Sunday, July 25, 2010

Failure


[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]
Yeah! WOOOoooo…What up Chi-Town? Woooo. New York City? Philly? Atlanta? Virginia? They said it was coming back around man, back to the lyrics man…Coming back to people like me.

[Verse #1: Lupe Fiasco]
It's meaaaan, soldiers
Now let me put the streets down like steamrollers
With the CATS that push
40 oz. through the hood, like King Cobras
See we sling soda
Cause the extra four in the split is mixed
It's really 36
Used to buy toasters and clips
You can tighten your circle or boa constrict
While you was lighting your purple, I was over the scripts
See, I couldn't walk the walk, couldn't really talk the talk
Had to get my talk to properly explain my walk
Cause this lack in talk had my walk looking off
Now I'm over the limp
Watch how they mugs drop when they see my Verbal's able (That's the Usual)
When I was po' I was low
Now me and my Chaps cop Purple Label
It's Ralph Lauren on the rap laureate
Niggas brown nose, they are like Alf to him
Runners at Interscope are not as Stoute as him
Please don't Interscope/enter scope
It's gonna be a whole lot of IV’ing/Iovine and respirating
If I lean out this window with Irene
Nigga’s as tall as Yao Ming
With L-U-P-Emperor
It’s the foundation's high beams and the antennas
It's so serious every time I write my John Hancock like
Could damn near see Detroit (I see you)
Niggas is scared of heights
This is saran wrap and aluminum foil
Some potpourri, a little machine oil
I, stack my paper and throw off my 6
This is top floor, better look out before
Pennies from heaven is the same as the semi from the second
And I reign supreme
Turn your umbrellas upside down
Did you even catch the change in theme?

[Chorus: Lupe Fiasco]
(This is gangsta man)Lupe to the F to the I to the A to the S to the C to the O
from the west side of the C to the H to to the I - C - A to the G to the O
This is gangsta man, this is gangsta man!

[Verse #2: Lupe Fiasco]
And them niggas ain't Was nor from his regime
Gangsta lean
Hats on tilt like ya Snickers aint drop out the vending machine
You gotta put more money in
And I shake niggas up every time I drop a bar
It's horse in the Porsche and bricks in the box
Like mo' money them every time I cop a car
You see I'm a roller, right
So it might be a Rover, right
But every time I drop a 'r'
Get off the streets it's “over” iight
Bet I be in the head like overnight
Like rollers, right
She the chauffeur, right
So I keep her sober
She don't get Fed Ex like overnight
I am Dolemite
All that gas can't help you but solar might
So just call on sun
Drop a 's'
Pick up an 'o'
You know (uno), put it all on "one"
Brace yourself like overbite
"For that quiet nigga that relocated down south
Coming back to floss"
Nigga get your molars right
Fix your grill
No plaque but a whole lot of cheese
This the drill
Mr. Chill
Gave me the green light like Yoda knife
So I'ma force my will
Like the Force I wield
Of course you will
Take my time
But weight behind only pertains
To that Porsche grill
It's snakes in the hood
Gotta watch for that cobra bite
Let me see
There's snakes in the hood
A bird, a horse behind the grill
Something gator on the seat
And a fox behind the wheel
No it’s not Noah’s Ark, Ahk
It’s just the flow I start this is

[Chorus: Lupe Fiasco]
LUPE to the F to the I to the A to the S to the C to the O
from the west side of the C to the H to the I - C - A to the G to the O

[Verse #3: Lupe Fiasco]
For achiever
My procedure's
To proceed at all cost
With no breather
I'm all walk
Rain, snow, or fever
I'm all coughs coming after your teacher
I'm on the ball like FIFA
Viva
Lupe Duce
Long live the leader
I remember I ain't have sneakers
It was welfare
Coming up for air is like
Whales there, Filas
But now I'm well here
I'm Shamu with twelve pair
And niggas wanna take me back to zero like tear fare
Well, my scale’s clear
You see/Sea World
It's Braille here
I'm Bumpy Johnson I stick to the streets
Keep my dogs out in front of me
You see what I'm saying
And I push ki's wonderfully…
Man, man, man, man! This is gangsta man!

