We used to be number 10
But now we're permanent one
Wyclef, Preacher's Son, Ichi bang (¤@¯Å´Î¡H the name of an instant noodle),
Listen Mrs. Tin Can
I'm your candy handy man (candy handy man is drug dealer)
Me without you is like American without the Band Stand (the Band Stand is a famous TV show, about teenage dance and music¡Ksomething like that)
Cool fellow, dancehall stay mellow, (mellow slightly and pleasantly high or intoxicated)
All that guntalk who would have thought you died yellow
Damn, another hero wannabe
Now he sleeps with his friends in the mortuary
Dude, I find it rude, when you intrude,
My pistol nozzle hits your nasal,
Doo doo comes out your anal
Just because your buff (big muscle), don't play tuff (tough)
Cause I'll reverse the earth and turn your flesh back to dust.
| This
verse has two issues, drug and gun fight. This first section is
about drug dealing.
From the line Damn¡K , in this section a vivid picture about the street fighting is presented. |
[LAURYN]:CHORUS
Ooooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our ting
Oooh La La La, It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing
[FORTE]
I stay high off the Fu-Gee-La
Bust when we rush, (bust is dance)
Through you must, know ruckus (ÄÌ°Ê)
Crew got G's like the refu's (refugee's?
G:
1) (n) Anything that starts with a G. E.g. God, Gangsta, Girl, Guy. As
in "Whatup, G?".
2) (v) To have sexual intercourse. E.g. Sir Mix-a-Lot's self titled EP
has a song called "Let's G".
3) (n) Money, from Grands or thousands, for example a hundred G's equals
$100,000.
I think the first or the third is more likely meaning.)
So F who (F: fuck)
Ever want to test
Bring me stress,
West coast back to east,
Grab my toast when I reach
Truly curvin', swervin, lifestyle is urban,
Sippin' Bourbon (a brand of whiskey), surviving
We real to keep the word when
A boy want fa test this set (set
1) (n) A denomination of one of the larger gangs, a set is not necessarily
friendly with other sets in the same
gang. "Baby girl asked me what set am I claiming" - Sir MixaLot (Rapper's
Reputation)
2) (n) The group of songs in a concert by a specific performer.
)
Then you get wet-up (wet
1) (v) Kill someone. As in wet from blood when someone is sprayed. "Now
I gotta wetcha" -- Ice Cube (I'm
gonna wetcha)
2) (v) Excite a female. ) excited?
Just a bit to unprepared to shoot him fair bet
| We have problems
about this verse. We wouldn't get the main point of it.
Kate: Again, I think the rapper is self-fortifying and the self he is proud of is an urban identity. At the end, I think he is threatening anybody who wants to challenge (test) their set (songs, gangs). |
[LAURYN]
Fake bullets can't scar me
I can smell the weak out like safari
Play you out like Atari
Sacrifice you Hari Kari (¤Á¸¡¦Û±þ)
And I'm sorry,
To every single rapper, Dick and Harry
Saying they want to spar me
Cause how thick my repertoire
And my memoir be
Reminding me of eating Calamari in the Khalahari with a band of
Rhastafari.
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You shouldn't diss refugees, and
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You whole sound set's bootie , and
| In
the very first line, she said that she wouldn't be scared by the "fake
bullet."
I think she is proud of themselves and feels confident. She is saying that they actually have good music, "Cause how thick my repertoire/and my memoir be." The last two lines are the same as previous version, but the line associated with the drug isn't included here. Comparatively, this verse has more positive meaning. |
[LAURYN]:CHORUS
Oooh La La La, It's the way that we rock when we're doing our ting
Oooh La La La, It's the remix sound that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing
[PRAZ]
I sit 90 degrees underneath palm trees,
Sitting in the cool breeze in the West Indies
Flea to sea, Ship my keys
On the Santa Maria (first ship to America), sip Sangria (name of wine) with senoritas
(They keep telling me this and telling me that)
They smile in my face then they talk behind my back
But what they lack is the facts about my stats (Statistics)
My rap impact will kill you softly like Roberta Flack
| I
try to compare these two verses by Praz in different versions.
Here he is "sitting in the cool breeze in the West Indies" and "on the Santa Maria and sip Sangria with senoritas."¨ I think this verse is more optimistic. In the last three lines, people seem to talk behind his ear, but he is confident with his music. He uses his rap music as weapon to strike back. Also he compares himself to Roberta Flack. |
[CLEF] 2X
Ayo, What's goin' on
Armageddon come you know we soon done
Gun by my side just in case I gotta rump
A boy on the side of Babylon,
Trying to front like he's down with
Mount Zion.
| This
verse repeats more often than Lauryn's "Ooooh La La La" verse. In this
song, there are more evidences to show that they use music as weapon to
strike back the unfair treatment. Though Lauryn's verse sounds more happier,
there is a sense of struggling to survive in Clef's verse that makes me
feel more powerful.
We will also include the dialogue at the end of the Beast. I only got a vague idea. There are two men and a vender who is selling chicken wings. They have some disagreement then the vender call them refugees, then the song begin. It might imply to people's stereotype of Refugee and bring out the issue. As Lauryn and Praz rap in the songs, they are looked down by people and in the black list. I also
feel something about the singer's characteristic, but I am not sure. From
the three main raps, it seems to me that Clef often concerns about social
problems, Lauryn also has this social concern, but she pays more attention
to the music and so is Praz.
|