Make it, make it, make it, boy, we gotta make it
You can save your hand, I ain't gotta shake it
Everything lined up for the takin'
And what I need from 'em? No favors
Clique too big, bread gotta break it
'Cause these others lowkey with the snakin', fakin'
Everything lined up for the takin'
And what I need from 'em? No favors, no favors
What I need? No favors
Everything lined up for the takin'
And what I need from 'em? No favors
[Verse 1: Big Sean]
I'm about gettin' the job done, boy up every night
I'm about rollin' a seven when I toss up the dice
I'm about gettin' my logo all flooded with ice
I'm about takin' a risk that might fuck up your life
Tell 'em point and shoot like camera crews
In front of cameras too (Brrr!)
Damn, Sean, what happened to the humble attitude?
I'm like, "Niggas took the flow, but I'm still standin' too."
Thought I had the Midas touch, and then I went platinum too
Motherfuck all your comparisons (Fuck 'em!)
I've been talkin' to God like that's my therapist
I'm African-American in America; I ain't inherit shit
But a millionaire under 30, so He must be hearin' shit
Don, don, don life, I do this for the crib, the D to Flint
Kids who get sick with lead, others get hit with the lead
From where they need a handout
But they tell you put hands up
Only deals I had was from the Sam's Club
Now it's blue blood in my veins
Though you know what I came for
Born in a world goin' where they told me I can't go
In my lane, though, I'm in the same boat as Usain Bolt
Get ahead by any means, so the head's what I aim for
When my grandma died I realized I got an angel
Show me everything's a blessing, dependin' on the angles
Look, I am the anomaly, never needed favors or apologies
That's my new lifetime policy
Woodgrain steering wheel, this bitch feel like a pirate ship
How many hot verses 'til you bitches start acknowledgin'
The pictures we been paintin'? My nigga
Connected to a higher power—how I know?
'Cause I don't write this shit, I think it, my nigga
Look, all I ever did was beat the odds
'Cause when you try to get even it just don't even out
Never stoppin' like we hypnotized
Watch what we visualize on the rise
Be the GOAT while we alive; when we die, we gone be the gods
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I suppose I'll do my annotation here. I'm doing this free on any supplement, so these are just my personal interpretations of the lyrics
[Hook]
Not only is Big Sean saying that he's got to make it by any means, he's asserting that he has to forge his own path free from the aid of anyone else and that the world is within his hand, all he has to do is grasp it
He's also paying tribute to his crew who support and motivate him and he shares the spoils with them unlike others who betray those who have been loyal to them
[Verse 1]
Line 1; Sean is all about steadily working and further refining his craft at the sacrifice of other important aspects of his life as detailed in other songs such as "Blessings" and "Sacrifices"
Line 2; I'm not too familiar with dice but I know seven has the highest probability of being rolled so I assume that he's saying he's trying to get possible outcome?
