Bounceounce
Member
Really wish Jay would stop doing those pauses/"aughs" in his verses, it would improve them so much.
Edit: This Frank outro is making me uncomfortable, I need an adult.
Edit2:
"Life goes in cycles, what comes around goes around
So 'fore it goes down, nigga, get you some icicles
Audemars before all of y'alls
Wristwatch got a Russian face like an oligarch, uh
12 o'clock, boy, silly nice, huh
Willie in traffic, I'm Philly nice, uh
E.T. on the handles, uh
Handlebars like a Xanax
Shamgod with and one moves
Throw that shit 'round your neck
Right quick, broke boys get fixed
Right quick, nights invested with these bike flips
Uh, that's a full cab and the back flip
Uh, sidebar.."
Edit 3:
After reading the Genius for Jay's verse and thinking about what it means, I think I've got a good summary of it:
Jay is saying that life is a bicycle ride and as the wheels turn cycles end, but before your cycle (bike ride) ends (as in death or the consequences of your actions catching up with you which the what goes around comes around comment could doubly be implying) you should do what you want to do/work hard to achieve your goals, like getting "Icicles", which as Genius points out is jewelry which means Jay could also be speaking to rappers with a short cycle in their career (as he addresses on Let You Down) and telling them to get jewelry which is a sign of success for rappers in some way before they burn out (also the fore it goes down, may mean before you plummet/fail/everything goes wrong for you, before shit goes down/hit's the fan, basically he's telling you to celebrate in that limited window of time and that it's better to have had and then lose than to have never had at all).
Oh and the cycle means that everything repeats so everyone has their own day in the sun, it's just a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth, the cycle of life.
Also has some dope bars along the way like the Xanax bar:
"xanax are shaped like bars that you take to handle stuff better and calm u down (people call them bars).
handling bars (clubs) by taking xanax to relax u in social situation
handlebars (synecdoche for the bike) maybe addictive like xanax cos he loves biking
or the handlebars (synecdoche for the bike) relax him and chill him out like xanax
handle bars could also be him rapping, as in jay can handle bars like he handles xanax, easy
or more literally, the handlebars could look like xanax in their shape" - Random Reddit poster
And the next line:
"Shamgod with the AND1 moves"
Genius: "God Shammgod played basketball for the Washington Wizards from 1997-1999, while AND1 is a clothing company that used videos of streetball moves to market their shoes.
God Shammgod was known for his incredible crossovers, a flashy move favoured by street ballers. Jay is likely referring to his own baller behaviour, flashing his incredibly expensive watches when on the streets (”Willie in traffic") similar to those classic AND1 mixtapes."
Which in my interpretation, relates to the previous line in that Jay's saying his biking skills (or life skills in as it relates to the bicycle being a metaphor for life, and we all know how much Jay has achieved) as in "handlebars" are comparable to the "handles" as in basketball terminology, of a pro-basketball player", which would also mean he's doing flashy BMX type moves on the bike if we extend what the genius analysis says.
edit 4:
Someone just added this, really dope:
"Can we also explore the double entendre of a wheelie in traffic since the song is about bikes. Jay is popping a wheelie (lifting his front wheel off the ground as he continues to ride) which would be popular in Philly , most notably Philly rapper Meek Mill, since they are know for the ”Bike Life" and riding motor cycles and all sorts of bikes and doing tricks."
Edit: This Frank outro is making me uncomfortable, I need an adult.
Edit2:
"Life goes in cycles, what comes around goes around
So 'fore it goes down, nigga, get you some icicles
Audemars before all of y'alls
Wristwatch got a Russian face like an oligarch, uh
12 o'clock, boy, silly nice, huh
Willie in traffic, I'm Philly nice, uh
E.T. on the handles, uh
Handlebars like a Xanax
Shamgod with and one moves
Throw that shit 'round your neck
Right quick, broke boys get fixed
Right quick, nights invested with these bike flips
Uh, that's a full cab and the back flip
Uh, sidebar.."
Edit 3:
After reading the Genius for Jay's verse and thinking about what it means, I think I've got a good summary of it:
Jay is saying that life is a bicycle ride and as the wheels turn cycles end, but before your cycle (bike ride) ends (as in death or the consequences of your actions catching up with you which the what goes around comes around comment could doubly be implying) you should do what you want to do/work hard to achieve your goals, like getting "Icicles", which as Genius points out is jewelry which means Jay could also be speaking to rappers with a short cycle in their career (as he addresses on Let You Down) and telling them to get jewelry which is a sign of success for rappers in some way before they burn out (also the fore it goes down, may mean before you plummet/fail/everything goes wrong for you, before shit goes down/hit's the fan, basically he's telling you to celebrate in that limited window of time and that it's better to have had and then lose than to have never had at all).
Oh and the cycle means that everything repeats so everyone has their own day in the sun, it's just a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth, the cycle of life.
Also has some dope bars along the way like the Xanax bar:
"xanax are shaped like bars that you take to handle stuff better and calm u down (people call them bars).
handling bars (clubs) by taking xanax to relax u in social situation
handlebars (synecdoche for the bike) maybe addictive like xanax cos he loves biking
or the handlebars (synecdoche for the bike) relax him and chill him out like xanax
handle bars could also be him rapping, as in jay can handle bars like he handles xanax, easy
or more literally, the handlebars could look like xanax in their shape" - Random Reddit poster
And the next line:
"Shamgod with the AND1 moves"
Genius: "God Shammgod played basketball for the Washington Wizards from 1997-1999, while AND1 is a clothing company that used videos of streetball moves to market their shoes.
God Shammgod was known for his incredible crossovers, a flashy move favoured by street ballers. Jay is likely referring to his own baller behaviour, flashing his incredibly expensive watches when on the streets (”Willie in traffic") similar to those classic AND1 mixtapes."
Which in my interpretation, relates to the previous line in that Jay's saying his biking skills (or life skills in as it relates to the bicycle being a metaphor for life, and we all know how much Jay has achieved) as in "handlebars" are comparable to the "handles" as in basketball terminology, of a pro-basketball player", which would also mean he's doing flashy BMX type moves on the bike if we extend what the genius analysis says.
edit 4:
Someone just added this, really dope:
"Can we also explore the double entendre of a wheelie in traffic since the song is about bikes. Jay is popping a wheelie (lifting his front wheel off the ground as he continues to ride) which would be popular in Philly , most notably Philly rapper Meek Mill, since they are know for the ”Bike Life" and riding motor cycles and all sorts of bikes and doing tricks."
