Rap Genius Decodes Lyrics for the Masses

When the rapper Lil Wayne, aka Dwayne Mic Carter, was released from prison last year after doing time for attempted gun possession, he disappeared into the studio to work on his comeback album, Tha Carter IV. The rap star sent his fans into a frenzy with the release of the first single, 6 Foot 7 Foot, packed with densely woven boasts, threats, and drug references. There was one line, however, that confounded everybody: “Real Gs run in silence like lasagna.”

While some rap aficionados assumed Lil Wayne had blazed one joint too many, the founders of Rap Genius, a two-year-old website that uses the Internet’s hive mind to explore the deeper meanings of hip-hop wordplay, were determined to unravel the mystery. They posted the lyrics to 6 Foot 7 Foot and soon they had an answer. “When you pronounce ‘lasagna’ this G is silent,” Rap Genius contributor “vmoney” wrote on the site. “We certainly had that up before Yahoo! Answers or Cha Cha,” boasts Mahbod Moghadam, one of the site’s founders.