5 comments:

  1. dboyaceXX

    okay.. lets start from the top and work are way to the bottom..hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  2. here's something i had saved from a while back... on the old lupe forums. there was like a 80 page thread dissecting this song:


    It's mean, soldier
    Now let me put the streets down like steamrollers
    With the CATS that push [CATS, as in Caterpillar, a company that makes industrial vehicles, including steamrollers]
    40 oz. through the hood like King Cobras [he's talking cats (as in a person- “he’s a cool cat”) in the hood pushing drugs. Also, King Cobra is a brand of 40oz.]
    See me sling soda [soda = coke = cocaine]
    'Cause the extra four in the split is mixed
    It's really 36 [in a 40 oz, 4 oz of foam is counted, so it's really 36 oz without the foam. Also, 36 oz is a kilo (referring to slinging coke in the last line)]
    Used to buy toasters and clips
    You can tighten your circle or boa constrict [Boa Constrictors are snakes that constrict to kill their victims (tightening the circle)]
    While you was lighting your purple, I was over the scripts [while you were smoking weed, I was writing lyrics]
    See, I couldn't walk the walk, couldn't really talk the talk
    Had to get my talk to properly explain my walk
    'Cause this lack in talk had my walk looking off
    Now I'm over the limp
    Watch how they mugs drop when they see my Verbal's able [refers to the movie “The Usual Suspects
    (In the movie "The Usual Suspects", Verbal Kint is made out to be a cripple with a LIMP, but at the end, you find out he was ABLE to commit all these crimes... The detective realizes this, and is in such shock that he drops his coffee mug, but I don't wanna give the movie away)]
    When I was poor/PO I was low/LO [he's referring to POLO shirts]
    Now me and my Chaps cop Purple Label [Chaps and Purple Label are brands of shirts made by Ralph Lauren. And now he and his friends can afford them now that he's not poor]
    It's Ralph Lauren on the rap laureate [laureate referencing a Poet Laureate, which is a high honor for a poet. many countries have a poet Laureate their like ambassadors for poetry]
    Niggas brownnose, they are like Alf to him [Alf was a TV character who is an alien with a long nose and is brown in color. Also talking about sucking up or "brown-nosing"]
    Runners at Interscope are not as Stoute as him [Referring to Steve Stoute, former Executive VP of Interscope]
    Please don't endoscope
    It's gonna be a whole lot of Iovine/IV'ing and respirating [Referring to Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Interscope]
    If I lean out this window with Irene [a type of shotgun]
    Niggas as tall as Yao Ming [Yao Ming is a tall NBA player]
    With L-U-P-Emperor
    Is the foundation's I-beams and the antennas
    It's so SEARS/serious every time I write my John Hancock like
    Could damn near see Detroit [Sears Tower and John Hancock Center are skyscrapers in Chicago so tall you could "damn near see Detroit"]
    Niggas is scared of heights
    This is saran wrap and aluminum foil
    Some potpourri, a little machine oil
    I stack my paper and throw off my scents/cents/sense [saran wrap, aluminum foil, etc throws off the scent of dope]
    This is top floor/flow, better look out below
    Pennies from heaven is the same as a semi from the second [he throws off cents or coins from the top floor, which are as deadly as bullets at a height]
    And I rain/reign supreme
    Turn your umbrellas upside down [referring to the rain in the previous line]
    Did you even catch the change in theme? [if you turn your umbrella upside down, you can CATCH the CHANGE that he threw off the top floor]

