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Guide to the Hip-Hop U.S. History Songs
This Teacher’s Guide to the Songs will guide you through the lyrics of each song on Hip-Hop U.S. History. It explains each of the cultural references that you’ll find on each track. GUIDE TO SONGS
Back before buffalo wings at Domino’s . . . Dominos is a fast-food restaurant chain serving pizza, chicken wings, and other food items. Buffalo roamed . . . the range, home of the free, land of the brave . . . These lines combine phrases from the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Home on the Range," the state song of Kansas.
Hut to hut like quarterbacks . . . The quarterback in a game of football receives the ball from the snapper by shouting "hut, hut, hike" or another combination of prearranged words. Putting holes in enemies' domes like the ozone . . . Dome is a slang word for someone's head. The ozone layer is located in the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere and helps protect the planet from ultraviolet radiation. In the past sixty years, the amount of ozone in the atmosphere has noticeably decreased. There is now a large "ozone hole" over Antarctica.
I Want America
Sipping Henny. JK LOL BRB TTYL! :-) Hennessey (or Henny) is a cognac that makes occasional appearances in rap videos. JK is instant messenger speak for "just kidding." LOL means "laughing out loud." BRB means "be right back." TTYL means "talk to you later." Supplies shorter than Dora the Explorer . . . Dora the Explorer is an animated character in a TV show of the same name aimed at preschoolers. While Dora's exact height is a mystery, a guesstimate would be that she is three feet tall. Saw land calling "Hoo-Ah!" like Scent of a Woman . . . Scent of a Woman is a 1992 film starring Chris O'Donnell and Al Pacino. Pacino plays Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, a blind ex-marine who likes yelling, "hoo-ah!" "Hoo-ah" is a common affirmative yelled by soldiers in the U.S. military.
This Ain't Working
Like rubberneckers . . . Rubbernecker is a slang term for someone who cranes his or her neck to see something while passing by. Typically this term is used for motorists passing an accident who slow their cars to get a better look. "Let's Twist Again," uh-uh, like Chubby Checker . . . Chubby Checker's single "Let's Twist Again" was the first record to go platinum. The idea here is that the Boston Tea Party actually was a party. With large crowds gathered to watch and applaud, it was much more of a Chubby Checker– style gathering than a covert military operation. Hands be twitching more than Muhammad Ali's Muhammad Ali is probably the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. After an amazing life in the ring, he developed Pugilistic Parkinson's disease (aka Boxer's Syndrome), which restricts his speech and causes his hands to shake. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. Putting medal on them like they're honored . . . A typical, official way of honoring someone is by giving him or her a medal. (See Muhammad Ali above.) Musket bullets were not shaped like today's bullets; they were round, lead balls. Ducking out of trees like some Vietnamese . . . The Vietcong (North Vietnamese sympathizers operating in South Vietnam) later perfected the very basic guerilla-fighting style used by the Minutemen. During the Vietnam War, the Vietcong avoided large-scale encounters with American troops. They developed hit-and-run and sniper tactics instead. After the initial skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, the American forces rarely used guerilla tactics in the Revolutionary War.
It's the U.S. (Bust the A)
Time for states to form up like Megatron . . . Megatron is the robotic leader of the Decepticons from the TV show and comic book, Transformers. Megatron could transform from a gun into a humanoid robot. It didn't have power like Masons . . . Masons are members of the fraternal organization of Freemasons. Formed in Europe in 1717, this semisecret society took hold in America and became popular among the American elite. Many of the Founding Fathers were Masons, including John Hancock, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. Washington, the first of fourteen U.S. presidents who were Masons, even wore a Masonic apron when he laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building. In 1831 some citizens formed the Anti-Masonic Party to protest the perceived Masonic control of the government and the fact that an ex-Mason who wanted to publish Masonic secrets had recently been abducted and disappeared. The Anti-Masonic candidate for president received a respectable seven electoral votes in 1832, marking the first fairly successful third party in American politics. It was too weak, like brittle bones on bubble boys . . . The bubble-boy phenomenon comes from the stories of two boys in the seventies who really did live in bubbles within sterile hospital rooms: David Vetter and Ted DeVita, both of whom suffered from immune deficiences. Since then, the bubble boy has become a kind of American trope featured in a Seinfeld episode, a Paul Simon lyric, and a recent movie staring Jake Gyllenhaal. Break your government up like a Kit-Kat Bar . . . A Kit-Kat Bar is a candy bar of chocolate-coated wafers. It comes in four individual pieces that you can break off. The current jingle used to promote the candy bar in America goes, "Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat Bar."
Picks judges like Sam Alito . . . In 2005 George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court after Sandra Day O'Connor retired. Earlier that year, Bush nominated John Roberts who replaced the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Both nominees were approved by the Senate.
Bill of Rights
Sorry Alex, there's no Double Jeopardy . . . Alex Trebek is the host of the popular televion game show Jeopardy!. Once contestants pass the first round, they move on to Double Jeopardy, in which point values are doubled.
