So you can't go anywhere in New York these days without hearing Jay-Z & Alicia Keys's "Empire State of Mind" blaring from a window. Naturally they performed it last week at Game 2 of the World Series, causing Derek Jeter to nod his head very slightly, as if skeptical but willing to give it a chance . 
 
 Vulture 
 
 Catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons with them pastries 
 
 The song is packed with allusions to New York's culture and history (at least as experienced by Jay-Z), giving it a very specific appeal for the city's residents and aspirants. The Brooklyn-born rapper even drops the actual address of his former State Street "stash spot," which NY Mag's looked into recently. But what about the lines that are, well, a little more difficult to unpack for those of us who didn't grow up in the Marcy Houses , or even in New York? ""... what? Russell Simmons makes pastries--who knew? ||||| You already know that the artists signed to TDE can spit, but did you know that TDE’s president, Punch, also has bars? 
 
 After making the rounds by dropping memorable verses on the projects of all of TDE’s roster, Punch came through with his first solo release, “Untitled” On top of that, he also added verified annotations to the track! Check it out here!
– Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ song “Empire State of Mind” is everywhere, even at the World Series. But do you know what the lyrics mean? If not, Rap Genius (formerly Rap Exegesis) can clue you in the way it educated Nick Antosca of the Huffington Post. Some of the explanations the site offers: Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”: “Catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons whipping pastry” refers first to cooking up crack, second to fellow rapper Rev. Run’s daughters and their clothing line. Lil Wayne, “A Milli”: “Got the Maserati dancing on the bridge, pussy poppin’” refers to a dance move involving a woman standing on her head or hands and “popping her pussy.” Ghostface Killah, “Big Girl”: “Toney with the Montana, I came to play” uses the rapper’s nickname (“Pretty Toney”) and slang for cocaine (“Montana”), while also referencing Al Pacino’s Tony Montana character from Scarface. The Notorious BIG, “10 Crack Commandments”: “Your wig pushed back” refers to a scalp being shot off a person’s head.