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Rap Meanings


Blackbeard vs Al Capone Meanings

Blackbeard:

I come strapped with six pistols and a dagger.

(The common artillery for pirates. Pirates would pack lighter weapons so they could carry more valuables than possible with a larger weapon like a musket rifle. Also, pirates were up close and personal so a pistol was their weapon of choice along with daggers, swords, and grenades. Pirates would carry multiple pistols because the humid sea air would often cause them to malfunction. In the heat of battle, having several backups was necessary. Furthermore, pistols from this period took a long time to reload, so it was necessary to carry more than one in case one’s accuracy was off. Six was also the exact number of pistols that Blackbeard carried.)

Walk under the black flag with the scallywag swagger!

(Scallywag is a term mostly used by pirates to describe a mischievous rascal. Pirates are known to have swagger, and swagger also refers to walking with cool apparel. The black flag is normally flown by pirates, and to walk under it simply means to walk on the deck of the ship. It could also be a reference to the video game sponsored in the battle, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.)

Ain't no parrot on my shoulder and no rings in my ear.

(Stereotypical cartoon or movie pirates are commonly depicted as having parrots on their shoulders and wearing large golden earrings, but Blackbeard boasts that he's a real pirate who doesn't match the stereotypes of pirates in fiction.)

I'm an irate pirate, real swashbuckling buccaneer!

(Blackbeard was a very angry, or irate, pirate, and a real good one at that. "Swashbuckling" is a term generally used to describe swordplay, which fits with most 17th-century men like Blackbeard since so many carried and fought with swords. "Buccaneer" is the official term for a Caribbean pirate.)

Beef with me? Please, I'm the high seas Caesar!

(Julius Caesar was a former Roman dictator. Blackbeard is comparable to Caesar as he was the dictator of the high seas, or the best pirate, and that Capone shouldn't go against him. While he says he's the ocean equivalent of Caesar, he also suggests he's like a Caesar salad (invented by Caesar Cardini), which is more commonly served with chicken, so you don't usually have beef with a Caesar salad. It may also be a backhand reference to the movie Little Caesar, which was about a gangster who was based on Capone. Blackbeard may be implying that if Capone's the little Caesar, he's the big one.)

My cold heart is many degrees beneath the deep freezer!

(Blackbeard's heart is so cold, or mean, that it is many degrees underwater, which is very deep. This suggests that his heart is colder than the coldest part of the seas.)

You're an obese greasy sleaze, squeezing a diseased peter

(Here, Blackbeard suggests that Capone is little more than a fat slob masturbating, and he has syphilis, an STD. Syphilis often shows up as a series of welts on the skin, including the genitals. "Peter" is a loose slang term for the penis.)

That no skeezer would touch if she had fifty-foot tweezers!

(Skeezer is slang term for a low-class prostitute with poor hygiene. Tweezers are tools used for picking up objects that are too small to be picked up by human hands, so not only does Blackbeard call Capone's penis very small, but also so diseased that not even a woman with low sexual standards would touch it if she had a pair of tweezers fifty feet long.)

Don't start a war with me! You're not hardcore!

(Despite the terrible deeds Capone committed in his life, Blackbeard says that Capone is not a hardened criminal and villain like Blackbeard is himself, as well as not being good enough for him to battle. The "start a war" phrase may refer to Capone's war scars. Furthermore, "hard core" may refer to the wood used in shipwright during Blackbeard's time. To ensure ships didn't rot as they spent years submerged in water, only the hardest types of woods were used. The hardest part of a tree is the center, or the "core" of the wood. Blackbeard may be saying that Capone is rotten and weak compared to strong pieces of hard core wood.)

I'll pimp-slap those face scars of yours: port and starboard!

(Capone's face was slashed three times during a fight at a Brooklyn night club. The scars gave him the famous nickname, "Scarface". Port and starboard are sailing terms used for the left and right sides of a ship, so Blackbeard will backhand slap Capone's scars left and right.)

