Be true to your word because your word is your bond. Your word is all you have after you take away the cars, the houses, the jewels, and the money. Most importantly your word is what you are remembered by. Some of the greatest thinkers and leaders are more remembered for their words then what they accomplished. The power of words have been known to start the bloodiest of wars, while also having the power to crown a victor without a single bullet being fired. So when it comes to music it's no wonder why artists make millions of dollars. The power of song lyrics especially in rap music has started wars as well as created social change.
Nipsey Hussle was a gift to us all. He did so much during his short time here. His lyrics to inspire is what made one of the biggest impacts in music. And it's his lyrics that will help keep his spirit alive. One of the greatest things about the internet is the ability to look at any artist's lyrics. The site Genius (formerly known as Rap Genius) takes it a step forward and allows annotations and interpretations from fans who sign up to contribute to the site. The Wikipedia of music lyrics if you will. But what happens when these lyrics are flat out wrong? Usually another contributor can edit the lyrics putting the right lyrics in. This is exactly what I found with Nipsey Hussle's "Stay Loyal" Interlude.
The very end of the track Nipsey goes into a speech about Mailbox money, but looking at the lyrics it's a clear misquote that the original contributor has written. Not only that, the author fails to even finish the rest of the speech. See the originally posted lyrics below:
What's the intention what's cool, whats braggin rights?
What's them braggin rights gonna be
That's what the braggin right is it used to be
I used to be the Mexican [?] success
But to me it's like, you know, what would you want?
You want something what's your position?
Can you make shit move?
Can you have power? Can you have true power?
Then you have control of your destiny
How could someone so egregiously get his words wrong? Where was the check and balance? I admittedly am human and have made mistakes when transcribing lyrics on this very site, but usually someone hits me up and says I made a mistake and in most cases it's updated by the end of the day. So when seeing this flat out wrong lyrics I took it as my personal mission to make sure that Nipsey's words were as they were spoken. Here's what Nipsey really said.
But, what's the intention?
What's, what's cool, whats the braggin rights?
What's them braggin rights goin Platinum?
Sellin an amount of units?
Is that braggin righs? That's what it used to be.
That used to be the metric of success
But to me it's like, you know, what you own?
Do you own something?
What's your position?
Can you make shit move?
Can you have power? Do you have true power?
Do you have control of your destiny?
Not only was this part of the interlude wrong, but the whole interlude was wrong. Even more there were numerous people posting about how wrong these lyrics are. Here is the whole interlude in it's entirety. Feel free to tell us about any errors.
You know,
You can look up and that's what, at the highest level of business
That's they model, Equity
You know what I mean.
At the highest level of business is mailbox money
They gonna give advances for checks
That's what they gonna do
They gonna give you a percent of what you gonna make and then catch that check on the backend
And I think Hip-Hop so much inspired, and you know, respect and honor the hustler
You know what I'm sayin that, it's just, it's hip hop to do it this way
You know what I'm sayin, to like, you know,
Play the game how, you know the pros play and then switch the model from
You know what I'm sayin
But, what's the intention?
What's, what's cool, whats the braggin rights?
What's them braggin rights goin Platinum?
Sellin an amount of units?
Is that braggin righs? That's what it used to be.
That used to be the metric of success
But to me it's like, you know, what you own?
Do you own something?
What's your position?
Can you make shit move?
Can you have power? Do you have true power?
Do you have control of your destiny?
Why does this matter soo much? Because in a world where your word is your bond. In a world where you are remembered by what you say. This means everything. For Mailbox Money this one part summed up the economic model of what the record company have been doing for years to artists. Giving artists an advance, while they wait to pay themselves on the backend with the equity that the artist's album sales and merchandise. OR as Nipsey said "Its hip hip". I have yet to get a response or see any sort of change. You think I'm gonna give up. Naw. This a Marathon.
I need your help in contacting Genius to help get these lyrics right. Here is the page to the lyrics:
https://genius.com/Nipsey-hussle-stay-loyal-lyrics
Please help us by tagging Genius in all your social media to get this corrected. Every Tweet, Facebook post, Instagram .Comment/Post helps.
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