empire state of mind
DESCRIPTION
Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keyes. Empire State of Mind. Empire State State of Mind. Verse 1. I’m up at Brooklyn, now I’m down in Tribeca Right next to DeNiro, but I’ll be hood forever I’m the new Sinatra, and since I made it here I can make it anywhere , yeah, they love me everywhere - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keyes
Empire StateState of Mind
I’m up at Brooklyn, now I’m down in TribecaRight next to DeNiro, but I’ll be hood foreverI’m the new Sinatra, and since I made it hereI can make it anywhere, yeah, they love me everywhere
I used to cop in Harlem, all of my DominicanosRight there up on Broadway, brought me back to that
McDonald’sTook it to my stash spot, 560 State StreetCatch me in the kitchen like a Simmons whipping
pastry
Allusion:Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”
Simile:Comparison using “like”Allusion (Reference to
Popular Culture): Rev. Run’s daughters run a company called Pastry.
Pun (Play on Words): The clothing line is called “Pastry.” Their company is not actually based in a kitchen.
Cruising down 8th Street, off-white LexusDriving so slow, but BK is from TexasMe, I’m up at Bed-Stuy, home of that boy
BiggieNow I live on Billboard, and I brought my
boys with me
Say what up to Ty Ty, still sipping maltaSitting courtside, Knicks and Nets give me
high fivesI be spiked out, I can trip a refereeTell by my attitude that I am most definitely
from…
Metaphor:He doesn’t literally live on Billboard Street. He “lives” on the Billboard charts.Internal Near Rhyme created using assonance (repeated long “i” sound)
Allusion (reference to historical figure):Movie director Spike Lee frequently sits courtside at NBA games.
Alliteration (repeated starting consonant sound): Knicks and Nets
Synecdoche (a part standing for a whole): “BK” is “Beyonce Knowles.”
Portmanteau Word:Bedford-Stuyvesant, neighborhoods in NYC
In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand newBig lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York
Metaphor
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee gameI made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee canYou should know I bleed blue, but I ain’t a Crip thoughBut I got a gang…walking with my clique, though
Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we selling rock
Afrika Bambaataa…home of the hip hopYellow Cab, Gypsy Cab, Dollar Cab, holla backFor foreigners that ain’t fifty, they act like they forgot how
to act
Synecdoche:Jay-Z uses “X” to stand for the whole word “Bronx.”
Alliteration: Repeated “bl” sound to start words
MetaphorsandAssonance
Repetition
Eight million stories out there, and they’re naked
Cities is a pity, half of y’all won’t make itMe, I gotta plug, Special Ed “I Got It Made”If Jeezy’s payin’ Lebron, I’m paying Dwyane
Wade
Three dice Cee-lo, three-card MonteLabor Day Parade, rest in peace, Bob MarleyStatue of Liberty, long live the World TradeLong live the king, yo, I’m from the Empire
State that’s…
Allusion: A reference to rapper Young Jeezy
Metaphor:Lebron = 23Wade = 3(their jersey numbers)
Alliteration
Allusion
Light’s is blinding, girls need blindersSo they can step out of bounds quickThe sidelines is blind with casualtiesWho sipping life casually, then gradually become
worse
Don’t bite the apple, Eve, caught up in the in crowd
Now you’re in style and in the winter gets coldEn vogue with your skit out, the city of sin is a pity
on a whimGood girls gone bad, the cities filled with them
Allusion to the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis. The reference implies that girls should resist temptation.
Assonance
Internal Rhyme
Alliteration
Mommy took a bus trip, now she got her bust outEverybody ride her just like a bus routeHail Mary to the city, you’re a virginAnd Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the
church ends
Came here for school, graduated to the high lifeBall players, rap stars addicted to the limelightMDMA got you feeling like a championThe city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien
Personification:Lending the city the human action of sleep.
Simile
Assonance creates a near rhyme to end these lines.
Idiom and Irony:The use of “high life” is ironic, because it would usually suggest a better life, and yet it is a reference to getting “high” from drugs.