Having trouble figuring out Eminem’s, Sean’s, or Babytron’s lyrics? Here’s our complete guide on Tobey’s punchlines.
Check these top comments from Genius, explaining lyrics and concepts behind them.
[Chorus: BabyTron]
Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider, but see, me, it was a goat
Tobey Maguire is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Peter Parker (Spider-Man) has one of the most well-known superhero stories of all time, first established in film with 2002’s Spider-Man. There, Peter is bitten by a genetically modified spider which gives him his use of webs and other super powers such as climbing up the sides of buildings like a spider.
If you want space, I hope you take your helmet off soon as you get up to Venus and choke
To want space in terms of the rap-game means to wanna get recognized. But BabyTron refers to the space above us saying that rappers won’t have their place in the game. The best thing they can do is leave the game by dying on Venus, the 6th biggest planet in the Solar system.
My city Leia and I’m Obi-Wan, got a mission to pass, I just might be the hope
Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi are popular characters in the Star Wars Universe. In the first movie, A New Hope, Leia refers to Obi-Wan as her only hope, as her ship was attacked by the movie’s antagonist, Darth Vader.
In this line, BabyTron compares his city of Detroit to the princess and himself to Obi-Wan Kenobi, as he considers himself the city’s hope of saving it through his raps.
Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider, but see, me, it was a goat
Tobey Maguire is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Peter Parker (Spider-Man) has one of the most well-known superhero stories of all time, first established in film with 2002’s Spider-Man. There, Peter is bitten by a genetically modified spider which gives him his use of webs and other super powers such as climbing up the sides of buildings like a spider.
BabyTron flips this story by saying a goat bit him. The term “GOAT” is commonly used as an abbreviation for “greatest of all time,” establishing that the goat that bit him gave him the powers of the best rapper of all time.
He’s previously referenced Spider-Man’s story in his 2023 song “Spidey-Senses.”
My city Leia and I’m Obi-Wan, got a mission to pass, I just might be the hope
Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi are popular characters in the Star Wars Universe. In the first movie, A New Hope, Leia refers to Obi-Wan as her only hope, as her ship was attacked by the movie’s antagonist, Darth Vader.
In this line, BabyTron compares his city of Detroit to the princess and himself to Obi-Wan Kenobi, as he considers himself the city’s hope of saving it through his raps.
[Verse 1: BabyTron]
No español, I’m allergic to rojo and legally blind, all I’m seein’ is gold
D to the A, there and back, if we ride with the Drac’, can’t smoke from the T to the O
On the one hand, BabyTron says that rappers won’t have a chance to chill if he’s riding with Draco, semi-automatic pistol.
T to the O in that case means Tennessee and Ohio. Those are states between Michigan and Georgia. Up until last November recreational weed was illegal in Ohio, and it’s still illegal in Tennessee. Babytron doesn’t want to risk a gun charge by getting pulled over by the police for smoking weed.
On the other hand, the way BabyTron pronounces Drac’ is similar to Drake, Canadian rapper who was born in Toronto. T is the first letter, O is the last.
Road DSM on the beach, not a sand stand
DSM stands for “Dog Shit Militia” which is a rap group BabyTron is a member of.
[Verse 2: Big Sean]
…
I was immersed in the Merce, I show ’em no mercy, I really was watchin’ the throne (For real)
This is wordplay on the song Mercy by Kanye West, off of the album Cruel Summer.
Going on with the Kanye West wordplay, Sean also references West’s 2011 collab album with Jay-Z, Watch The Throne.
If he Obi-Wan, then I gotta be Yoda
This is a callback to the chorus where Babytron referred to himself as Obi-wan Kenobi:
“My city Leia and I’m Obi-Wan”
Big Sean refers to himself as Yoda, another jedi and mentor figure from Star Wars.
Fuck your whole image, I’m with Cole Bennett
Cole Bennett is a music video director who worked with Eminem, Big Sean & BabyTron. He also made a music video for “Tobey”, which is set to be released on July 5th.
This song must’ve been on Lyrical Lemonade’s (Cole’s video production brand) album “All Is Yellow”, but due to a lack of time it was scrapped and put on Eminem’s album instead.
Bitch, I come from the D where they BMFing
The D is slang for Detroit. Big Sean has referenced Detroit as “the D” in many songs before like April 2012’s Mercy:
“I give her that D, ‘cause that’s where I was born and raised in”
BMFing is a reference to the Black Mafia Family (BMF), which is a drug trafficking and money laundering organization in the United States. It was founded in 1985, in Southwest Detroit by brothers Demetrius Edward “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry Lee “Southwest Tee” Flenory.
Where they movin’ them keys like a chord progression
This line refers to kilograms, as in kilos of drugs like cocaine. Chord Progressions are the fundaments of most music songs.
“Keys” is slang for kilogram, as in kilograms of drugs like narcotics or cocaine. Moving keys/kilos means selling a large volume of drugs.
Chord progression is a musical term that refers to a succession of chords.
keys is a double-entendre, referring to both kilos of drugs and keys on a piano, as your fingers move across different piano keys when playing a chord progression.
