Jay-Z and Kanye West are the kings of name dropping on the low and on Watch The Throne, they drop a lot of names. Some names are more obvious than others, and some names we’ve never even heard.
PHOTOS: Watch The Throne Decoded: “Made In America”
We may not recognize names like Cassius, Marvin Albert and Earnhardt right away, but GlobalGrind took the time to break down each and every person ‘Ye and Jay name dropped. For every song with a name, we decoded it for the curious fans.
In other WTT news, if you’re in the New York City metropolitan area, make sure you visit the official Watch The Throne gallery experience on 201 Mulberry Street in Soho.
PHOTOS: What Is 201 Mulberry Street, NYC?
Jay-Z took to his Twitter to let the fans know that something big is happening at the pop-up shop located on 201 Mulberry Street.
Make sure you cop the new Watch The Throne album and find out all the decoded name drops on the next few pages!
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On the song “Otis” Jay-Z raps, “I adopted these niggas, phillip drummond’em.”
So who is Phillip Drummond?
Phillip is the fictional character from the hit TV series Diff’rent Strokes, who was the adoptive father of Willis and Arnold Jackson.
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On “Gotta Have It” Kanye West raps, “I need a day off, I think I’ll call Ferris Up.”
Who is Ferris?
Kanye West is refering to the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which starred Matthew Broderick as a troublemaking teen who plays hookey from high school.
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On “Murder To Excellence” Jay-Z raps, “This is to the memory of Danroy Henry.”
So who is Danroy Henry?
Danroy Henry was a 20-year-old Pace University football player who was wrongfully killed by the police.
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On “Murder To Excellence” Jay-Z raps, “I arrived on the day Fred Hampton died.”
Fred Hampton was the deputy chairman of the Illinois Chapter of The Black Panther Party. He was gunned down by the FBI as he laid in his bed.
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On “Murder To Excellence” Jay-Z raps, “Only spot a few blacks the higher I go, what’s up to Will, shoutout to O.”
Will is famed actor Will Smith, and O is Oprah.
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On “Who Gon Stop Me” Kanye raps, “Got a little freak like Marvin Albert/ Yes, tell Howard Cosell.”
Marvin Albert is a sportscaster accused of forcing an ex-girlfriend to give him oral sex. Howard Cosell is also a sports journalist.
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On “Lift Off” Jay-Z raps, “Sh*t is making my d*ck soft/When you Earnhardt as me you’ll eventually hit a big wall.”
Earnhart is professional Nascar race car driver Dale Earnhardt. Dale Earnhardt was one of the best Nascar drivers in the sport, but died when he crashed into a wall.
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On “No Church In The Wild,” Kanye raps, “Who was rubbing the wood like Kiki Shepard?”
Kiki Shepard was a co-host on the talent show It’s Showtime At The Apollo. Rubbing the wood before performing on the talent series was a long tradition and Kiki would always guide talent guests to rub the wood before performing.
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On “Primetime” Jay-Z raps “Cassius in his prime, coloring out of the line.”
Cassius Clay is the birth name of boxing great Muhammed Ali.
