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Jesse Jackson, the minister/black civil rights activist, who was standing next to MLK when he was assassinated, on April 4th, 1968.
…RZA has listed tragedies that have befallen black icons, evoking a lack of security
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Ghost not only fears for himself, but for the children too
You’ve seen the documentaries, with kids in poverty, Africa or Asia being surrounded by flies and mosquitos
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What is this?
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What is this?
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First three shot down, Big Pun had some health/weight issues. Most importantly, all were great rappers
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He’s telling a story about being high in the club. The ecstasy pills are well speckly (spotted), and they taste like hairspray.
Also worth mentioning this classic bit of British slang here: “proper” in its adjectival form as an adverb (i.e. instead of “properly”) and “rank” for horrible or disgusting.
Pay homage, respect
Must've been crazy
Acknowledge the rep
To step up on stage, at CMJ, mention my name Masta Ace – Acknowledge
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And you can't spit nigga, so you obviously must swallow
Motherfucker Masta Ace – Acknowledge
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The knockout blow. Play on words of ‘spit’ – Boogieman can’t rap either – and the only other alternative when’s he sucking off men is swallow!
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Although Shorty might think killing someone will earn him respect, really he’s just going to be locked up, and the dead person will be the martyr.
Alternatively, Nas could be invoking the proverb whereby the nail that stands out is the one that gets hammered: the dude that’s flashy and stands out is more likely to get himself into fatal static than a low-profile counterpart.
He could be encouraging Shorty to be cool blooded – merciless – when he’s shooting. Or possibly the use of the word ‘cool’ is just amazing play on words – ‘cool’ as in ‘cold’ (the temperature of corpse).
It ain´t hard to tell Kendrick was influenced by this line.
Based on the lines after this, he’s telling shorty to not shoot at the crowd cause he could hit the wrong guy, he could hit the “cool one” that had nothing to do with it, leaving families f*cked up and wondering why he got shot when he was a good kid/the cool one as apposed to the other kids that run the streets
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I think Nas is also addressing the fact that Shorty is acting out of spite, because the other person is ‘cooler,’ he’s jealous and wants him shot.
187
I want to add,
NaS can also be tellin shorty not to be so hot headed. the victim will be considered “cool” because the shooter let the world get to him and took his frustrations out in the worst way. it’s a stretch but just another way to look at the line.
5,761
No one has noticed the pun in “cool one”? The dead person is cool because he gets famous, but also because he is dead ;)
I don’t think he’s encouraging Shorty to shoot anybody in any type of way. If anything he’s trying to do the opposite, warn Shorty about the dangers of shooting and/or the possibility of being shot. Telling Shorty to shoot without mercy would be contradictory to Nas’s message to him.