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Reference to King Arthur’s famed mythological sword Excalibur.

As the legend goes, whoever was able to remove Excalibur from the stone it was embedded in would the be true King of England and rightful heir to Uther Pendragon.

Illogic states that he has been destined to be a gifted MC since birth, since before he even learned to walk.
Also note the use of the word plucked which indicates the ease with which he accomplishes whatever he sets out to do

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Unreviewed Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

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In the chaos and almost uncontrollable law-and-order situation, there might be need for an authority figure to take charge and bring matters under control. However, this “commander' might be a power-mad dictator, but it seems an inevitable consequence of the need for a semblance of calm.

This has been a characteristic of several dictators, from Hitler, who promised a better future for Germany after the chaos of World War 1 to Saddam Hussein

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While there are multiple levels and approaches to hip-hop, from the conscious lyricism, to introspective songs, to some classic punchline rap, Talib has mastered all these forms of hip-hop. In recent years, he has attempted to display this mastery through his music. Talib’s last album, Prisoner of Conscious, had songs ranging from braggadacio to female-oriented songs, to the typical Kweliesque conscious lyricism.

Also note the wordplay around “degrees” here, as it also means the academic qualification. Talib implies that he has achieved the highest qualification, ie the Masters.
Maybe graduated from the school of hard knocks?

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Unreviewed Annotation 1 Contributor ?

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An overdose of cocaine is often fatal, and is the cause of death of several celebrities, most recently the death of Kris Kross rapper Chris Kelly

Also note the wordplay around coke and blow, blow also being slang for cocaine. Hence death blow, would quite literally also mean death due to cocaine

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Unreviewed Annotation 1 Contributor ?

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The ‘special hoes’ ( word to Kanye ) know Slaughterhouse’s rep:
they’re wild on the mic and in bed!
Wordplay with ‘testicles and nuts , since nuts is also slang for testicles

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An Alpha Male is the dominant figure in a group, often aggressively taking charge and cementing his position at the top of his group. He is also often the one getting all the women
A Beta male, on the other hand, is usually more reserved and averse to social dominance. He is often bossed around by the Alpha male.
Royce asserts his dominance in the rap game by saying that he is an Alpha, who would never accept the subversive role of a Beta

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Unreviewed Annotation 3 Contributors ?

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He’s really saying that he’s not the only one experiencing this kind of feeling. How does he “have her” when he’s talking about trying to find “her?”

Playing into the next line, “ Even though nothing was the same” could also be Drake answering a girlfriend’s/lover’s question about cheating (“Are you alone right now? Who are you with?”); Drake answers honestly (“I’m not alone” = I’m with a girl), but “nothing was the same” means that sex with the other girl wasn’t as good or meaningful as sex with his lover / steady girl. He’s being honest and self-loathing.

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As time keeps moving forward, he is forced to forget what happened in the past and move on.

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Mick Jagger And Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, borrowed heavily from Muddy Waters, considered the father of modern Chicago blues. Outside of cover songs of Chicago blues standards that started the The Rolling Stones on the road to international stardom, the name of their band comes from a Muddy Waters song – Rollin' Stone.

This reference goes to the heart of the racial divide; music has brought Vince money and fame, but he is still looked at on the basis of his skin colour.

Vince also draws a parallel between the superstardom of acts with white musicians such as the Rolling Stones while compared to African-American musicians like Muddy Waters. Vince speculates that he will still be subject to racism despite his success.

“Mick and Richards” is also slurred to sound like “Making Riches”, tieing into the previous lines about money.

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Wayne once again refers to his disenchantment at Cash Money Records – a brand he helped built.

This line is quite the interesting tie-in with lines from “No New Friends”:

Young Money, stay young
I been Cash Money since day one

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