My line-by line (well, Section-by section) interpretation of the song-
"Meditate,
On the floor,
Fold your legs, resonate
Breathing speed, regulate,
Clear my mind till I levitate"
Pretty much just yoga imagery, getting ready for the song
"Y'all seen me beat the game
Level 8, hella good,
Never great 'cause God is great
So ain't no goats, ain't no gates"
First line could be "Dhalsim, I beat the game," Dhalsim being the Street Fighter character with the song's namesake, a move called "Yoga Flame." Not sure about "Level 8, hella good..." lines. Possibly 8/10? But "God is great, So ain't no goats, ain't no gates" is the beginning of the animal imagery. In addition, goats is probably meant to mean "Greatest Of All Time"s.
"Fences neither,
Rams ran, lambs left, sheep escaped
Brace yourself, teeth straight,
Fix your face for Pete's sake"
The other animals all, because there weren't any gates. The last two are mouth/face wordplay.
"Birthday wordplay? Piece of cake
Fold the flow with seats for 8
Ororo Munroe make it rain,
Not with bills, I make with change"
Showing off how easy wordplay is by making a pun. "Ororo Munroe[sic], make it rain...change" is a reference to the X-Men character, Storm who can control the weather--Ororo Munroe is her real name.
"Take that cool shit make it lame,
Take that nerd shit make it bang,
Yeah you heard us make it bang
Yeah, you heard me, make it bang"
Lupe's Modus Operandi- making the "cool, popular stuff" seem lame by showing what it really is, while putting "nerdy" stuff up on a pedestal.
"Take that change and make a ring,
Take that ring and make a bracelet,
take that bracelet, make a chain,
look how far my necklace hang"
Jewelry imagery, while going back to the first meaning of 'change' he used about 8 lines ago.
"Connect the chain up to a crane
Pull the game up by the brains
Could not move it just with brains,
so I had to use some bling"
Uses a different definition of 'chain' than with the jewelry imagery.Something a continuation of Lupe's "mission statement" of sorts two sections ago- "Tried to pull the (rap) game back up using intelligent lyrics("by the brains"), but that didn't work so he had to resort to rapping about bling in the last bit of the song. Also a possible continuation of the X-men allusion-- He couldn't literally move the game using Telekinesis (just with brains)
"Shouts to Drizzy,
Shout to Wayne
Yeezy, Jeezy, Ricky, 50
Raekwon Loso Gucci Mane
I'm not going to drop my name."
Shout outs to all the popular artists of this year, without associating himself with all that. IIRC, "Drizzy...Gucci Mane" were voted MTV's top MCs (in addition to Jay-Z).
"Sneak that message to the masses,
You can call me Chocolate Rain,
You might think my wallet drained,
Look how far my pockets hang,
That's cause I got pocket change,
My net worth is basketball,
they net worth is soccer games"
Sneaking a message to the masses, just like the "Chocolate Rain" kid-- his song was popular as hell and had a serious message to it, but only a few people actually got what it meant, while most just went "Lol listen to this kid sing". Also contains lots of money imagery-You might think he's broke because his pockets are hanging (turned inside out, maybe?), but they hang because they're filled with change, which weighs more than bills. Alternatively, his pockets actually are empty, but they're filled with the other kind of change--which is more valuable than money tying in with the next two lines. The net worth lines are also wordplay-- soccer and basketball both have nets around/on the hoop/goal-- basketball's (generally) being worth 2 points, soccer's always being one. This is also kind of a dig at the shout out list in the other section- Soccer's a more popular sport than basketball, being played worldwide, whereas basketball's pretty much an American thing. The other rappers mentioned are more popular, but since their lyrics generally lack substance, are worth less. Phew.
"Tell them niggas stop it, man,
But they cannot stop the main,
so they forced to watch it drain,
they be lookin' so blue,
like water when I wash my jeans"
Water wordplay- tell the other rappers to stop- they can't stop the (water) main, so they have to watch it drain. They look sad(blue) like the water when you wash jeans in it (if you've never looked at a tub or sink of water when you're washing jeans in it, some of the dye comes out and turns the water blue)
"Bruce Lee, dishwasher,
cleanin' out yo' pots and pans
these niggas ain't got no stayin(stain) power
once I hit 'em with the powder
and throw 'em in the shower"
IIRC, Bruce Lee worked as a dishwasher before becoming the martial artist movie star we know today. Also a segue to cleaning wordplay-- "no stain/staying power... shower" are references to Oxyclean-type cleaning powders that activate in water, and removing the stains.
