Greetings, fellow music enthusiasts and critical thinkers! Today, we have the pleasure of analyzing a powerful rap song that delves into some weighty themes – police brutality, corruption in politics, and the complex nature of patriotism. But fear not, while the topics may be serious, we’ll also have some fun breaking down the lyrics and exploring the nuances of the artist’s message. So, put on your thinking caps, grab your favorite pair of headphones, and let’s dive into this lyrical masterpiece. Get ready to nod your head and ponder the profound words of this socially conscious track. Let’s get to it!
1. Song Title: With the Homies
Starting with the basics: Song title means: With the Homies.
2. Balak is Moroccan for “Out of the way”
That sound you hear at the beginning (1:55), “Balak, balak, balak, aye, aye, aye!” Balak is Moroccan for “Out of the way.”
3. Corruption, Brutality and Patriotism
First part can be related to a mix of police brutality, corruption in politics, with a pinch of patriotism, because there’s a line that says, “Our country is the best, and yet [your lies, and corruption] made us get tired of it.” But that’s the PG-13 version, because the Moroccan version includes a vulgar word, and of course, the literal translation would be boring.
God will forgive us simply because of our patience
There’s also another line that says, “We’ve been through hell because of you, to the point where God will forgive us simply because of our patience, putting up with you lot.”
5. Dizzy Dros throwing shade at Aziz Akhannouch
2:32 The journalist asks, “How do you expect to “raise/inspire” Moroccans, and you don’t even know how to talk straight?” That’s Dizzy Dros throwing shade at the current prime minister of Morocco, Aziz Akhannouch. When he throws his shoe at an impersonation of Akhannouch, that’s a reference to that legendary Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at George W. Bush; it took this long to realize that the Iraqi journalist said in Arabic, “Here’s your kiss goodbye!” before doing that, which made that moment even more legendary. It’s not every day that you see someone stand up to a leader of the free world like that.
6. Prime Minister’s incompetence
He also compares the prime minister’s incompetence to “someone playing for Al Nassr”, which is a clear jab at Cristiano Ronaldo, since he currently plays as a forward for the Saudi club; he also says how the minister just improvises, which reminds me of how Bill Burr said the same about former president Donald Trump like, “He just reminded me like when I didn’t read the book, and I’m just like winging it. ‘I’m gonna do this and that…’ ‘How are you gonna do that?’ ‘Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see.'”
7. Angry bird logo parody
3:15 If you look closely at the podium, you’ll notice the angry bird logo, which is like a parody version of the current prime minister’s party mascot (a pigeon – NRI = National Rally of Independents). AGRNI looks like an anagram of ANGRY, while at the same time, it does have “R”, “N”, and “I” in it; the same initials for the current prime minister’s party.
8. Playing around while dealing with serious issues
When the 2 gentlemen start jamming to the song, the journalist is like, “Look at these ****” Which is like saying, “We’re dealing with serious issues, and here they are playing around.” Kind of like when some representative complained about drought in certain regions due to the obscene amount of water avocados need to grow, the prime minister deflected like any typical politician would by saying it was a good thing, as a reference to Morocco national team’s football manager Walid Regragui, because we call him “Avocado Head” as a term of endearment or a “lucky charm”, if you will.
9. Dizzy disses Don Bigg
4:14 Dizzy disses another Moroccan rapper that goes by the name “Don Bigg” whose third album is called “TALET” which literally means “THIRD” as in, “Third album”, so Dizzy was kind of like, “Dude, you’re still in your third album (as in, “I’m way ahead of you”), so chill the f*ck out.” The news ticker at 3:10 makes fun of Don Bigg’s song “PW / Psycho Wrecking” by saying, “PW wins a GRANNY AWARD for the 11th time in a row, “Inspirational Song” category.”
10. January 6th, 2019: When Dizzy released a diss track
4:25 The date January 6th, 2019 = when Dizzy released a diss track, dissing Don Bigg. The diss track is titled “Moutanabbi”, which is the name of a famous Abbasid-era Arab poet. In the hook, Dros says something like, “You’re already dead, and this diss track is just a death certificate.”
11. Rappers race to get their music trending
That scene with the denim-wearing blonde chick, he says, “Rappers race to get their music trending, while I got that in the bag using nothing but a razor scooter.”
12. Manal’s deal with a label
4:46 He’s talking about a female Moroccan singer-songwriter named Manal who signed a good deal with some label after only releasing 2 songs (“2” in Moroccan sometimes means “only a few” instead of “literally two”), and so he was like, “If you think women belong in the kitchen, then with female artists like Manal, rappers are the one who are going to end up in the kitchen.” Some claim he was dissing her here, but others think he was actually praising her, and making try-hard rappers look small by saying, “She’s doing way better than all of you with just a few songs.”
13. Al harira: Moroccan soup that means pandemonium
5:29 The Aljazeera logo was changed a bit, and so now it says “Al harira”, which is a super famous Moroccan soup that’s even featured in some Hollywood movies. “Al harira” (Moroccan slang) can also mean “pandemonium” or “mess”.
14. “I’ve never had Vodka, but I will slap you silly!”
5:35 Here he says, “I’ve never had Vodka, but I will slap you silly!” (Not literal translation) The guy doing the slap is Vodka Funky; a Moroccan Twitch streamer who lives in the U.S.. Dizzy, and VodkaFunky have played games together on stream before like Fortnite. It was f*cking hilarious to watch them play! They’re like the Moroccan equivalent of Drake, and Ninja; just my two cents.
15. “Interpreting the Dark Outro of Dizzy’s Song: Possible Teaser for Upcoming Release?”
7:12 The outro looks like a promo to a new song Dizzy plans on releasing soon maybe? The lyrics are a bit dark, talking about a funeral of some 18-year-old kid who threw himself off a roof.
Finally
I didn’t cover everything here, of course, and sometimes I may over-interpret certain aspects of the lyrics/music video to make things sound a bit more universal. Cheers!