Musicians have been pushing the boundaries of the English language in a bid to express their lyrical creativity for years.
From 50 Cent’s ‘Wanksta’ to Nas’ ‘Magmatize,’ artists have given us some pretty iconic sayings.
Others, like Pitbull, have taken the opposite approach; who can forget him famously rhyming Kodak with Kodak in 2013’s ‘Feel This Moment?’
Now, Kanye fans are saying he coined one of their favorite phrases ever in 2007’s ‘Can’t Tell Me Nothing,’ from his critically-acclaimed third studio album, Graduation.
It comes as rapper LL Cool J admitted he ‘had no idea’ his invention of the acronym G.O.A.T would become one of the most used phrases of all time.
LL Cool J says he never imagined the phrase G.O.A.T would become so popular (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
LL explained that he got his inspiration for the G.O.A.T. term and acronym from ‘smashing together’ Muhammad Ali’s famous ‘I am the greatest’ quote as well as the nickname given to Earl ‘the Goat’ Manigault.
LL then went on to use the term on his eighth studio album, G.O.A.T, but he explained: “It’s pretty wild that it turned out how it did. I had no idea it was gonna become a worldwide phrase and statement.”
Well, Ye’s Can’t Tell Me Nothing marks the first use of the word ‘apologing,’ which the rapper thought up to rhyme ‘apologizing’ with the previous line’s ‘collagen’.
The iconic line goes: “Don’t ever fix your lips like collagen/And say something when you gon’ end up apologing.”
I suppose Kanye could’ve gone for ‘collagizing’ instead, but that wouldn’t have had the same effect…
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, fans are still appreciating Ye’s ‘genius’ more than a decade on.
One fan wrote: “Everybody should have a Kanye lyric to live by.. Mine is— ‘Don’t ever fix your lips like collagen and end up sayin something where you gonna end up apologin.’ Cause wow, what a word.”
Another reckoned: “Ye saying “apologin” instead of apologizing has always been my greatest example of why pronunciation is just as relevant as your lyrics”.
Responding to a tweet asking what their favorite fake word was, another said: “Probably when Kanye said apologin instead of apologizing”.
Some fans are only just cottoning on to Ye’s word trickery, as one person wrote: “Just realized Kanye rhymed collagen with “apologin” in Can’t Tell Me Nothing and omg his brain”.
