Mos Def and Talib Kweli are two pretty cultured and intelligent dudes who use a bunch of allusions(references to something out side of literature) in their rhymes. In this post, I’ll shed some light on those allusions for you from their song RE:DEFINITION. I'll post a lyric then do an explanation. A lot of it is pretty straightforward, so I'm not going to post all the lyrics. here we go:
"You get kicked into obscurity like judo, no Menudo cause you pseudo, tryin to compete with reality like Xerox" >>not sure exactly how this ties in, but Menudo is a Latino boy-band from the 70's-present. The term "Psuedo"[sway-doe] is a slang word for Fake, which ties into the next similie XEROX, which is a brand of copy machine--you're not real, you're a fake, a copy, etc<< "Rockin ever since before Prince was called The Artist Rocker before Funkmaster Flex was rockin Starter When 'Pac and Biggie was still cool before they was martyrs" >>At one point in his career, Prince legally changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and was dubbed "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" hence, "The Artist". A while back, Funkmaster Flex became a sponsor for the brand STARTER. and... When Tupac and Biggie was still cool before they died. Basically, Talib has been rockin' with Mos Def for a long while.<< "Way out like Bruce Wayne's mansion, move like a phantom" >>Bruce Wayne, also known by many as Batman. If you havent seen the show, or movies-- Wayne's mansion is huge, and out in the middle of nowhere, in or around the outskirts of Gotham.<< "Sinkin they ship, like Moby Dick, did Ahab" >> above shows reference to Herman Melville's 'MOBY DICK', a man named Ahab captained a ship on a voyage out to find a colossal whale, Moby Dick. In the end of the story Moby Dick charges and sinks Ahab's boat<< "Ancient Abyssinia, sure to hold the Gideon" >>Early on in WorldWarII, a man named Orde Charles Wingate created a guerilla based British/Sudanese/Ethiopian team named 'THE GIDEON FORCE', named ofcourse after the biblical character Gideon who took out a rather large army with his rather small army and God's help. Gideon Force was intended to aid Ethiopian rebels and hold down Italian forces in the north west of the country; Wingate interpreted this mandate as including the liberation of Abyssinia and the reinstatement of Emperor Haile Selassie.(info from BBC)<< "...from Flatbush settlement, skin possesses melanin" >>Flatbush is a part of the borough of Brooklyn, where Mos Def hails from. (Flatbush is Dutch for "wooded land"). Melanin is a polymer found in the skin of darker skinned people, for example, blacks have more melanin than whites. freckles are melanin spots. Mos Def is referring to black from Flatbush.<< "Broader than Barrington Levy, believe me" >>Barrington Levy is a Jamaican reggae artist, who had a hot single titled "HERE I COME" in which he sang after the second verse "im broad, im broad, im broader than broadway yes im broad, im broad, im broader than broadway".<<
Ok, thats it everyone. I hope that helped clear it up a little bit. If you like this, click that you like it or send me a message and I'll do another one. If there are any in particular that you would like, please feel free to talk to me. have a good night. oh, and sorry I couldnt upload the song, all i have is a .WMA
"You get kicked into obscurity like judo, no Menudo cause you pseudo, tryin to compete with reality like Xerox" >>not sure exactly how this ties in, but Menudo is a Latino boy-band from the 70's-present. The term "Psuedo"[sway-doe] is a slang word for Fake, which ties into the next similie XEROX, which is a brand of copy machine--you're not real, you're a fake, a copy, etc<< "Rockin ever since before Prince was called The Artist Rocker before Funkmaster Flex was rockin Starter When 'Pac and Biggie was still cool before they was martyrs" >>At one point in his career, Prince legally changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and was dubbed "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" hence, "The Artist". A while back, Funkmaster Flex became a sponsor for the brand STARTER. and... When Tupac and Biggie was still cool before they died. Basically, Talib has been rockin' with Mos Def for a long while.<< "Way out like Bruce Wayne's mansion, move like a phantom" >>Bruce Wayne, also known by many as Batman. If you havent seen the show, or movies-- Wayne's mansion is huge, and out in the middle of nowhere, in or around the outskirts of Gotham.<< "Sinkin they ship, like Moby Dick, did Ahab" >> above shows reference to Herman Melville's 'MOBY DICK', a man named Ahab captained a ship on a voyage out to find a colossal whale, Moby Dick. In the end of the story Moby Dick charges and sinks Ahab's boat<< "Ancient Abyssinia, sure to hold the Gideon" >>Early on in WorldWarII, a man named Orde Charles Wingate created a guerilla based British/Sudanese/Ethiopian team named 'THE GIDEON FORCE', named ofcourse after the biblical character Gideon who took out a rather large army with his rather small army and God's help. Gideon Force was intended to aid Ethiopian rebels and hold down Italian forces in the north west of the country; Wingate interpreted this mandate as including the liberation of Abyssinia and the reinstatement of Emperor Haile Selassie.(info from BBC)<< "...from Flatbush settlement, skin possesses melanin" >>Flatbush is a part of the borough of Brooklyn, where Mos Def hails from. (Flatbush is Dutch for "wooded land"). Melanin is a polymer found in the skin of darker skinned people, for example, blacks have more melanin than whites. freckles are melanin spots. Mos Def is referring to black from Flatbush.<< "Broader than Barrington Levy, believe me" >>Barrington Levy is a Jamaican reggae artist, who had a hot single titled "HERE I COME" in which he sang after the second verse "im broad, im broad, im broader than broadway yes im broad, im broad, im broader than broadway".<<
Ok, thats it everyone. I hope that helped clear it up a little bit. If you like this, click that you like it or send me a message and I'll do another one. If there are any in particular that you would like, please feel free to talk to me. have a good night. oh, and sorry I couldnt upload the song, all i have is a .WMA
Posted on 04/12/2008
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when i first got that album, i did not stop listening to it for quite a while. this is definitely one of my favorite songs. I didn't know Menudo is still a group!?