"These niggas slower than some dial-up
I'll be on my broadband, these niggas still downloading,
Lu finished, you still up on U-send and Ushare, Zshare,
how long you going to be there,
damn,
Finally fast dot com for you, fam,"
Internet wordplay. Dial-up is that classic, old, slow internet that uses up the phone line, broadband is cable/DSL, fast internet. U-Send, Ushare, and Zshare are or were all downloading sites. Lupe's already done because he's on braodband, all those other slow rappers aren't because they're even slower than dial-up. "Finally dot com for you, fam" refers to that website that promises to speed up your computer-In a way, Lupe's offering to bring his fans up to speed.
"Information superhighway, these niggas ain't got no lane
But you can ride my shoulder like they pulled you over
I'll sit in the driver seat, you sit on the sofa,"
End of the internet wordplay (information superhighway is a nickname for the internet), start and end of highway wordplay-Pretty self-explanatory-- when you get pulled over, you drive over to the shoulder of the road. Lupe's basically telling the other rappers to pull over or stay at home while he does his thing."
"I am Patrick Swayze,
You are Whoopi Goldberg,
'cause he was a beast,
and the way that he controlled her"
References to two of Patrick Swayze's acting roles-- The Beast, his last performance, and Ghost, in which he possesses Whoopi Goldberg's character.
"Rest in peace to Patrick,
Rest in peace to Stacks, kid,
Rest in peace to rap,
No, rest in peace to wackness"
Once again, pretty explanatory- Swazye died late in '09, Stack Bundles in '07. At first he seems to accept that rap is dead, but then decides to try and bury wackness instead.
"Yeah, nigga I whacked it,
Baby boy with the glasses,
tears like a rap, black, Zach Galafianakis
Hangover, game over, nigga that's it."
Pretty sure this is a dig at Lil' Wayne, basically calling him(and his murder tear tattoos) a joke--Galafianakis is a comedian. In The Hangover, he got punched in the face and knocked out by Mike Tyson.
My line-by line (well, Section-by section) interpretation of the song-
"Meditate, On the floor, Fold your legs, resonate Breathing speed, regulate, Clear my mind till I levitate"
Pretty much just yoga imagery, getting ready for the song
"Y'all seen me beat the game Level 8, hella good, Never great 'cause God is great So ain't no goats, ain't no gates"
First line could be "Dhalsim, I beat the game," Dhalsim being the Street Fighter character with the song's namesake, a move called "Yoga Flame." Not sure about "Level 8, hella good..." lines. Possibly 8/10? But "God is great, So ain't no goats, ain't no gates" is the beginning of the animal imagery. In addition, goats is probably meant to mean "Greatest Of All Time"s.
"Fences neither, Rams ran, lambs left, sheep escaped Brace yourself, teeth straight, Fix your face for Pete's sake"
The other animals all, because there weren't any gates. The last two are mouth/face wordplay.
"Birthday wordplay? Piece of cake Fold the flow with seats for 8 Ororo Munroe make it rain, Not with bills, I make with change"
Showing off how easy wordplay is by making a pun. "Ororo Munroe[sic], make it rain...change" is a reference to the X-Men character, Storm who can control the weather--Ororo Munroe is her real name.
"Take that cool shit make it lame, Take that nerd shit make it bang, Yeah you heard us make it bang Yeah, you heard me, make it bang"
Lupe's Modus Operandi- making the "cool, popular stuff" seem lame by showing what it really is, while putting "nerdy" stuff up on a pedestal.
"Take that change and make a ring, Take that ring and make a bracelet, take that bracelet, make a chain, look how far my necklace hang"
Jewelry imagery, while going back to the first meaning of 'change' he used about 8 lines ago.
"Connect the chain up to a crane Pull the game up by the brains Could not move it just with brains, so I had to use some bling"
Uses a different definition of 'chain' than with the jewelry imagery.Something a continuation of Lupe's "mission statement" of sorts two sections ago- "Tried to pull the (rap) game back up using intelligent lyrics("by the brains"), but that didn't work so he had to resort to rapping about bling in the last bit of the song. Also a possible continuation of the X-men allusion-- He couldn't literally move the game using Telekinesis (just with brains)
"Shouts to Drizzy, Shout to Wayne Yeezy, Jeezy, Ricky, 50 Raekwon Loso Gucci Mane I'm not going to drop my name."
