[Phil Collins]

Its arguably one of the deepest line he's put out. Lets interpret that. What is he "not"?

 

[CUNTacula]

He's not Taylor Swift.

 

[B-ri]

straight

 

[SideWays408]

I dont even REALLY get that line.


Someone explain it to me in a "Explaining line for dummies book" kind of deal.

 

[tunji]

if i were to ever get a tatoo that be what id get tatted

 

[SpunkFreeMinks]

"People talk so much shit about me at barber shops, they forget to their haircut."
Might be my favorite song off Graduation.

 

[kDOT.]

He is like all the other rappers talking about guns and whatnot around that period, but everything he's not, made him everything he is.

 

[outofmindwgo]

I dont even REALLY get that line.


Someone explain it to me in a "Explaining line for dummies book" kind of deal.

they don't have to, they're called the lyrics.

 

[SideWays408]

they don't have to, they're called the lyrics.

lol what.

 

[R]

Picture perfect beyonce

 

[MaximusPrime]

That's in my Top 10 songs ever.

 

[Whea7s]

I dont even REALLY get that line.


Someone explain it to me in a "Explaining line for dummies book" kind of deal.

Everything he didnt do in life made him the person he is today

 

[SideWays408]

Everything he didnt do in life made him the person he is today

Ehh maybe im just not good with deep lines like that. Because i understand the meaning of it but my rational side just tells me that doesn't make any sense.

Anyway... im not hating.

 

[DonDan]

i think you can understand that line in two ways.


a)

He is different to all the other rappers out there. Remember, when graduation came out, 50 Cent, G-Unit and similar was very popular. Kanye came from middle class instead of ghetto. He didn't rap about bitches and guns, but was a lil more sophisticated.
All these things that he was NOT, made him so special. He would just be another nameless, unimportant rapper, if it weren't for the things he WASN'T.


b)

Since this song is about rumors, gossip and so on, there could be another meaning.
"People talking so much shit about me at barber shops, they forget to get their hair cut."
Famous people like Kanye are viewed by the masses, as the media presents them. So if people portray him as an arrogant asshole, he is one - whether that's true or not.
"People talkin shit, but when the shit hits the fan, everything I'm not made me everything I am".

As soon as the shit (which is not true) hits the fan (someone watching mtv news, or reading the newspaper), the things he is not become true because people believe the media. thus, everything he's not in reality will become everything he is in the mind of people.


Notice the wordplay: "When the shit hits the fan"
Fan also has the other meaning of ventilator. As soon as the shit is dropped into the fan, the fan spreads it - to the people!

 

[truman]

i think you can understand that line in two ways.

a)

He is different to all the other rappers out there. Remember, when graduation came out, 50 Cent, G-Unit and similar was very popular. Kanye came from middle class instead of ghetto. He didn't rap about bitches and guns, but was a lil more sophisticated.
All these things that he was NOT, made him so special. He would just be another nameless, unimportant rapper, if it weren't for the things he WASN'T.

b)

Since this song is about rumors, gossip and so on, there could be another meaning.
"People talking so much shit about me at barber shops, they forget to get their hair cut."
Famous people like Kanye are viewed by the masses, as the media presents them. So if people portray him as an arrogant asshole, he is one - whether that's true or not.
"People talkin shit, but when the shit hits the fan, everything I'm not made me everything I am".

As soon as the shit (which is not true) hits the fan (someone watching mtv news, or reading the newspaper), the things he is not become true because people believe the media. thus, everything he's not in reality will become everything he is in the mind of people.

Notice the wordplay: "When the shit hits the fan"
Fan also has the other meaning of ventilator. As soon as the shit is dropped into the fan, the fan spreads it - to the people!

 

[Dark-Zero]

He's not Taylor Swift.

LMAO

 

[Nabil]

Ehh maybe im just not good with deep lines like that. Because i understand the meaning of it but my rational side just tells me that doesn't make any sense.

Anyway... im not hating.

it's easy to understand, it's a very logical thought

"everything I'm not made me everything I am"

"everything I'm not": woman, gangsta rapper, rapist, architect etc...

he is not the above things. but the fact that he is not these things, makes him be somebody else, makes him be him.

 

[.9911]

i think you can understand that line in two ways.


a)

He is different to all the other rappers out there. Remember, when graduation came out, 50 Cent, G-Unit and similar was very popular. Kanye came from middle class instead of ghetto. He didn't rap about bitches and guns, but was a lil more sophisticated.
All these things that he was NOT, made him so special. He would just be another nameless, unimportant rapper, if it weren't for the things he WASN'T.


b)

Since this song is about rumors, gossip and so on, there could be another meaning.
"People talking so much shit about me at barber shops, they forget to get their hair cut."
Famous people like Kanye are viewed by the masses, as the media presents them. So if people portray him as an arrogant asshole, he is one - whether that's true or not.
"People talkin shit, but when the shit hits the fan, everything I'm not made me everything I am".

As soon as the shit (which is not true) hits the fan (someone watching mtv news, or reading the newspaper), the things he is not become true because people believe the media. thus, everything he's not in reality will become everything he is in the mind of people.


Notice the wordplay: "When the shit hits the fan"
Fan also has the other meaning of ventilator. As soon as the shit is dropped into the fan, the fan spreads it - to the people!

thats an EXTENDED double entendre

(definition - an entendre that is expressed throughout the whole song, rather then normally being expressed in one or two lines in a verse. )

Spoiler

  same as an extended metaphor in a poem,  the metaphor is being described and expressed throughout the whole poem, rather then in a line. 

Kanye is a mastermind

 

[DonDan]

u mean like in homecoming

 

[wizdom28]

I feel like recently he's gone away from said line with his current raps