Rap music, with its roots in competitive battling, has always been a platform for artists to assert their dominance, address grievances, or defend their reputation. Throughout hip-hop history, this competitive spirit has boiled over...
For a rapper who’s been professionally active for over three decades and boasts a net worth approaching $100 million, Nas has remained prolifically active in the game. For instance, he’s dropped studio albums every year...
Figurative language – i.e. the usage of similes, metaphors, allusions, personifications and hyperboles – is arguably the greatest tool at a songwriter’s disposal outside of words themselves. That’s because practically every song you hear, no...
Nas and 21 Savage recently had a pretty well-publicized beef. This beef started when the latter said some less-than-flattering things about the former. So it would be obvious to listeners with that foreknowledge that this piece...
A “Black Republican” would be generally defined – as you probably already guessed – as an African-American member of the Republican Party. However, to note, Jay-Z is widely known for identifying with Democrats. It’s safe...
“EPMD 2” may serve as a homage to EPMD in title, with the pair of classic rappers also getting a feature and a couple of additional shoutouts therein. But the lyrics aren’t about any one...
Pretty much from the onset, we see that Nas is dedicating this to his “brothers with daughters”. Said individuals would be men, like himself, who have their own female offspring. And more specifically, he is...
The term “jiggy” was established slang, originating from Brooklyn, even before Will Smith made it more popular. In days past it was actually used as an adjective, pointing to the idea of the person it is ascribed...
Jay-Z in “Takeover”, claims to be taking over the rap industry, together with his Rocafella family. The chorus sees him mention all the artists on his label and how they are running the whole rap industry....
“Ether” begins with Nas directly hitting at Jay-Z for starting a beef with him. The rapper expresses shock at how Jay-Z who was not as huge a rapper then could approach and diss him....