"Dinosaurs" (stylized in all caps) is a song by Lupe Fiasco and Kaelin Ellis, released as the second track from their EP, House (2020). On the 366th episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Lupe explained that there were three different meanings to it: a history lesson on dinosaurs, metaphor for veteran rappers, and eventual mortality.[1] DJBooth stated, "charts the history of (and speculations about) the dinosaurs while poking fun at their effect on fossil fuels and pop culture."[2]
Fiasco noted of the podcast to Vulture, "I just thought Joe Budden was just calling me; I didn't know he was having me patched in as some circus sideshow to his fucking show. But I'm like, Cool, we're promoting. I'll take it. It's free. I know how to engage the press in that capacity." He continued, "That's why I kind of don't take press seriously, because you're not engaged the way a fan is. 'Dinosaurs' wasn't meant for adults. It was born out of me going to the Museum of Natural History with my godson years ago, when he was a little guy, and he wanted to see the dinosaurs. It was me if I had to explain dinosaurs to a kid. So to see a grown man convulsing at the seams that he doesn't like this record, it's like, 'It's not even for you.' So whose fault is that? Is it my fault? Probably."[3]
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
So, where should we begin?
Maybe we should begin at the beginning
Sounds fine to me, yeah
[Verse]
Dinosaurs came in all colors
They were creatures with different features
Had teeth to eat ya, they made beds called nests
And laid eggs after they had sex inside 'em
Whether they ate plants or meat is how you could divide 'em
And the Flintstones, they, they used to ride 'em
With tails particularly good for slidin'
But in real life, it probably didn't go down like that (Rawr!)
They probably didn't sound like that, but maybe close
If we are to believe Noah, they didn't really know how to make boats
And they drowned like that
Via paleontology, fossily is how they mostly found like that
Bones in the stones, that's if you soil-dig
But if you oil-rig, they warm up the homes
Power up the cars
In Jurassic Park, it was a zone full of clones
They say they death came from the stars
An asteroid flew down and blowed up the grown
The babies too, the whole family
The entire Brady crew bit the dust like food from the floor
Just imagine one day all the Cruncheroos was just removed from the store
And not just shooed off the stage, but booed off the tour
If they had lawyers, they coulda sued some for sure
Class actions when that happens, you know the rules
Objection, sustained, raptor snappin' gets overruled
Respect the court, this ain't your condo in Toronto
They ran in packs, Brontosaurus ran in hers
Pterodactyls was the birds
The prehistoric conceptual source of the Mighty Morphin' combo
Word, uh, it gets rangerous
Come hit the museum if you wanna hang with us
But mostly just the skeletons
Now if you wanna use brain cave space as a metric for intelligence
Then Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't the smartest of the smartest
But you wouldn't wanna box with the short-armed carnivorous martial artist
You ain't gotta be the sharpest saw to slice the sausage
Or the largest ninja star in all of Harlem to carve a part into a target, if we arguin'
They say they where we get chickens from
So which came first, ancestors or the chicken son?
Skulls flows cross roads like tips and thumbs
In Bruce Lee's gi, tell me to freeze, I might kick your gun
Call it survivin' the ice age
Reptilian, how old?
'Bout two-hundred and forty-two million
Post-Cretaceous, they status was basically wiped from the face
Of our favorite little ball in the skies
Some were small, some were tall, some would crawl, some would fly
But we gotta thank 'em all
'Cause without them, we wouldn't have the malls of Dubai
But they also kinda gave us all a climate change
I ain't tryna blame, I'm just saying
Sometimes they go by they science names
Megalosauroidea or Sauropodomorpha, whatever you wanna call 'em
Whether it be Grimlock, Yoshi or Earl Sinclair
Just remember at one time, this whole world was theirs
[Outro]
Ahoy, kids, uh-huh-huh-huh-huh
Ba-da, da-da, da-da-da, da, da-da, da-da, da-daa
Da-da, da-da, da-da-da, da-da, da-da, da-daa
Da-da, da-da, da-daa, daa-daa, daa-daa
References[]
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco Calls In & Explains 'Dinosaurs' | The Joe Budden Podcast". YouTube. July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Green, Dylan (July 24, 2020). "Lupe Fiasco’s 'HOUSE’ EP Is a Sharply Produced Thought Experiment". DJBooth.
- ↑ Ketchum III, William (August 4, 2020). "Lupe Fiasco vs. Everybody (Even Himself)". Vulture.