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Alicia Houth

English 102

Professor Batty

September 18, 2018

A Thriving Gangster

“I’m a gangster, and gangsters don’t ask questions.”- Lil Wayne. The song “Nightmares

of the Bottom” by Lil Wayne is more than just another rap song but is a catchy eye opener

viewing from his perspective. Using metaphors, imagery, choice of words and instrumental

music, Lil Wayne creates and describes how his life inculcated him to rise above and prosper.

However, many people would disagree that gangsters should not be given the opportunity to

thrive because of their background but throughout the song, he raps about how he rose to the top,

the struggles and reality of his life and how much an “original gangster” he is and breaks the

stereotype.

At a young age, the rapper didn’t have the easiest childhood but that didn’t stop him from

being signed to Cash Money records at age eleven and finish his education with a bachelor's

degree. Throughout this whole song on his 2011 album “Tha Carter IV”, he uses many

metaphors to describe his life. From the first four lines, you can already tell what the song is

going to be about:

Sleepin' at the top, nightmares of the bottom

Everybody wanna be fly til you swat 'em

But who am I to talk? I ain't shittin' roses

We in the same picture but we all got different poses (Wayne 1-4).
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He’s literally saying in line one that he’s on top of the pyramid, how he’s not on the bottom and

he fears of being down there. In line two, he uses a metaphor and image of a fly, how being “fly”

is cool and everyone wants to be cool until you get killed for being so “fly” like a literal bug.

Then he takes a step back for reality and says that we’re all living the same life but we have

different roles since we are living our lives differently. In verse two, he say, “It’s like I have it all

/ but I don’t have to worry / married to the money, a true love story (Wayne 17-19). From these

lines, he’s claiming how he has it all now, the fame and the fortune and he doesn’t need to worry

because his life is filled with what he has and luckily it’s all positive. Especially at the end of

verse two, “Yeah the streets is talking, I’m familiar with the voice / I’m a gangster by choice I

hope my sons choose wiser / And don’t call me Sir, call me survivor (Wayne 31-33). He’s

reminding everyone that he is a real gangster and to respect him for it because he’s gone through

some brutal stuff. In the third verse, “I bleed reality I should cut myself (Wayne 47). In other

words he’s saying that he himself is real and what has happened to him and his life is the reality

of so he should cut some reality into the world. Throughout the whole song you can clearly see

how Lil Wayne uses metaphors to describe his life.

With all his songs, he has a lot of imagery within his lyrics. For example, in verse one,

“Now I’m looking in my rearview, I see the world in it / I try to slow down and I get rear ended

(Wayne 5-6). He creates the image of driving and looking in the back mirror to see how far he

has come and everyone behind him wants to catch up. In verse three, “I fuck up any track, train

derail (Wayne 43). He’s saying that every song he “fucks up” meaning it’s so good that it’s off

the charts, like an image of a derailing train because it’s off course and crazy to think of how it

could happen. In these lyrics, you can tell how much he’s prosper compared to people at “the

bottom”. He showed us his success and how serious of a rapper he is.

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Lastly, music is important in every song because it sets the message of the song, In

“Nightmares of the Bottom”, there’s an instrument piano playing throughout the song. It gives it

a catchy rhythm and it’s upbeat because the song is about how reality has affected Lil Wayne’s

life and how his life is now successful and he doesn't have to worry about falling to the bottom,

that meaning back to nothing and struggling to live. But he doesn’t leave out all the obstacles

he’s gone through so he incorporates a high, catchy tune to let people know that life is all good

now. Also with his choice of words in his song, you can see that he uses metaphors often and

slang because he is, of course an explicit rapper and especially since he’s talking about his life he

wants everyone to understand what he’s saying so he’s very clear when he wants to be.

All in all, I’ve learned that poetry is used to express and capture emotions and feelings, or

even tell a story. These lyrics can definitely be defined as poetry because it has a catchy beat,

with and without music, it teaches us that reality is tough but it gets better, it uses many

metaphors and imagery. I believe that with his choice of words, it doesn’t matter if he uses music

to incorporate his message because the music only gives a catchy beat and a happy, relax feeling.
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Works Cited

Lil Wayne. “Nightmares of the Bottom.” Tha Carter IV, Cash Money Records, 2011,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PugiAV_Q_E .
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Appendix A

Nightmares of the Bottom by Lil Wayne

1 Sleepin' at the top, nightmares of the bottom

2 Everybody wanna be fly til you swat 'em

3 But who am I to talk? I ain't shittin' roses

4 We in the same picture but we all got different poses

5 Now I'm looking in my rear view, I see the world in it

6 I try to slow down, and I get rear ended

7 Pause! Like a red light, I'm dead right!

8 Highway to Heaven, God do you see my headlights?

9 They say "you don't know what you're doing till you stop doing it"

10 Well call me clueless cause I do this

11 Attention all shooters, I'm a shooting star

12 Life is a course and I'm a shoot for Par

13 I'm searching for today instead I found tomorrow

14 And I put that shit right back man I'll see what I find tomorrow

15 Young Money CMR, blood like a scar

16 Weezy F baby and the F ain't for "Flaw"

17 It's like I have it all

18 But I don't have to worry

19 Married to the money, a true love story

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20 Only God can judge me, I don't need a jury

21 Nothing standing in my way, like nothings my security

22 Back to my journey, that bullshit don't concern me

23 If I knew I was going to jail I would have fucked my attorney

24 If you sleeping on me nigga, than I hope you toss and turning

25 I'm so cold I'm hypothermic, ask yo bitch she will confirm it, yeah,

26 Now what we doing with it

27 Keep opening ya grill, I'm barbecuing with it

28 I know my shit already tight so I ain't screwing with it

29 Some say this game is a joke well I hope they get it

30 OK, I'm walking on needles, sticking to the point

31 Yeah the streets is talking, I'm familiar with the voice

32 I'm a gangsta by choice I hope my son's choose wiser

33 And don't call me sir, call me survivor,

34 Call me killer 'cause I make a killing

35 I got this shit wrapped up, bow and a ribbon

36 That's them twin Glocks, you can call 'em siblings

37 And them bullets travel, better hope I keep dribbling

38 I touch the sky, get the clouds out my fingernails

39 These bitches think they fly like Tinkerbell,

40 But they all on my wire like Stringer Bell.

41 I let 'em be, 'cause you know how that stinger feel.
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42 Know how to whip that white girl, I can spank her tail

43 And I fuck up any track; train derail

44 Know how to roll, never need training wheels

45 And when the truth hurts, I pop pain pills

46 Uh, all or nothing, or nothing else

47 I bleed reality, I should cut myself

48 Just had a bowl of riches and a cup of wealth

49 And the "F" is for fuck yourself

50 And I ain't doing nothin' but getting my share

51 Breathin' this air

52 And Mack's mom told me she gonna keep me in her prayers

53 So I'm feeling alright I'm tryna stay aware

54 And if you wanna trip than I'm a meet ya there

55 To my niggas in the game, keep the game fair

56 Players play, coaches coach and cheerleaders cheer

57 I'm tryna keep spirit when the ghost disappear

58 Weezy F baby and the F ain't for fear