O.D.W.M. Some lines from this track are based on lines from Outkast's "Skew It on the Bar-B" and Young MC's "Bust a Move." He wanted people to choose their religion like dim sum . . . Dim sum is a type of light Chinese meal consisting of a variety of choices that are typically wheeled around on a cart for customers to choose from. Thought the Pres was too powerful like King Kong . . . King Kong is a big gorilla with a big heart and the star of numerous movies, including King Kong (1933) and King Kong (2005).
Buy Louisiana with bonds. We're rich like Häagen Dazs . . . Häagen Dazs makes creamy, rich ice cream. The company is from New York, but it took the name Häagen Dazs to make its ice cream sound exotic. We’re the Hekawi like F-troop . . . F-troop was a television comedy show from the 1960s. The Indian tribe in the show often got lost and would say, "Where the heck are we?" The original name of the tribe, the Fugawi, was changed after sponsors complained.
Guides them through Rockies like MapQuest . . . MapQuest is a free online mapping software that outlines travel paths for trips.
Hamilton missed the mark like Crystal Pepsi . . . In 1992 Pepsi unveiled Crystal Pepsi, the first mainstream clear cola. It was a total commercial failure. In 1993 Saturday Night Live parodied Crystal Pepsi with a fake advertisement for Crystal Gravy. The voiceover said, "Finally you can see your meat."
Levez les mains . . . French for "raise your hands." Free OJ, like Johnny Cochran . . . Johnny Cochran was one of O. J. Simpson's "Dream Team" defense lawyers in the famous murder trial. Cochran actually used rhymes to help convince the jury that O. J. was innocent: "if it [the glove] doesn't fit, you must acquit." O. J. Simpson was found not guilty. Men getting richer than Enron . . . Enron Corporation is an enormous energy company based in Houston, Texas. In 2001, company officers used accounting fraud to make an enormous personal profit at the expense of shareholders. Like Adolf Hitler, he had a Final Solution . . . The "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" is a phrase coined by Adolf Eichmann, a top Nazi official under Hitler. The phrase refers to the German Nazis' plan to systematically kill the Jewish population of Europe during World War II. Ghosts of the Civil War The Senator from South Cakalak . . . Cakalak is a slang word for "Carolina." Calhoun was from South Carolina. States' rights best thing since grits 'n' gravy . . . Grits are a traditional Southern breakfast food made from cornmeal. Grits are often eaten with butter, sugar, or gravy.
Like Dead Prez, boy, I'm an African . . . Dead Prez is a politically conscious hip-hop group. Its 2000 album, Let's Get Free, features "I'm a African," a song that connects American blacks to their African roots.
I wanted to be soft on the Confederacy like Huggies . . . Huggies are a brand of disposable diaper for babies. Big Ballin' (in the Gilded Age) I'm bigger than Big Pimpin', I'm bigger than Jay-Z. He named his record company after me . . . Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) is a popular rapper from New York. He collaborated with Houston rappers Bun B and Pimp C on 2000's Big Pimpin'. He founded Roc-A-Fella Records in 1996. In 1999 Jay-Z launched Rocawear, a hip-hop clothing label. I'm the O.G. . . . O.G. is street slang for "original gangster." The term initially referred to the founder of a street gang but now commonly refers to any older gang member. It also stands for "Oil and Gas." With more oil than Valdez . . . The Exxon Valdez is the name of an oil tanker that, in 1989, hit a reef off of Prince William Sound and spilled eleven million gallons of crude oil into the ocean. Exxon (now ExxonMobil) is a descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust. Gobble up these Colonel Sanders like they're chicken feed . . . Colonel Sanders founded Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1952. Sanders (who was not actually a military colonel) invented the original recipe. After he sold his business, he became Kentucky Fried Chicken's spokesman, but he didn't hesitate to speak up against the company when he thought that quality was waning. In 1975 Kentucky Fried Chicken sued Harlan Sanders for calling the gravy "sludge" and "wallpaper paste." The rest can't touch 'cause I'm higher than Marley . . . Bob Marley was a popular reggae musician from Jamaica. Marley often appears on dorm-room posters, smoking marijuana. Jazz Age
Moving more booze than Busch is . . . Anheuser-Busch is the world's third-largest brewing company. It is based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces Budweiser, Michelob, and Bacardi. Old folks cheeks turning red like the snapper . . . Red snapper is a reef fish found off America's coast in the Atlantic Ocean. It is healthy and delicious. Would You Drop It? We're island hopping like hopscotch . . . Hopscotch is a game played on sidewalks, streets, and playgrounds throughout the world in different forms. The game involves throwing a stone or marker and then hopping on different squares. The game was originally developed in England as endurance training for British soldiers, who played hopscotch in full body armor. Let Freedom Ring It would take a nation of millions to hold us back . . . The popular and political rap group Public Enemy released one of the most important hip-hop albums in 1988: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The album pitted Chuck D's lyrics (which explored institutional racism, police brutality, and American greed) over sample-heavy beats. We kick it off the top sort of like cerebrals . . . To "kick it off of the top (of the dome)" means to freestyle: make up rap lyrics in real time off the top of your head. The word cerebral means "of, or relating to, the brain." Cerebrals are members of an obscure group with high IQs (“The Cerebral Society”), like the much more famous Mensa. A modern-day Jesus, turning the other cheek . . . "I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well . . . I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . ." (from Matthew 5:38–45).
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