, by the time Bizarre wrote this lyric, Eminem and Fred Durst were beefing which is proven later on “Girls (Limp Bizkit Diss)”

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