Line 3; He received a roc-a-fella chain from Jay-Z and it being adorned in diamonds and precious jewels is a testament to his success and how far he has come
Line 4; He who dares wins, if a man takes no risk, he'll yield no reward
Line 5; Here he saying he's commanding his hired help to open fire on someone
Line 6; He doesn't care if his acts are caught on camera and his implicated because he can likely get off. Rich people don't go to jail and all that
Line 7; Someone is asking him what has happened to cause this violent change in his otherwise relaxed demeanor
Line 8; Even though he has been robbed of his style by other contemporaries, possibly Drake, Sean assures everyone that his is still ok
Line 9; Sean's previous albums prior to DSP have gone gold but he has singles and an album that have now gone platinum, cementing his success in rap
Line 10; Sean doesn't care much for being compared or likened to anyone
Line 11; Sean speaks to God and gives him his glory
Line 12; He also unloads his burdens to God
Line 13; Sean is a self made, black millionaire in a country who proclaims itself to be a haven of equality and understanding yet steadily shows that it's as racist and bigoted as it was centuries ago. He's received no reparations for the destruction America has done to his family as alluded to in "Sacrifices"
Line 14; He's accomplished all this in under 30 yrs of age, s he feels that God has obviously heard his prayers
Line 15; He now leads a privileged life but he not only does this in honor of the city that forged him but others experiencing their own hardships, the Flint water crisis being one such example
Line 16; Flint's water in lead laden and visibly brown and companies were even trying to get the residents to pay for the water. If the people aren't dying from the water, they're dying from bullet, be it from other residents or the police, who have in recent time become more militarized and prejudiced and intolerant towards blacks
Line 17; I think this builds off of the United Negro College Fund's althernate slogan of "not looking for a handout, just a hand" but things have become so hopeless that giving people a handout rather than a hand may be the best thing
Line 18; the people that are supposed to protect and to serve are the main assailants in the Detroit residents struggle to survive
Line 19; the only place that gave him any type of discount/help was Sam's Club, a subsidiary of Walmart and a wholesale store that offers increased quantity per dollar which incentives more spending under the guise of more savings
Line 20; Blue+Red=Purple, Purple=Royalty. Sean is asserting that he is royalty
Line 21; Building off of the last line, being of royal lineage, Sean is coming for the throne to he has a claim to, to be king
Line 22; he'll open any door that was previously closed before him and it was all of his own effort and not someone else pulling strings behind the scenes
Line 23; Because of the world records Bolt has earned in the 1&2, he is regarded as the best sprinter in T&F history to which Sean likens himself. Bolt is also thought of as a freak of nature in the sense that his body doesn't favor short sprints like the 100m where shorter, more explosive sprinters typically hold the advantage. Sean is an anomaly
Line 24; To get to the top, one has to have a clear goal in mind and Sean says this. There's also the sound of a suppressed weapon implying his willing to (figuratively?) kill anyone in his way and who's currently keeping the seat warm
Line 25; Sean feels as if his recently deceased Grandmother is guiding him through life and protecting him from the negativity surrounding him
Line 26; good or bad is all a matter of perspective
Line 27; He calls himself the anomaly, who else was called "The Anomaly"? Neo of the Matrix was, also known as the One. I think Sean is saying he's the One/Neo which he explicitly does in Sacrifices
Line 28; he reasserts for the rest of his life, he'll never ask for a helping hand
Line 29; the steering wheel in his car incorporates wood, directly comparing it to a pirate ship whose helms were made of wood
Line 30; When will this man get the mass appeal his raps are deserving of?
Line 31; Here Sean likens himself to Michelanglo
Line 32; And references "The Creation of Adam", with God and Adam touching, giving his divine essence to man. Interpreting the painting you see that God and the angels reside within the brain/heart illustrating that God resides within Sean and imparts him with these hot lines
Line 33; see line 32 above
Line 34; he's surmounted any obstacle that's stood in his way
Line 35; Blacks have to work 2x as hard a white to get half as far in life is something I routinely heard as a child and so I think Sean is trying to impart the listener with the knowledge that being black and half-stepping in life is a ticket for mediocrity
Line 36; In an induced state, the person generally doesn't break from it until the inducer allows them to
Line 37; Building on that last line, he's hypnotized you to watch all the moves (song reference?) that they'll be making in the days to come
Line 38; He aims to become the Greatest of All time while living and once he dies, like the Gods of antiquity/mythology he'll be eternal/immortal. It's reminiscent to Jay-Z rapping on "Threats" You can't kill me, I live forever through these bars".
I'm not sure if this is what you expected Cordy but I tried to uniquely annotate this single verse and hopefully you were able to gleam something that maybe you didn't perceive before. I think it shows that there is greater depth to what Sean is saying besides what's on the surface level, sure there aren't quadruple entendres or super complex lines on every line like Lupe. I'm not saying that he's the greatest or best or the deepest rapper out. I also don't have time to chronicle the things occurring in T88 or I Decided like someone else who is paid did with GKMC but I'm sure someone who has the time and is being paid can.