Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr./Rap Meanings

Gandhi
You want to battle wits, see who's the better pacifist?

(Gandhi and MLKJ were both pacifists, meaning they solved problems non-violently)

I fought the Caste System but you still cannot touch this!

(Gandhi fought against the Caste System, which was a system of division of labor in India, leaving him unemployed. Another meaning is that he's alluding to the untouchables, the lowest class in the caste system)

Slumdog skillionaire, first name Messiah

(Gandhi did not have money, so he calls himself a skillionaire rather than a millionaire, saying he has skills. He was referred to as the Messiah in India)

Raps so hot, I spit Yoga Fire!

(This is a reference to Dhalsim, the Indian character in Street Fighter, with his signature move Yoga Flame)

Everything you preach, I said it first

(He says that everything King ever said, he said it before him)

You should jot these words down, plagiarize my whole verse!

(He's saying that King would write down what he's saying to say it in his verse)

Leave your thoughts on the door like the real Martin Luther

(The original Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a cathedral door as he returned to his hometown. Gandhi is calling King arrogant despite having been named after Luther)

I'm not thinking you shall overcome this, Junior!

(Gandhi is saying that Martin will never overcome this battle)

MLK
I'm the king of civil rights from the city to suburbia

(He's saying that he's known as the "King" of civil rights everywhere)

No shoes, no shirt, but I'm still gonna serve ya!

(This is a play on "No Shoes, no shirt, no service". Gandhi wore a robe and sandals, so that's no shirt or shoes, but King is going to serve him with his raps)

Make you swallow your words so you can break the fast

(Gandhi protested via a hunger strike. Making one swallow his words means owning them, so King is going to own him and break his hunger strike)

Then thank God almighty you can eat at last!

(One of Martin's famous quote came when segregation laws were suspended, saying "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we're free at last!" This is still referring to the hunger strike)

I admire the way that you broke the British power

(The Caste System was started by the British regime)

'But I have a dream that one day, you'll take a shower'

(Gandhi never left the site of his hunger strike until the Caste System was destroyed, so he didn't bathe often.

Also making a reference to King's popular speech: I have a dream)

Like the "H" in your name, you oughta remain silent

(In the name Gandhi, the "H" is silent, making it sound like "Gandi". He's telling him to shut up)

Flatten your style like bread, naan-violence

(King is saying he'll flatten him like a piece of bread with his rhymes. Naan is a type of flattened bread)

Gandhi
You should know about bread, Dr. Birmingham Sandwich!

(Gandhi makes a pass at King's slight portliness. It finishes with the next verse.)

Boycott those grits, sit-in with some spinach!

(Grits are a cornmeal paste served as a warm cereal in the southern US, which King probably ate. Gandhi suggests he swap those for veggies whilst referencing boycotts and sit-ins that were a staple of the Civil Rights era.)

With protests and women, the same advice goes:

(Wait...what?)

Always stay away from the ho's!

(This is a pun on hose/hoes. During the Civil Rights Movement, police would often spray water on protesters with high pressure hoses. This also means MLK should stay away from prostitutes.)

MLK
I got so much street cred they write my name on the signs!

(Many roads in America bear King's name, as one major thoroughfare in Seattle, Washington does.  King made a name and a reputation of himself in his time, giving him "street cred" in more ways than one) 

I'd ring ya for tech support, but I got a No Bell Prize!

(King slams Gandhi for being Indian since many Indians are found at the other end of a tech support line--the kind you call when a gadget misbehaves.  Also a pun on the Nobel Prize, of which King holds a Peace honor for his work on civil rights. Incidentally, Gandhi also has a Nobel Peace Prize for his part in India's independence movement. Also, King was referring to Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, hence, no bell prize.')

Nigga, we got more beef than one o' your sacred cows,

(In Indic faiths like Hinduism, cattle are regarded highly and thus not eaten by followers.  But King says here that African-Americans have a bigger grudge against their oppressors.  Could also imply that Americans in general are more capable fighters than Indians)

But I'm about to forgive you so hard right now!

(Preachers like King make an art of forgiving.  But this...well, let's not go there)

Gandhi
I am passively resisting the fact that you suck!

(Gandhi preached passive resistance, which is to resist non-violently)

I am celibate because I don't give a fuck!

(Celibacy refers to not having sex, often for spiritual/religious reasons. Gandhi was celibate, so "I don't give a fuck" can mean both that he won't have sex (the fact that he's celibate) and he doesn't care (he doesn't give a fuck) about Martin Luther King)