Fuck it, dog, I’ma go Wes Craven
Wes Craven was a film director credited for his chilling creative innovations in the horror genre. He brought to life some truly iconic fictional characters that have spawned film franchises of their own. For example, Craven directed 1977’s The Hills Have Eyes, 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, and 1996’s Scream. All films that launched respective franchises and cult fanbases.
Big Sean uses Craven’s name as a verb here. We can only assume that he intends to become violent, scary or as depraved as the films that the late director made.
[Verse 3: Eminem]
Tobey Maguire got bit by a spider, me? Must’ve got bit by a goat (Yeah)
I used to dream as a kid I would grow (Baa)
To be one, I hope that I inspire hope (For what?)
Eminem’s purpose to inspire younger generations hasn’t changed. He wanted to be the grown GOAT for them (the baa adlib refers to a goat call) since him being kid — baby goat. Marshall was saying similar things a couple of times before on his earlier songs, such as “Sing for the Moment” in 2002:
“That’s why we sing for these kids who don’t have a thing
Except for a dream and a fuckin’ rap magazine (Ha-ha!)”
“The Monster” in 2013:
“But if one kid out of a hundred million
Who are goin’ through a struggle, feels it and relates, that’s great”
and “Fall” in 2018:
“Somewhere some kid is bumpin’ this while he lip-syncs in the mirror
That’s who I’m doin’ it for, the rest, I don’t really even care”
Spit fire, bitch, I was just flyin’ coach (Yeah)
Eminem has been spitting fire bars since 20th century. He was the coach for the big amount of rappers at that period.
Also, Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat figher aircraft, what completes the wordplay and fits into the next theme of being the only G.O.A.T.
Y’all thought you was sick, you were misdiagnosed (Nope)
In hip-hop, “sick” is slang for “really good”. Playing on the conventional meaning of “sick” as in “having an illness” or being unwell in some way, Eminem declares that other rappers might think they themselves are really good, but they’re just wrong.
PROPOSED SUGGESTION: It’s a double entendre.
I got so many stories, but I hate ceilings (Haha)
He hates ceilings as in, he hates limitations, and he is constantly surpassing them. He also cleverly plays with the word “stories,” implying both the many levels he has reached and the numerous experiences he has yet to share.
He also mentions the same in his song “Elevator”
Ain’t feelin’ your top five favorite rappers (Woo)
So I know they ’bout to be pissed at me (Why?)
Eminem has a history of mentioning rappers he dislikes on his songs, he often goes on to even diss some, most notably on his tenth studio album, Kamikaze, which was a response to critics and rappers who didn’t like his anterior album, Revival.
He often dissed rappers that are beloved by the community, like Tyler, The Creator on “Fall”, though he apologised to him later on “No Regrets”.
In this line he refers to the fact that he doesn’t care if a rapper is among your top five favorite rappers, if he doesn’t like them, he will not hold back, and he won’t hesitate to diss them, even if people are going to be angry at him for doing so.
This could also be a reference to one of the two featured artists on this song, BabyTron stating in an interview that Eminem is not in his top 5 detroit rappers.
How rappers I’ve already ripped could be (What?)
Higher up on a list than me (Ha)
This could be a reference to Jay-Z who is Number 1 on Billboard’s best rappers of all time list, while Eminem is number 5. Eminem was featured on Jay-Z’s song “Renegade” and it was universally agreed on that Eminem ate Jay on the song.
Get dissed though and by a pioneer
Who was one of the reasons why I am here
They tell me I should just let that shit go and slide (Why?)
“Melle Mel shouldn’t get no reply” (Why?)
“That man is a legend,” bitch, so am I (Haha, yeah)
In Eminem’s 2023 song “Realest,” he took a shot at Grandmaster Melle Mel of the The Furious Five, poking fun at his alleged steroid use:
“And I’ll be the last to toy with a juice head whose brain is like half destroyed
Like a meteor hit it well there went Melle Mel we lost his ass to roids (Damn)”
The namedrop was done in retaliation to Mel’s comments on Eminem as a rapper:
“If you were talking about rhyme style, okay he got a rhyme style. But he’s white. He’s white!””
The feud resulted in the release of Mel’s “Kickback” diss track in August, 2023. It recieved poor reception amongst hip-hop fans, leading Mel to share a public apology:
“Regrettably, my response fell short in its execution, and I accept full responsibility for the misjudgment.”
Middle finger stuck up, but I never conceded
Eminem is known for flipping people off because he doesn’t give a fuck, and often jokes about his middle finger being stuck in songs like Cum on Everybody and Role Model.
Cement my legacy, I definitely did controversy, I always said all I needed
Treat it like a truck, hit it head-on, I meet it (Krrk)
Eminem relates his approach to addressing controversy in a “head-on” way to a head-on collision accident.
Comparing his way of addressing controversies in confrontation and direct opposition (head-on problem solving), to the physical act of two cars colliding into the front of each other (head-on collision).
