A smart track with some incisive criticism of both the rap industry and the state of US politics.
The "we" in the first half of the song seems to refer to the all the gangsta rappers who flaunt the (seemingly) easy money of the industry but create nothing of real value for the communities that they come from. Instead, those artists are harmful because they glorify "death" and "pain." Mike even goes so far as to suggest that rappers who fill the heads of the youth with romanticized visions of gang life are in fact no different from those who introduced drugs ("cocaine") a few decades ago.
Mike uses theme of drugs to pivot to national politics, discussing Reagan's War on Drugs and the havoc it wreaked on urban youth, "And they would beat us up if we had diamonds on our watches."
Mike uses the remaining third of the song to detail his interpretation of the causality of urban policy: the War on Drugs is a viable economic policy, since it generates so much free labor in the form of incarcerated workers ("prisons turned to profits"). He then posits that all the presidents since Reagan, including Obama, are simply marionettes to an overarching military-corporate agenda, "Taking countries is a hobby paid for by the oil lobby."
Mike concludes on a darkly comic note, whereby presumedly armed personnel appear outside his window just as he is finishing this rap. The four powerful last words tie the whole song together thematically while the ominous, fast paced background tune and a voice droning Reagan's name interspersed with "666" decrescendo for another minute.
Oh, I missed the pun of the best line, "Reagan was an actor, not a real factor." Mike means that Reagan, like all presidents, is a puppet to larger corporate interests. The double-meaning of course lies in the fact that Reagan was an actor.
Oh, I missed the pun of the best line, "Reagan was an actor, not a real factor." Mike means that Reagan, like all presidents, is a puppet to larger corporate interests. The double-meaning of course lies in the fact that Reagan was an actor.
A smart track with some incisive criticism of both the rap industry and the state of US politics.
The "we" in the first half of the song seems to refer to the all the gangsta rappers who flaunt the (seemingly) easy money of the industry but create nothing of real value for the communities that they come from. Instead, those artists are harmful because they glorify "death" and "pain." Mike even goes so far as to suggest that rappers who fill the heads of the youth with romanticized visions of gang life are in fact no different from those who introduced drugs ("cocaine") a few decades ago.
Mike uses theme of drugs to pivot to national politics, discussing Reagan's War on Drugs and the havoc it wreaked on urban youth, "And they would beat us up if we had diamonds on our watches."
Mike uses the remaining third of the song to detail his interpretation of the causality of urban policy: the War on Drugs is a viable economic policy, since it generates so much free labor in the form of incarcerated workers ("prisons turned to profits"). He then posits that all the presidents since Reagan, including Obama, are simply marionettes to an overarching military-corporate agenda, "Taking countries is a hobby paid for by the oil lobby."
Mike concludes on a darkly comic note, whereby presumedly armed personnel appear outside his window just as he is finishing this rap. The four powerful last words tie the whole song together thematically while the ominous, fast paced background tune and a voice droning Reagan's name interspersed with "666" decrescendo for another minute.
Oh, I missed the pun of the best line, "Reagan was an actor, not a real factor." Mike means that Reagan, like all presidents, is a puppet to larger corporate interests. The double-meaning of course lies in the fact that Reagan was an actor.
Oh, I missed the pun of the best line, "Reagan was an actor, not a real factor." Mike means that Reagan, like all presidents, is a puppet to larger corporate interests. The double-meaning of course lies in the fact that Reagan was an actor.