    ReplyDelete
  3. And them niggas ain't Was nor from his regime [Was is short for Wasalu, Lupe’s real first name. His regime would be F&F, First and Fifteenth, his record label]
    Gangsta lean
    Hats on tilt like ya Snickers ain't drop out the vending machine [He likes to tilt his hat. Also, people tilt their heads (and their hats if they're wearing one) when they're confused. Also, when a candy bar doesn’t drop, you tilt the machine to try to make it fall]
    You gotta put more money in
    And I shake niggas up every time I drop a bar [shake up referring to the vending machine, which would then drop the candy bar. Also he impresses/confuses people (shake niggas up) every time raps a bar (like musical bar, or line)]
    It's horse in the Porsche and bricks in the box [referring to the horse in the Porsche logo or talking about horsepower? The "bricks in the box" part could just mean that he has bricks of drugs in the glovebox but Im not sure?]
    Like mo' money them every time I cop a car
    You see I'm a roller, right [roller = high roller]
    So it might be a Rover, right [A Rover is a Range/Land Rover, which is an expensive, high performance luxury SUV]
    But every time I drop a 'r' [drop a 'r' = drop a rhyme or literally dropping the letter "r"]
    Get off the streets, It's over, aight [if you drop a "r" off the word "Rover", it's "over". If you drop a "r" off the word "right", it's "ight/aight"]
    Bet I be in the head like overnight [his lyrics will be stuck in your head]
    Like rollers, right [also, be in the head like rollers = hair rollers left in overnight]
    She the chauffeur, right
    So I keep her sober
    She don't get Fed Ex like overnight [obviously, the delivery company. But also not fed ecstasy, to keep her sober (mentioned in previous line)]
    I am Dolemite [movie character]
    All that gas can't help you but solar might [maybe referring to the chauffeur driver?]
    So just call on sun
    Drop a 's'
    Pick up an 'o' [if you drop a "s" and add an "o" to the word "sun", it becomes "uno"]
    You know, put it all on one [you know = u no = uno. Uno is Spanish for "one" so put it all on one]
    Brace yourself like overbite
    For that quiet nigga that relocated down south
    Coming back to floss
    Nigga get your molars right
    Fix your grill [braces, overbites, floss, molars, grill, plaque and drills all relate to teeth/mouth/dentist]
    No plaque but a whole lot of cheese [he means no awards (plaques) but a whole lot of money]
    This the drill
    Mr. Chill [Mr. Chill = Chilly Mac, his friend and business partner]
    Gave me the green light like Yoda knife [“given the green light.” Also Yoda's knife is Yoda's green lightsabre]
    So I'ma force my will
    Like The Force I wield [The Force is another Star Wars reference]
    Of course you will
    Take my time
    But wait/weight behind only pertains
    To that Porsche grill [Porsche's have their engines, therefore most of its weight, in the back rather than at the front like most cars]
    It's snakes in the hood [snakes = suspicious person in the ‘hood]
    Gotta watch for that Cobra bite
    Let me see
    There's snakes in the hood
    A bird, a horse behind the grill [horse behind the grill = horsepower under the hood, which is behind the grill]
    Some gator on the seat [referring to gator skin seats]
    And a fox behind the wheel [fox is referring to himself driving....foxes are sly]
    No it's not Noah's Ark
    It's just the flower’s start

    ReplyDelete
  4. For achiever
    My procedure's
    To proceed at all cost
    With no breather
    I'm all walk
    Rain, snow, or fever
    I'm all coughs coming after your teacher
    I'm on the ball like FIFA [FIFA is the international soccer association. Being on the ball is a phrase for being focused]
    Viva Lupe Duce
    Long live the leader
    I remember I ain't have sneakers
    It was welfare
    Coming up for Air(s) like
    Whales there [Whales have to come up for air to breathe. He's also referring to Nike Air's]
    Filas
    But now I'm well here
    I'm Shamu with twelve pair [Shamu is a famous whale at Sea World… twelve pair = shoes]
    And niggas wanna take me back to Zero like Tier/Tare, fair [Tier Zero's are a brand of Nike sneakers. Also, on a digital scale, the Tare button resets the scale to zero. Possibly also Sebastian Telfair, basketball player who signed a shoe deal with Fila]
    Well, my skill's clear / scale’s clear
    You see/Sea World [Shamu is at Sea World]
    It's Braille here [Braille is how blind people read. They are bumps that you touch with your fingers. Referring to "see world" in the previous line]
    I'm Bumpy Johnson I stick to the streets [BUMPY (referring to braille) Johnson was a gangster who stuck to the streets. Blind people also need walking STICKS to touch the STREETS to "see" where they are walking]
    Keep my dogs/dogs out in front of me [Bumpy Johnson had his dogs/friends in front of him for protection. Blind people also keep seeing eye dogs in front of them. Dogs also refer to feet or shoes… continuing the shoe theme]
    You see what I'm saying ["you SEE what Im saying" is a reference to all the metaphors he just used]
    And I push ki's/keys wonderfully [ki’s as in kilos of drugs. Also, keys like piano keys, basically just referring to his great music]

    ReplyDelete
  5. you see what im saying/and i push ki's wonderfully

    dragonball z
    super saiyan and Ki blast

    ReplyDelete