Shout outs to all the popular artists of this year, without associating himself with all that. IIRC, "Drizzy...Gucci Mane" were voted MTV's top MCs (in addition to Jay-Z).
"Sneak that message to the masses, You can call me Chocolate Rain, You might think my wallet drained, Look how far my pockets hang, That's cause I got pocket change, My net worth is basketball, they net worth is soccer games"
Sneaking a message to the masses, just like the "Chocolate Rain" kid-- his song was popular as hell and had a serious message to it, but only a few people actually got what it meant, while most just went "Lol listen to this kid sing". Also contains lots of money imagery-You might think he's broke because his pockets are hanging (turned inside out, maybe?), but they hang because they're filled with change, which weighs more than bills. Alternatively, his pockets actually are empty, but they're filled with the other kind of change--which is more valuable than money tying in with the next two lines. The net worth lines are also wordplay-- soccer and basketball both have nets around/on the hoop/goal-- basketball's (generally) being worth 2 points, soccer's always being one. This is also kind of a dig at the shout out list in the other section- Soccer's a more popular sport than basketball, being played worldwide, whereas basketball's pretty much an American thing. The other rappers mentioned are more popular, but since their lyrics generally lack substance, are worth less. Phew.
"Tell them niggas stop it, man, But they cannot stop the main, so they forced to watch it drain, they be lookin' so blue, like water when I wash my jeans" Water wordplay- tell the other rappers to stop- they can't stop the (water) main, so they have to watch it drain. They look sad(blue) like the water when you wash jeans in it (if you've never looked at a tub or sink of water when you're washing jeans in it, some of the dye comes out and turns the water blue)
"Bruce Lee, dishwasher, cleanin' out yo' pots and pans these niggas ain't got no stayin(stain) power once I hit 'em with the powder and throw 'em in the shower"
IIRC, Bruce Lee worked as a dishwasher before becoming the martial artist movie star we know today. Also a segue to cleaning wordplay-- "no stain/staying power... shower" are references to Oxyclean-type cleaning powders that activate in water, and removing the stains.
"These niggas slower than some dial-up I'll be on my broadband, these niggas still downloading, Lu finished, you still up on U-send and Ushare, Zshare, how long you going to be there, damn, Finally fast dot com for you, fam,"
Internet wordplay. Dial-up is that classic, old, slow internet that uses up the phone line, broadband is cable/DSL, fast internet. U-Send, Ushare, and Zshare are or were all downloading sites. Lupe's already done because he's on braodband, all those other slow rappers aren't because they're even slower than dial-up. "Finally dot com for you, fam" refers to that website that promises to speed up your computer-In a way, Lupe's offering to bring his fans up to speed.
"Information superhighway, these niggas ain't got no lane But you can ride my shoulder like they pulled you over I'll sit in the driver seat, you sit on the sofa,"
End of the internet wordplay (information superhighway is a nickname for the internet), start and end of highway wordplay-Pretty self-explanatory-- when you get pulled over, you drive over to the shoulder of the road. Lupe's basically telling the other rappers to pull over or stay at home while he does his thing."
"I am Patrick Swayze, You are Whoopi Goldberg, 'cause he was a beast, and the way that he controlled her"
References to two of Patrick Swayze's acting roles-- The Beast, his last performance, and Ghost, in which he possesses Whoopi Goldberg's character.
"Rest in peace to Patrick, Rest in peace to Stacks, kid, Rest in peace to rap, No, rest in peace to wackness"
Once again, pretty explanatory- Swazye died late in '09, Stack Bundles in '07. At first he seems to accept that rap is dead, but then decides to try and bury wackness instead.
"Yeah, nigga I whacked it, Baby boy with the glasses, tears like a rap, black, Zach Galafianakis Hangover, game over, nigga that's it."
Pretty sure this is a dig at Lil' Wayne, basically calling him(and his murder tear tattoos) a joke--Galafianakis is a comedian. In The Hangover, he got punched in the face and knocked out by Mike Tyson.