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"Paying your tithes being good Catholics"(268).

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"Paying your tithes being good Catholics"(268).

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Tithe: (n) one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy.

The devout Catholic payed her tithes in support of the clergy, because she believed her debts would be paid up.

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"It was the first time really talking about it with anyone--not just the facts but the feeling of a dream being crushed... I was actually scared of it happening again.. I realized that I was holding on to disappointment over failure that didn't even belong to me"(246).

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"It was the first time really talking about it with anyone--not just the facts but the feeling of a dream being crushed... I was actually scared of it happening again.. I realized that I was holding on to disappointment over failure that didn't even belong to me"(246).

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For a fact, the "you are your worst enemy" phenomena is justified by Jay-Z's description of failure. He entails that it can be hard to let something go- especially something that you abstractly constructed for yourself. Whether it is the feeling of failure or actually failing, it does kill.

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"My president is black / My Maybach too / I'll be goddamn if my diamonds ain't blue / my money dark green"(230).

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"My president is black / My Maybach too / I'll be goddamn if my diamonds ain't blue / my money dark green"(230).

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These are lyrics from a song which Jay- Z also annotated himself. He brings out the colors of different things from people to objects. This word choice is used because it simply has a different meaning. "My least favorite color is light green"  is a line from one of his songs, meaning he doesn't like his money to get light, in the sense of being scarce. So "dark green" is not a reference to the colour, but the amount of money.

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"The story of the rapper and the story of the hustler are like rap itself, two kinds of rhythm working together having a conversation with each other, doing more together than they could apart"(10)

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"The story of the rapper and the story of the hustler are like rap itself, two kinds of rhythm working together having a conversation with each other, doing more together than they could apart"(10)

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For this quote I know that he was talking about having a passion that you work hard for and are dedicated to from the start. It is interesting to see his definition of a hustler as he associates it to rappers like himself.

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'When you reach that top level, theres suddenly so much to deal with on all fronts- you have old friends and distant family who are suddenly close, people who feel like they should be getting rich from your success" (94).

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'When you reach that top level, theres suddenly so much to deal with on all fronts- you have old friends and distant family who are suddenly close, people who feel like they should be getting rich from your success" (94).

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Jay-Z outlines the life of becoming famous and when you do, suddenly everyone wants to be your friend. For him, it was hard to find who was genuine or who was being a fake friend to him. The personal account describes something all famous people go through.

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"....I liked to stay sober, the better way to stay focused on making money. I come from that class of hustlers who looked at smoking as counter productive" (256).

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"....I liked to stay sober, the better way to stay focused on making money. I come from that class of hustlers who looked at smoking as counter productive" (256).

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Jay- Z later describes how one of his friends/competitors, named "Big," got him high while they were working in the studio together. No matter how much you are friend with someone, you should not trust them. After that scene, he went to his room to sober up and came back. I really like Jay-Z's work ethic despite being tricked into smoking a joint. He does say that you can't slip or falter.

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"Where the drug czars evolve, and thugs are at odds" (208).

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"Where the drug czars evolve, and thugs are at odds" (208).

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Drug Czars: Drug Czar is an informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in the United States, following the U.S. use of the 'czar' term.

The drug Czar for the U.S. is currently thinking about the flexibility of the legalization of marijuana in certain states.

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"No one in the entire world- not in Russia or China or Iran- is locked up like black men are locked up in this country" (161).

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"No one in the entire world- not in Russia or China or Iran- is locked up like black men are locked up in this country" (161).

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Jay Z's book testifies, giving black men a voice. He asks for a chance after, to be treated equally. If you think Iran is dangerous and locks people up, he wants to touch on the statistics that JUST black men in this country are locked up to a much bigger extent in America than any other country.

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"The cop looked back at me with that shut up, nigger, screw face... 'I got Jay Z!' he said into the phone with a sense of accomplishment. Then he told this man to arrest me. I was dumbstruck as they loaded me into the back of the cruiser  like a prize catch" (162).

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"The cop looked back at me with that shut up, nigger, screw face... 'I got Jay Z!' he said into the phone with a sense of accomplishment. Then he told this man to arrest me. I was dumbstruck as they loaded me into the back of the cruiser  like a prize catch" (162).

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This quote describes the time he got arrested. It just screams to me. All I could say was "wow" after reading it. Truly, it is powerful as it gives a personal perspective about the struggles, about being objectified to the point where you do not feel like a human anymore, about being looked at like you do not even deserve to live anymore. His words really do resonate in your mind.

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"But he was elusive. His eye was always on the bigger picture." (95)

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"But he was elusive. His eye was always on the bigger picture." (95)

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Elusive: (adj) difficult to find, catch, or achieve.

He made two or three false starts before he located the elusive narrow path through the brush

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"He was hip hop when hip hop was still in its cradle." (92)

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"He was hip hop when hip hop was still in its cradle." (92)

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This quote is amazing, it personifies hip hop to bring in the imagery that it is a baby, still developing. Very powerful diction is used. It is also imaginative in a way that you can see this man as a rapper when rap was first staring out.

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"Theres a knee-jerk fear in America that someone- especially someone young and black- is coming to take your shit, fuck up your brand, destroy the quality of your life, tarnish the things you love." (86)

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"Theres a knee-jerk fear in America that someone- especially someone young and black- is coming to take your shit, fuck up your brand, destroy the quality of your life, tarnish the things you love." (86)

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Jay Z plays on the long-known stigma of the "dangers" of black people. He opens up the realm defeat and exhaustion that the common black boy is tired of facing every single day of their life. He wants to make it know that in hip hop, despite the brand shout outs, the truth is they don't want your "shit."

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"It's the same with braggadocio in rap" (27)

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"It's the same with braggadocio in rap" (27)

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braggadocio: (n) boastful or arrogant behavior

The harvard students' braggadocios allowed them to invade the math competition and win all the prizes.

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"Crackheads were different. Theyd smoke in the hallways, on playgrounds, on subway stations. They got no respect. They were former neighbors, "aunts" and "uncles," but once they started smoking, they were simply crakcheads, the lowest on the food chain in the jungle, worse than prosititutes, and almost as bad as snitchers" (13).

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"Crackheads were different. Theyd smoke in the hallways, on playgrounds, on subway stations. They got no respect. They were former neighbors, "aunts" and "uncles," but once they started smoking, they were simply crakcheads, the lowest on the food chain in the jungle, worse than prosititutes, and almost as bad as snitchers" (13).

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Jay Z  uses satire to describe the filth in the city and what kinds of people these crackheads were in the time (and still are, I believe crackheads haven't changed since the beginning of time). When he says, "almost as bad as snitchers" he juxtaposes the dangers of a schedule 1 drug with a person who snitches. It evokes a sense of emotion from the reader about this issue of the usage of Crack.

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DUE DATES:

11/18  (1 - 76)
11/29  (76 - 152)
12/2    (152 - 228)
12/9    (228 - 304)