I'm falling up flights of stairs, scraping myself from the sidewalk
Jumping from rivers to bridges, drowning in pure air
Hip hop is lying on the side of the road, half dead to itself
Blood scrawled over its mangled flesh, like jazz
Stuffed into an oversized record bag
Tuba lips swollen beyond recognition
Diamond studded teeth strewn like rice at Karma's wedding
The ring bearer bore bad news
Minister of information wrote the wrong proclamation
Now everyone's singing the wrong song
Dissonant chords find necks like nooses
That nigga kicked the chair from under my feet
Harlem shaking from a rope, but still on beat
"Damn, that loop is tight," that nigga found a way to sample the way, the truth, the light
Can't wait to play myself at the party tonight
Niggas are gonna die!
This refers to the now popular dance, the Harlem Shake. The imagery of frantically shaking while on beat is haunting. And kudos to Williams for following up this line with “that loop is tight”, simultaneously bringing it back to a musical context.
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