Moments of Musical Mimcry: Lyrics edition

Biggie - "Hypnotize" "That's why I, squeeze first ask quesions last. That's how most of these so called gangstas pass"

Jigga - "Squeeze 1st" "That's why I, squeeze first ask quesions last. That's how most of these so called gangstas pass"

Biggie - "The World Is Filled" "When the Remi's in the system, ain't no tellin will I f*&$ em will I diss em, that's what these h*& yellin I'm a pimp by blood, not relation Y'all still chase on, I'll replace on, punks Drunk of Dom"

Jay-Z - "Give It 2 Me" "When the Remi's in the system, ain't no tellin Will I f^%$# 'em will I diss 'em, that's what they be yellin I'm a pimp by blood, not relation Y'all be chasin, I replace them, huh? Drunk off Crist"

Biggie - "Who Shot Ya" Thou shalt not f%$# with or see Poppa feel a thosand deaths...

Jay-Z - "Squeeze 1st" Thou shalt not f%$# with raw me, or he face a thousand deaths...

Biggie - "Unbelievable" "Get ready to die, tell God I said hi And throw down some ice, for the nicest MC"

Jay-Z - "Friend or Foe 98" "Do me a favor dude, get 2 ice cubes I pass them take that ice up, for the nicest MC"

Biggie - "Kick in The Door" "Your reign on top was short than leprechauns"

Jay-Z - "The Ruler's Back" "Your reign on the top was shorter than leprechauns"

Biggie - "One More Chance" "isn't this great, my flight leaves at eight her flight lands at nine, my game just rewinds"

Jay-Z - "Girls...Remix" "isn't this great, my flight leaves at eight her flight lands at nine, my game just rewinds"

Biggie - "Real N&^%s Do Real Things" "On the road to riches and diamond rings real n&^%s do real things"

Jay-Z - "Real N&^%s" "On the road to riches and diamond rings real n^%$ do real things"

Biggie - "Who Shot Ya" "Old school new school need to learn though I burn baby burn like Disco Inferno"

Jay-Z - "Frestyle" "Old school, new school need to know this I burn like Left Eye Lisa Lopez"

Biggie - "One More Chance" "I don't chase em I replace em"

Jay - "Is That Yo B!tch" "I don't chase em I duck em I replace em"

Big L - (on the 7 minute 95' freestyle with Jigga) "All I got for chicks is hard d%$# and bubble gum"

Jay-z - "A Million and One Questions" "All I got for chicks is hard d%$# and bubble gum"

Snoop Dogg - "What's My Name?" "From the depths of the sea, back to the block Snoop Doggy Dogg, funky as the, the, The D.O.C went solo on that azz, but it´s still the same Long Beach is the spot where I served my cane ....What's my f%$# name" "He is I, and I am him, slim with the tilted brim"

Jigga - "Jigga my n!gga" "From the crap tables down in A.C. back on the block Jay-Z motherf%$# from the, the, the Roc went solo on that azz but it´s still the same Brooklyn be the place where I serve them thangs ....You heard the name" "He is I, and I am him Slim with the tilted brim on twenty inch rims"

Nas - "Verbal Intercourse" "From the womb to the tomb, presume the unpredictable Guns salute life, rapidly, that's the ritual"

Jay - "Never change" "From the womb to the tomb, from now until my doom drink army from one cup pass it around the room, That's the ritual"

2pac - "My Ambitionz Az a Rydah" "My attitude is f%$ it, and mothafukkas love it"

Jay-z "Blueprint 2" "My attitude is ff%$ it, and mothaff%$ love it"

2pac - "Against All Odds" "This is payback, i knew you bf%$ nf%$ from way back"

Jay-z - "Blueprint 2" "This is payback, i knew you bf%$ nf%$ from way back"

Mase - "Lookin' at me" "Why you over here looking at me, while my girl standing here"

Jay-z - ??? Yall Look it Up" "Why you over here lookin at me, while all these girls up in here"

Biggie - "Big Poppa" "I see some ladies tonight that should be having my baby.. baby."