You spent time in Alcatraz. I'm sure you were fine,

(Capone was an inmate on Alcatraz Island from 1934 to 1939. In addition to being virtually inescapable in its time, Alcatraz had the reputation of being a cold and unforgiving penitentiary, but Blackbeard thinks Capone could have easily survived the prison, and the reason why is explained in the next line.)

If you dropped the soap as little as you drop dope rhymes!

(A common prison stereotype is that if you drop the soap in the shower, you'll get anally raped when you bend over to grab it. That being said, Blackbeard implies Capone would survive prison if he did that as little as he drops any good rhymes, which would be very little or never.)

Al Capone:

I'm a busy man, Captain Crunch. I'll make this quick.

(As a mobster, Capone was very busy with smuggling operations during the Prohibition era, so since time is money for Al, battling a pirate who appears harmless to him shouldn't take too long. Cap'n Crunch is a cereal mascot whose clothes might look like a pirate's (he's actually dressed as a naval "commodore" from earlier periods in history), so Capone takes him as less of a threat than he is.)

I'm ruining pirates faster than Johnny Depp did!

(Johnny Depp plays the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which altogether helped ruin the mean and ruthless reputation pirates left behind. Blackbeard is also the antagonist in the fourth movie in this series: On Stranger Tides. This can also mean that Jack Sparrow fought pirates in the movies, so Capone will beat Blackbeard and ruin his image like Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. This could also be a comment on the perceived declining quality on the Pirates of the Carribean film series, with the second and third films being criticised for their overindulgent and convoluted stories and the fourth film being criticised for feeling generally lifeless, thus it could be argued the franchise quickly 'ruined' the classic fun of both the first film and pirates as a concept.)

I had syphilis, yeah. Well, you're a huge dick,

(Capone acknowledges that he had syphilis. A primary sign of this STD is development of ulcers or erosions on the penis, so by calling Blackbeard a "huge dick", Capone not only insults Blackbeard, but he also references the disease he had.)

With a scurvy-ridden ship filled with bilge rat pricks!

(The circumstances on pirate ships were rather unhealthy. Most pirates had diseases, an example of which is scurvy, a tooth rotting disease from lack of Vitamin C that also opens old wounds. A common name for the lower tiers of pirates is bilge rats.)

I run an intricate criminal syndicate, so show respect,

(Capone's "Chicago Outfit" was one of the most dangerous syndicates in the world. Also, "show respect" is a reference to The Godfather, where characters would show their respect for the Don by small favors or gifts.)

Or get that tongue ripped out your neck and shoved straight up your poop deck!

(The Colombian Necktie is a method of murder where the victim's throat is slashed horizontally and the tongue is ripped out through the open wound. The poop deck is the roof of a cabin built in the rear of the ship, but here, it is made to sound like Blackbeard's asshole, with "poop" being a reference to feces. Blackbeard should respect Capone or else he will use this method and shove the tongue up Blackbeard's ass.)

Slappin' bitch ass Teaches back since I was 14.

(After slapping a teacher at age 14, Capone was expelled from school and joined a gang. Teachers sounds like Teaches in Capone's Chicago accent, and Blackbeard's name in the Boston Paper was Edward Teach (even though his name was Edward Thatcher), so he was slapping people like Blackbeard, or "Teaches", back since he was young.)

You ain't a tough guy; my kids dress up like you for Halloween!

(A pirate is a popular costume for young children during Halloween, depleting their ruthless reputation. Capone had a kid named Albert Francis "Sonny" Capone, who had several children himself, so Capone claims these children have dressed up like Blackbeard for trick-or-treating. This line may also refer to the battle being released 10 days prior to Halloween.)

I'll use that fuse in your hat to light up you and your buddies,

(Blackbeard would tie lit fuses under his hat and the uprising smoke would give him an even more frightening appearance while fighting his enemies. Here, Capone is twisting the insult to inform Blackbeard that he'll set Blackbeard and his crew on fire with that same fuse.)

