You've no doubt heard Jay-Z's latest single "Empire State of Mind," even here in Miami where we like our own anthems, thanks. It's been at no. 1 on the Billboard charts for 13 weeks; Jay and chorus-belter Alicia Keys performed it on the field before the Yankees hosted Game 1 of the World Series; and, if radio airplay is any indication, Clear Channel would like very much to get it pregnant.
In any case, you might've noticed -- and been confused by -- a particularly localized lyric: "I got it made," Jay boasts. "If Jeezy’s payin’ LeBron, I’m paying Dwyane Wade."
Confused, that is, unless you're in "import-exports" (a 98% chance in South Florida). The reference isn't about your hard-earned Gatorade money paying MV3 a couple pennies here and there; according to a scholarly dissection on The Awl, he's talking about that you-know-what that built Miami:
In Young Jeezy's song "24-23 (Kobe-Lebron)," Jeezy uses the players' jersey numbers to articulate the price he's paying of a kilogram of cocaine.
The chorus of that song goes, "I used to pay Kobe [24], but now I pay LeBron [23]." This means that he used to pay $24,000 for a kilo of coke, whereas now? He only pays $23,000, you see.
So. In "Empire," Jay-Z takes this one step further, so as to show his impressive status in New York. He suggests that, while Jeezy may be paying $23,000, Jay-Z is paying a mere $3,000 (expressed as Dwyane Wade's jersey number) for a kilo of cocaine.
$20,000 is a pretty big discount, even for a rap mogul and part-owner of the New Jersey Nets. Downright baller status, in fact, until you consider that by these standards it's best not to pay Kobe, Lebron, or D-Wade: you're only truly living large when you're associated with Dorrell Wright.
Who would ever have thought!
Sports
Janie Campbell is waiting for The Awl to address the part about the streets being "paved with old bagels." Her work has appeared in irreverent sports sites around the Internet.
