Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali/Rap Meanings

Michael Jordan:
Why don't you dodge this battle like you did Vietnam?

(Ali avoided being drafted into Vietnam, which stripped him of all of his boxing titles. He then took his case through the Supreme Court, which verified his status as a "conscientious objector" as he became a Muslim. A CO can legally opt out of the draft if certain other obligations forbid him from entering.)

Because you've got as much chance of beating me as LeBron

(LeBron James is a more recent NBA player. He is also celebrated, and he joined the NBA months after Jordan left. It is generally accepted that there would be no predictable winner if LeBron and Jordan went one on one.)

I'm a flying machine, like the world has never seen!

(Jordan often flew through the air when playing ball.)

'''You can fight one man? I can drive through a whole team!'''

(It is said that Jordan could be a whole team on his own, basketball being a team sport. Boxing is one-on-one, by contrast.)

I choke a dope with his own jump rope!

(Jordan will choke his opponent with a jump rope to shut him up. Jordan alludes to Ali's "Rope-A-Dope", where he just sat on the ring edge waiting out his opponents' fatigue before delivering an explosive counterattack.)

You get smoked when I flow, you Kentucky Fried joke!

(Getting smoked is another way of saying getting burned. When someone is burned, they are greatly insulted. Ali, born Cassius Clay, is a Kentucky native, as is KFC. Jordan calls Ali out as a joke, because Ali is the weaker rapper.)

You used to float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

(Ali's famous quote was "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see".)

Now you double dribble balls that nobody can see!

(He's saying that Ali's balls, or testes, are now sagging and so small that no one can see them. This is also a reference to Ali's Parkinson's disease, saying that it looks like he's dribbling invisible basketballs)

Muhammad Ali:
Ooh, here comes Jordan, big tongue wobbling

(Michael Jordan would often stick out his toungue when jumping in the air to perform a dunk. Ali isn't intimidated in the least by Jordan's trash-talk, passing it off as if Jordan's tongue is wobbling for no reason.)

Flying through the air like a big dumb goblin

(A person 'flies' through the air as they do a slam dunk, and Jordan looks dumb when doing this. Ali then compares Jordan to the Green Goblin, a very famous villain from the Spider-Man series)

You're the only Bull that's uglier than Rodman

(Throughout most of his carrer, Jordan was a member of the Chicago Bulls as was Dennis Rodman, who Ali thinks Jordan is uglier than. Rodman is known for his excessive amount of facial piercings, tattoos, and wild choices in hair color, all of which make him ugly.)

Messing with me is gambling, you got a problem

(Jordan lost $57,000 gambling in 1993 and apparently lost 1.25 million dollars in a bet while golfing.)

Your whole basketball career turned whack

(When Jordan came back to the NBA as a Washington Wizard, he did not play as well as he did for the Chicago Bulls.)

When you came back a Wizard like Gandalf the Black

(Years after Michael Jordan's 1999 retirement from NBA, he made a comeback in 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards, but his career in it wasn't as good as his career in his Chicago Bulls years, which was comparable to Gandalf (who was also a wizard), who died as Gandalf the Grey but somehow made a "comeback" as Gandalf the White. But since Jordan was African-American, Ali says Gandalf the Black.)

You should have kept your ugly sneakers packed up on a shelf

(Ali says that Jordan should not have come back to the NBA and should have stayed retired. This line could also be a reference to Nike's 'Air Jordan' basketball shoes, which Ali says are ugly.)

Stick to golf, you can keep the ball to yourself

(Ali is saying that since Michael Jordan doesn't want to pass the ball to his teammates, he should just stick to a sport like golf, where he can keep the ball to himself. Also references his 1.25 million dollar loss in a golfing bet.)

Ooh, I'm so pretty, my hands are so fast

(Muhammad Ali once said 'I'm so pretty". This line is also a reference to how fast boxers' hands are.)

I'll whoop your face back to your Hitler mustache

(Michael Jordan had, at one point, a mustache which somehow had a similar style as Hitler's.)

Now your daddy got killed and I feel for your family,

(Michael Jordan's father, James R. Jordan Sr., was tragically murdered by two criminals in 1993.)

But your baseball career, now that was a tragedy!

(After Jordan's father's death in 1993, Jordan retired from the NBA for the first time and joined a total of two Minor League Baseball teams until he rejoined the NBA. During this time, Jordan had a batting average of around .225 and a total of only 3 homeruns, which is tragically horrible.)

Michael Jordan:
Man, you make me sick, but I'm better with the flu!

(The day before Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, Jordan awoke with a stomach virus or food poisoning and the Bulls team doctor said that there was no way he could play the next day. Jordan did play and scored 38 points, along with grabbing 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals as he led the Bulls to victory. This game was known as The Flu Game)

You should let the Fresh Prince do your rappin' for you

(Triple reference. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was a popular TV show starring Will Smith. The fifth version of the Air Jordans (Michael Jordan's shoes made by Nike) were inspired by the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Jordan is saying that he is a fresh rapper, meaning that he is very good. Also Will Smith, known as the Fresh Prince in his rapping days, played Ali in the film Ali, to an Oscar nomination.)