Then burn your sailboat down and collect the insurance money!

(Capone mocks Blackbeard's ship, calling it a small sailboat. Gangsters would often kill someone, destroy their car, and collect the insurance gained off of the ruined vehicle. Capone says he will do this with his opponent's boat.)

Then maybe they'll find your bloated body dead and washed up on the beach.

(Bodies that are thrown into the water become bloated and eventually wash up on a shore. They might find Blackbeard's dead body lazily discarded after being killed by Capone.)

This is Capone rappin', and I'm cappin' this Captain. Capisce?

(A reference to the rapper named "Capone". He says he is rapping and shooting, or capping, Blackbeard, who is a captain. "Capisce?" is the Italian slang phrase for "Do you understand?", since Capone is from Italian descent.)

Blackbeard:

The Valentine's Massacre brought you condemnation,

(On Valentine's Day of 1929, in Chicago, Capone's associates shot and killed seven men - all affiliates of Chicago's North Side Gang; the event would become known as the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The result of the massacre brought Capone public condemnation for the photographs of the victims.)

But I'm gonna sink you faster than your income tax evasion

(Pirates would frequently sink the ships of the enemies they defeated. Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax violations, which caused a downfall for his crime career after this conviction, so Blackbeard implies that he will bring him down even faster than his income tax evasion did.)

When I toss you overboard like a mob abomination,

(For Blackbeard, Capone was an abomination when it came to being the mob boss, and he'll throw him overboard, or off his ship into the water, like a normal pirate captain would do with his enemies or bad crewmates.)

So prepare to learn the Davy Jones' Locker combination!

("Davy Jones' Locker" is how pirates would refer to the bottom of the sea. A locker usually requires a combination of numbers in order for it to be opened. Blackbeard tells Capone to prepare to lie dead at the bottom of the sea. Also, 'learn' might be a reference to Blackbeard's last name, Teach.)

Forty cannon on the Queen Anne; your gang can't stop it!

(Queen Anne's Revenge was the name of Blackbeard's flagship, and it was equipped with 40 cannons. Capone's gang wouldn't be able to fight or stop it.)

I'll pilfer all your rum and sell it back at a profit,

(Rum is an alcoholic beverage favored by pirates because it prevents scurvy, thus sometimes being called a "Pirate's Drink". Capone led a gang for smuggling booze, such as rum, and they would sell the booze for a higher profit than they bought it for. Blackbeard will steal the booze and sell it back to Capone, but only at a profit. The video also shows his pirates taking the rum from Al Capone's warehouse.)

'Cause I'm a criminal legend with a badass name!

(Blackbeard made his name easily recognizable for being a vicious captain, and he is, indeed, one of the most infamous and notorious pirates in history.)

You're a fat thug with an STD in his brain!

(Blackbeard calls Capone fat once again, and yet again references that Capone had syphilis. Left unchecked, Capone's disease migrated to his brain, otherwise known as neuro-syphilis. Reports at the time of Capone's death list the causes of death as heart attack and stroke.)

Al Capone:

C'mon, they chopped your head off and they hung it from a rope.

(After Blackbeard was defeated by Lieutenant Robert Maynard on November 22nd, 1718, his head was cut off and suspended from the bowsprit of Maynard's sloop so that the reward for his death could be collected.)

The only legend you left was your prohibition on soap!

(Prohibition was the national ban of use and sale of alcohol in the 1920s, as well as the name of Capone's era. Capone states that Blackbeard banned the use of soap because he and his crew also almost never washed themselves, and he'll just be remembered for being a filthy pirate.)

I mean, that rat nest beard's trapped so many crumbs,

(Blackbeard's long tangled beard could trap lots of food crumbs, as most beards do. It also references the previous line, where Capone states that Blackbeard doesn't wash, beard included, and the crumbs stay in there.

This bum could get marooned and still eat lunch for a month!

