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Rap Genius Lines of the Week From B.o.B., Kool Keith, Kanye West and Freeway

Posted May 4th 2012 4:45PM by BoomBox Staff
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Rap Genius is supplying The BoomBox with the top lyrics of the week and serving a meaning behind the raps in the process. This week was a time when the veterans jumped to the head of the class. While rap is ever-focused on the newest and hottest, often to the detriment of listeners, experienced artists keep plugging away and creating great music. So it is this week, as Kool Keith gets poetic, Diamond D throws some internal rhymes at us, Freeway gives us dieting tips and Kanye West reminds us of one of the best urban legends in hip-hop. The only relative newcomer to make the list this week is B.o.B., who puns on rap's second couple -- Jay-Z and Beyonce being the first couple, of course, if not the royal family.

5. "Spirit of the golden Palestinian Indian/ The formula's cold, you simian," -- Kool Keith, "Extra Thoughts" Lyrics

What does it mean? Who knows! Who cares! Keith's words are evocative and poetic, in the style of his best work. Literal meaning (what is a Palestinian Indian?) floats away, but something more associative and beautiful glides in instead.

4. "I got the nice thing with the Breitling on the dash/ And it's frightening, I'm like lightning on that ass," -- Diamond D, "Deflate Ya" Lyrics

The legendary Diamond D, the creator of one of rap's greatest albums (Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop), returns full-force with this tune. The beat, as usual, is wonderful, and this segment of the words shows off his gift for internal rhymes ("nice thing"/"Breitling"/"frightening"/"lightning"). Welcome back, D!

3. "Y'all people think we don't know that y'all cake like Hostess/ While we getting cake like Oprah/ Better go and eat your vegetables, broccoli and your okra/ Thinking you can stop me is hopeless," -- Freeway, "Six Degrees of Separation" Lyrics

Free has long been one of our favorite rappers, and while comparing one's wealth to Oprah's is played-out, we just can't resist a lyric that mentions okra!

2. "They ain't about that life, they ain't about that life/ We hanging out the window, it's about to be a Suge night," -- Kanye West, "I Don't Like" Lyrics

One of hip-hop's greatest shaggy-dog stories is the one about Death Row Records honcho Suge Knight and Vanilla Ice. Supposedly, Knight dangled Ice out of a hotel room window in order to get the rapper to sign over the publishing rights to his hit "Ice Ice Baby," which sampled music from one of Suge's artists. This story, which never has been and likely never will be definitively confirmed or disproved, has taken on epic proportions over the years, and Yeezy nods to it here.

1. "And if I hit your house, no Rose and no Khalifa/ Meaning, ain't bringing no flowers and no reefer," -- B.o.B., "Up (Remix)" Lyrics

This lyric tips its hat to rap's couple of the moment, the newly engaged (congrats, guys!) Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa. B.o.B. here puns on Rose's name and Khalifa's propensity to, well, smoke reefer.

Hot Songs of the Week
Kanye West – "I Don't Like" Lyrics
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Childish Gambino – "We Flexin'" Lyrics

Rap Genius Lines of the Week

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