Swish!

(In basketball, people say "swish" when someone makes a shot clear through the hoop without the ball touching the rim or backboard.)

I would pass the mic to Pippen but I'm not done scoring

(Jordan and Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen were an unstoppable pair during the Bulls' six championship runs, with the two men frequently passing the ball between themselves to make plays.  They were the duo to beat in all the NBA.  Here, Jordan would pass control of the battle to Pippen, but Jordan's not yet done trashing Ali.)

Stay all up in your grill like my name was George Foreman

("To get up in one's grill" is a slang term for meeting face to face in the most literal sense. Jordan wants to smack Ali in the mouth. George Foreman, a boxer beaten by Ali, markets a grease-draining portable grill under his own name.)

Muhammad Ali:
I saw you slapping Reggie Miller, boy, what's wrong with you?

(This line is almost certainly referring to Jordan's fisticuffs with Reggie Miller. Miller attacked Jordan unprovoked during a Bulls-Pacers match, to which Jordan retaliated. Both teams engaged in an all-out brouhaha following their stars' lead.)

You fight like the little girls who make your Nike shoes!

(Ali is saying that he employs young girls to work in a sweatshop to make his trainers, along with insulting Jordan by saying he fights like a little girl.)

McDonald's and underpants as corporate backers

(Even post-retirement, Jordan still holds endorsement deals with Hanes underwear and McDonald's restaurants.)

You stay at the Ritz because you sold out to crackers!

(Ritz is a brand of cracker marketed by Kraft Foods and a chain of high-class hotels as well as being a word to describe the glamour of the high life. Cracker is a slang term for a white person. Ali is saying Jordan leads a charmed life because he betrayed his black people and sold out to white people.)

Michael Jordan:
So Cassius wants to talk about cashing checks!

(While boxing under his given name of Cassius Clay, Ali signed a contract with a $10k bonus, which he used to buy his mother a coveted pink Cadillac. Ali was also paid $10M for his fight with George Foreman in the DRC (then Zaire) known as "The Rumble in the Jungle". So, Jordan sees a case of the pot calling the kettle black.)

I'll school you through your bug spray, off your Broadway play, over the Japanese dude sittin' on your face!

(A reference to the friendly duels Jordan often acted out with rival Larry Bird in various TV spots. The two would trade obstacles for the ball to hit before actually passing through the basket. These duels became a running gag and a template for similar duels between more current players. Ali's "bug spray" was a rather humorous commercial for a d-CON roach fogger. Ali also briefly starred in the Broadway play "Buck White". The "Japanese dude" is likely Antonio Inoki, who faced Ali in a bout with extremely unorthodox rules.)

'''Hit nothin' but net! You ain't seen nothin' yet!'''

(Continuation: the aforementioned duels would end each line with "nothing but net", meaning that the ball would sink through the hoop without hitting the rim. Ali has yet to hear the end of Jordan's disses on him, says Jordan.)

Man, you needed a movement because you're so full of shit!

(Ali needs to have a bowel movement - take a dump - to get rid of the crap that he's full of.)

I'm a better athlete and a better MC!

(Jordan is stating that he's better at his sport than Ali is, and can also rap better.)

Battle me two more times, watch me get a three-peat!

(Jordan is confident that if Ali were to face him twice more, he would win both of those fights as he seems to be winning this one, making for a three-peat. The Bulls with Jordan secured a 3-time NBA championship (1991-3) and a second instance three years later (1996-8).)

Muhammad Ali:
'''Beep-beep! Why don't you back up that trash?'''

(Ali thinks Jordan's last line is full of BS, so he wants Jordan to prove it, or "back it up". Large vehicles like garbage haulers are required to make a noise when they back up to improve safety, and in America, this is often a slowed "beep".)

I'll leave you like Liston, flat on your ass!

(In 1965, Ali had his second of two bouts with Sonny Liston. During the fight, he had successfully knocked Liston down, prancing around the ring in victory. Liston actually threw this fight having injured his shoulder, but would not concede that Ali was the better fighter. Ali says here that he'll knock Jordan down as he did Liston and win the battle.)

You need to bounce back to North Carolina, kid,

(Michael Jordan was raised in North Carolina. He also played his college ball in Chapel Hill, NC as a Tar Heel, and was drafted to the Bulls in 1984 after playing in the Los Angeles Summer Olympics)

Because your rapping sucks more than Space Jam did!

(Michael Jordan was the star of the movie "Space Jam", a basketball movie featuring the Looney Tunes cast. The movie was met with mixed reception due to Jordan's lack of skill as an actor.  If not for the 'toons, the film would have bombed. Ali is saying that the movie was terrible, but Jordan's rapping is worse.)