(Capone makes an exaggeration of how filthy Blackbeard's facial hair is, stating that if he were stranded on a deserted island with no food, he would still be able to survive for a month by eating the crumbs that have fallen in his beard.)

I'm the emcee Assassin, slash like Edward Kenway!

(Edward James Kenway is a British Privateer-turned pirate and a member of the Assassin Order in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, in which Blackbeard also plays a role. Emcee is a master of ceremonies, and could also mean MC, or rapper. In the video, Kenway appears as an assassin hired by Capone's gangsters, where he kills Blackbeard's crew in retaliation for stealing Capone's rum. Capone also says that his raps cut deep like an assassin's blades.)

Rap so hard call me Al…dente.

(The play on Capone's name is a common method for cooking pastas. "Al dente" is Italian for "to the tooth". To prepare pasta al dente is to cook it long enough that one can bite into it, and yet it remains soft. Capone says he raps hard enough to be as hard as the pasta is when cooked. Rapping hard implies that the rapper is skilled.)

Take your little sloop John B. and go home.

(The John B was a sloop from around Blackbeard's time, which some believe Blackbeard sometimes used. Capone says Blackbeard should take the sloop and leave the battle. "Sloop John B" is also a reference to a Beach Boys cover and reimagining of "John B Sails", a folk song about the titular ship and a dissatisfied member of its crew, who hates the trip he's on, hates every place he ends up, and just wants to go home. Capone suggests that Blackbeard is a whiner and subtly compares Blackbeard's rapping to either the Beach Boys' less hard sound or even folk music a la the Kingston Trio.)

Tell South Carolina Blackbeard got Capwned!

(Blackbeard once blockaded the port of Charleston, South Carolina. "Capwned" is play on the name "Capone" and the word "pwned", which is the internet word for when someone gets beaten badly.)

Scrapped lyrics

Blackbeard:

Any sausage eatin' mobsters named Al Capone should cross the,

(Blackbeard says that any fat mobster such as Capone that crosses…)

Skull and crossbones, he'll walk the plank to Davy Jones' Locker!

(…a pirate would have to walk the plank and sink to "Davy Jones's Locker.")

Yar, I went out on an Adventure, but I was in my blimey prime!

(Blackbeard entered a life of piracy at around age 35, the prime of his life.)

See, I'd rather lose me head than lose me friggin' mind!

(Blackbeard says that he would rather die than go insane, possibly referencing a stroke Capone had toward the end of his life. Blackbeard was killed and beheaded in a pirating mission.)

Al Capone:

From likes of you's, I got nothing to fear.

(Capone isn't scared of pirates such as Blackbeard.)

'Cept maybe the evil beasties you got nestin' in your beard!

(Capone admits that the only scary aspect of Blackbeard is his unkempt beard, likely infested by parasites. This couplet was in contest with, "I mean, that rat nest beard's trapped so many crumbs, this bum could get marooned and still eat lunch for a month!" It was scrapped simply due to the other couplet being considered funnier by Nice Peter.)

C'mere this is my town, I could buy your whole crew.

(Capone has so much money that he essentially "owns" the town, and he can buy Blackbeard's pirate crew out to be a part of his gang.)

I got the DJ in my pocket, he stops when I tell him to!

(Capone has so much control over the rap battle that he can make the DJ stop playing the beat as soon as Capone isn't rapping with a bribe.)

I'm the emcee assassin with pinache like Edward Kenway!

(This lyric is what developed into the lyric, "I'm the emcee assassin, slash like Edward Kenway!" Panache, which is misspelled in this scrapped line, is a sort of confidence in style and manner, similar to swagger.)

Rhymes so hard you can call me Al Dente!

(This lyric is what developed into the lyric, "Rap so hard, call me Al…dente!")

Go back Charlotte or wherever slum you call home!

(This lyric is what developed into the lyric, "Take your little sloop, John B, and go home!")

Cause this is the Southside, baby, and you just got Capwned!

(This lyric is what developed into the lyric, "Tell South Carolina Blackbeard got Capwned!")


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