Ye spill muddled flows that befuddle scholars

February 29, 2008 1:09 PM

Where are you yeezy? And try to hit you with the.... ???

What in the heck is Kanye saying in his song Flashing Lights right before the end of the first verse? "She in the mirror dancin so sleezy...I get a call like 'Where are you, yeezy?' And try to hit you with the ....(unintelligible)... til I got flashed by the paparazzi."

I've done a bunch of googling of the lyrics, and all of the suggestions are nonsensical (Ol wopty, oh dee wah dee, oeu blah blah, oh, do I be). I've listened to the song a good 40 times, thought about it, and I cannot figure out what in the world he is saying right there.

What's he saying, that makes sense?

posted by cashman to media & arts (8 comments total)

The line in question comes at roughly 1:15 in the Youtube link.
posted by box at 1:23 PM on February 29, 2008

Kanye said he'll explain. But then didn't, I think.
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:25 PM on February 29, 2008

Well, that's pretty conclusive--ol-wu-wopte it is.
posted by box at 1:31 PM on February 29, 2008

In the comments someone suggests that it references Chicago slang. The ol' woo-wop, as it were:

As a current resident of the Chi I can say I still hear people us woo-wop-da-bam in their Chicago jargon all the time...and how its used to shorten a story or sentence. So in the middle of a story one may say "woo-wap-da-bam" because the rest is self- explanatory or has no significant importance. Then they would end their statement with "know what I'm talm-bout! However, I don't know if this is what Kanye is referring to...
Chi-Luv,
Dubb
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:33 PM on February 29, 2008

some of the jargon sounds like southern slang as well; just pronounced slightly differently. i don't know what state he's from, but like *wemayfreeze's comment, it's probably regional slang.
posted by shesaysgo at 4:49 PM on February 29, 2008

FWIW, I have it on the authority of a young one that us old folks might translate it as 'yada yada yada.' Then again, young one might be messin' with me.
posted by rhymesinister at 12:39 AM on March 1, 2008

I interpreted "ol wu wopte" as something like "a good time", meaning "trying to have a fun, romantic getaway but everyone kept calling me ("where are you, yeezy" i assumed to be slang meaning "dude") and then the paparazzi showed up and harassed us and i'm sorry". This is just my interpretation, but it works for me and the music video i see in my head when i hear this song.
posted by amethysts at 4:10 PM on March 1, 2008

"where are you, yeezy" i assumed to be slang meaning "dude"

Yeezy is a nickname for Kanye. Kanye, Kanyeezy, 'Ye, Kan man, K, Mr. West, etc. Good rappers always have at least 15 nicknames. At least.
posted by cashman at 11:11 PM on March 1, 2008