This essay is about a Jay-Z line from Drake’s song “Light Up”.
Drake- Light Up (Featuring Jay-Z)
“Owww!
Hoes turn they heads, like owls.
I’m the man of the owl.
Triple entendre.
Don’t even ask me how….”
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Some of you probably think that Jay-Z line doesn’t make sense. Well I do; and before I go into detail, I’m going to tell you the three meanings behind what he said.
1) He’s the man of the night.
2) He smokes white owl cigars.
3) He’s a man of women.
Now let me digress,
Jay-Z, is without a doubt, a lyrical genius. But as my good friend John has said before, one of the most annoying things about Jay-Z, is his fans; specifically because of one thing his biggest fans do – over analyze his rhymes.
It’s kind of like “no-homo” and “pause” jokes. You little homophobes love instantly over analyzing completely heterosexually intended phrases, just to find the homosexualist things about them. Why?
Because it’s fun!
Similarly, Jay-Z can say ANYTHING and his biggest fans (including me) will over analyze the shit out of it. Hence, the reason I loved when he dropped the “Triple entendre…” line. It meant he knows that we over analyze the shit he says; and basically, he sometimes just says stuff, and then makes us create meanings behind them!
So now, let me get into detail about what the triple entendre was -
First, the line in question is specifically “I’m the man of the owl”. Seeing the line by itself, you can already make it mean two things:
1) The Man of the “Night”. Owls are nocturnal animals. So being a man of the owl can easily mean man of the night.
2) A man that enjoys cigars, specifically white owls. The song is called Light Up, and Jay’s whole swag is on some cigar shit. Look at the Blueprint cover and the photo for this post.
Now the third meaning is provided by the line before the “man of the owl” line. Jay says “hoes turn their heads like owls”. This means that within context of his verse, women = owls. Thus
3) He’s a man of women, i.e, a man that gets women.
So there you have it,
“Ooow!
Hoes turn they heads like owls.
I’m the man of the owl.
Triple entendre don’t even ask me how….”
means
1) He’s the man of the night.
2) He smokes white owls.
3) He’s a man of women.
Thoughts, comments, concerns? Hit the c-section
DISCLAIMER UPDATE: Aow vs Hour vs Owl
I admit that it’s up for debate whether Jay-Z in fact said “man of the owl.” At best, we can all agree that he said something slightly inaudible that resembles aow, hour, and owl, at the same time.
Man of the “aow” wouldn’t make sense, unless he’s saying he’s a man of pain. Man of the “hour” makes sense, but it’s too easy. It’s a common phrase, and I personally would expect Jay to say something slightly off like “owl” to make us think a little more, while still getting his point across.
So until Hov himself clarifies, we’ll never know; but for the sake of my argument, I assumed he said owl. Otherwise, it all doesn’t all add up for me.
