*Editor’s Note: This article contains strong profanity. Reader discretion is advised.*
Rapping, a form of poetry, is also an art, and the artist who wields it has to have a mind much like that of Wordsworth, Coleridge or Dickinson. When you think of a rapper, you most likely don’t assume that they must be some sort of lyrical genius. But the fact is, most are. Here’s a list of some of the most literate, witty and punny rappers and their lyrics.
Childish Gambino
Truly “the mastermind,” Childish Gambino, perhaps better known as the actor Donald Glover, should be world renowned for his lyrics, many of which carry double meanings and well thought out puns. Take, for example, the entire song “Freaks and Geeks.” Some awfully clever lines include, “And my clique make that dinero, so it’s time to meet the Fockers,” a reference to the Spanish word for money and the actor Robert De Niro’s role in the “Focker” movie franchise. “Took the G out your waffle, all you got left is your ego,” is a reference to the famous Eggo brand. This pun alludes to the fact that most artists rely on their ego when their music falls flat and their gangster, or “G,” image fails.
Wale
In Wale’s “Chain Music,” the rapper criticizes wealth, visible in the gold chains rappers wear as a display of their affluence. He said, “They say that karats help your vision / But somehow it made them listen,” using the homophones “karats” and “carrots,” which really are good for your vision. He is commenting on the fact that the gold karats of his chain are a large part of his influence over people. He goes on to say, “She said I’m charming and I meant it / But she was talking about my pendant,” criticizing that some girls only like him because he is wealthy and wears a chain, not because he is charming. Wale uses this song to detract from the image that wealth is everything and that it’s more important than personality.
Lil Wayne
Weezy is the god of rhymes and wordplay, despite his objectification of women, drug problems and crude lyrics. Simply put, it’s because he’s crazy that he’s a master of the English language; when he’s not rhyming “n—a” with “n—a,” his longest rhyme schemes are about 40 lines long. Some witty and surprisingly deep lyrics come from his song “6 Foot 7 Foot.” A few of the best lyrics include, “No matter who’s buyin’, I’m a celebration,” where he means “sell-abration,” as in “buy and sell,” and “Mind so sharp, I f–k around and cut my head off,” a pun that plays on the sharpness of his wit. Others include “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna,” an unorthodox comparison of the stealth of gangsters to the silent “g” in lasagna, and “I got through that sentence like a subject and a predicate,” perhaps the cleverest line because the flow of sentences are directed by subjects and predicates.
Kendrick Lamar
The super-underrated “good kid from a m.A.A.d. city” by Kendrick Lamar has lyrics so deep, they’re really difficult to fathom. Unlike most rappers, and, aside from those listed here, Lamar’s lyrics make you ponder what he really means. In “Poe Man’s Dreams,” he says, “My intuition has said I was suited for family ties,” which is quite the pun considering a suit is often worn with a tie. His song “Poetic Justice” is every English lover’s dream; he weaves in so many allusions and literary terms that the song itself becomes a poetic tribute to English. He segues into the hook with the line “But I can never right my wrongs unless I write ’em down for real, P.S.,” using homophones to describe the power of the written word. The postscript is a brilliant transition that indicates something else, the hook, will follow. The most skillfully written verse in the history of rap (to an English major) is “Making sure my punctuation curve, every letter here’s true / Living my life in the margin and that metaphor was proof.” The punctuation curve is a comma, which directly follows a phrase. The margin is the space on a paper where there are no words and is the place he lives ―on the edge ― meaning the metaphor he speaks of is proof or evidence of his lyrical skills. The multiple meanings here include a proof, a trial print in which mistakes are corrected, and to “proofread,” in which comments are added to the aforementioned margin.
Lupe Fiasco
He may think President Barack Obama is a terrorist, but that doesn’t mean Lupe is a literal fiasco when it comes to his rhymes. All of his songs are full of lyrical wordplay that challenges the likes of Shakespeare. Fiasco loves double entendre, and they sometimes go three or four levels deep. “I’m Beamin,’” his 2010 single, is full of them. For instance, in the lyric “I’m out at left field, I’m speaking mentally / But that’s a better place than where the benches be,” the sports imagery is evident, but on a deeper level, to be in the left field is to have an outlandish way of thinking. “Speaking mentally” continues the entendre; he means that people think he is crazy, but at the same time, it’s a better place because on the benches, no thought or action occurs. With the lyrics “It’s never Cyclops, it’s never I alone,” Fiasco alludes to the Greek one-eyed monster, whose eye literally is alone.
