Rap Genius: Hip Hop Lyrics Socially Explained

(Photo via rapgenius.com)

The tag line, which is borrowed from Biggie's legendary track "Juicy", says it all: "If you don't know, now you know." Think of it as "The Meaning Behind Rap Lyrics for Dummies". Rap Genius is a socially powered hip hop lyric wiki that explains the story behind rhymes. The site can be found here.

All you have to do is type an artist name or song title in the search engine (complete with a fantastic auto-fill option), and select the song your looking for. Most lyric pages contain an embeded YouTube video for the song so you can follow along and some background on the track. When the page pops up, you will see orange and white highlighted lyrics. Orange items have been explained, white have not. Once you select an orange line, the explanation provided from a contributor from the community pops up. There is an approval system in place which is policed by the Rap Genius moderators. If your interpretation is accepted, you receive Rap IQ points. Here's an explanation from the site:

If you make good contributions you'll earn Rap IQ™, and if you spit true knowledge, eventually you'll be able to edit anything on the site.. just like a hip-hop Wikipedia..

In addition to the revealing of lyrical mysteries, the site also has the Rap Map. This Google map shows you locations that are mentioned in rap songs, with a tiny bit of history about the joint.

Let's take a look at "Juicy" since it was mentioned in this post. 

Here are the lyrics I picked:

Now honeys play me close like butter play toast

And the explanation:

Girls want to keep B.I.G. close to them, like butter stays on toast

That was a fairly easy one, but you get the point.

This site is essential for any head out there. If you think the explanation provided is wrong, sign up and provide your interpretation. If not, it's all good baby, baby!

-Paqman