Jay-Z - ??? "I see some ladies tonight that should be rollin wit Jay-Z, Jay-Z"

Biggie - "Be Happy" (R.Kelly ft. Biggie) "Think About It While The Streets You Roam It's Don P And Cristie In The Fridge When You Get Home"

Jay-Z - "Best Of Both Worlds" (Jay-Z & R.Kelly) "Think About It While The Streets You Roam It's Don P And Army In The Fridge When You Get Home"

Snoop Dogg - "Aint no Fun" "Guess who's back in the mothaf%$# house with a fat d%$# for ya mothaff%$# mouth"

Jigga - "Ff%$# All Nite" "Guess who's back in my motherf%$# house half black, half white chick, I call her Minnie Mouse"

Slick Rick - ??? "In these times, at least to me, there's alot of rappers out there tryin to sound like Ricky D"

Jay-Z - ??? "In these times, at least to me, there's a lot of rappers out there tryin to sound like Jay -Z"

Rakim - "No Competition" "Competition is none, I remain at the top like the sun"

Jay-Z - "S. Carter" "Competition is none, I remain at the op like the sun"

Cappadona - "Slang Editorial" "I came to the fork in the road and went straight"

Jay-Z - "Renegades" "I drove by the fork in the road and went straight"

Nas - "Seude timbs on my feet makes my cypher complete"

Jay-Z - "S.dots on my feet makes my cypher complete"

Lil Wayne - "Number one rapper, sipping mo mo's, dont make me come press ya with this fo fo"

Jay-Z - "Number one rapper, sipping mo mo's, dont make me come press ya with this fo fo"

2pac - "Against All Oddz" Payback, I knew U b%$# n%$# from way back. witnessed me strapped with Macs, knew i wouldn't play that,"

Jigga - "Some People Hate" N %$# This the Payback, I know U b%$# n%$# from way back. n%$# wanna clown but the pound it don't play that,"

Dr. Dre - "On the Chronic 2001 LP" "You get zipped up in plastic when it happens that's it"

Jay-Z - "Takeover" "Get zipped up in plastic when it happens that's it

snap

Hot damn, I knew Jay-Z was a biter but damn.

(the Slick Rick track and corresponding Jay-Z one up there with the question marks are both called "The Ruler's Back")

and to play devil's advocate here... considering that jay-z allegedly never composes what he raps and just does it off the top of his head, it's not as shocking that he integrates these quotes in with his original lines. not to mention most rappers do this to some extent, and considering how prolific jay-z is, as well as the variety of sources these come from, it's not as if this is a large percentage of the words he's said... it ain't that bad.

furthermore, to any devoted fan of hip-hop these lines should mostly be immediately recognizable, so it's not as though he's trying to get away with anything... it can be looked at more that with his success he's taking the opportunity to pay tribute to his influences.

except that cappadonna one. what's with that?

Nobody spits punctuation like Jay.

Don't forget "Touched" by UGK: "Once upon a time not too long ago/A nigga like myself had to strong-arm a ho/now this was not a ho in the sense of having a pussy/but a pussy having no goddamn sense/tryin' to push me."

Ok, but a couple of those are obviously homages to the lines he's quoting, especially like the "Big Poppa" one.

Here's one for G. Hongro...

Captain Beefheart: "My smile has stuck/I cannot go back to your frownland"
Aztec Camera: "Now that her smile has stuck, I cannot go back to your frownland"

it's amazing how Ethan can quote something as kind of a joke or smartass answer, and it causes ILM to suddenly have the exact same "omg is jay a biter?" convo that rap heads were having a year and a half ago.

I know that a lot of those rhymes are standard canon in rap nowadays but the fact that Jay-Z seems to have used SO many of them is pretty surprising. I didn't really mean to imply that Jay-Z was a bad rapper or a fake, he's got a ton of classic songs, 95% from his own lyrics. But seriously, that list is really long.

i heard bob dylan stole from jay-z.

no way, dude. bob dylan stole from biggie.

(i can't seem to) make you mine - The Seeds/The Clientele

I'd like to see Japanese examples.

I read the news today oh, boy
About a lucky man who made the grade

- The Beatles

I heard the news today, oh boy
I got a suite and you got defeat

- David Bowie

All we are saying is give peace a chance

- John Lennon

All we are saying is give peace a chance

- Yes: I've Seen All Good People