Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison/Rap Meanings

Thomas Edison:
Step up, you'll be shocked when I spit and start static

(Basically playing on electrical words how Tesla would be shocked to how Edison spits his raps.)

I'll rip your style and add it to my long list of patents

(Edison is known for stealing Tesla's patents and adding it to his, thus rip your style means destroying his style and at the same time steal it.)

While you were busy digging ditches and burning bridges

(When Tesla left Edison's company, he was left with the job of digging ditches and burning bridges.)

I'm pumping out inventions, stacking riches, so go back to your pigeons

(Edison 'made' inventions while Tesla was away, while earning money from it since he was business-minded. Tesla was also very fond of pigeons. He would give them food and treat them like humans; he even fell in love with one.)

You're a geek, plagued by OCD

(Tesla was known to have OCD, he would wear gloves when he will shake hands with people and he was also obsessed with the number 3.)

You never had sex, but you sure got screwed by me

(Tesla believed that if you had sex with someone, you have to give her your all and a scientist could never possibly give his all to a woman so Tesla remained celibate for the rest of his life.)

'''I'll crush you Tesla. There is just no putting it gently'''

(Meaning that Edison will crush Tesla so bad in this battle.)

'''I don't alternate my flow. I diss you directly!'''

(During the war of the currents, Edison would convince people that his 'Direct Current' is better than Tesla's 'Alternate Current'.)

I see a universe of infinite energy,
(Tesla saw a universe of infinte energy, he would see how devices are made and he could see how he would build something without even a need for blueprints. He also knew that there was an infinite amount of electricity in the world and he believed that because of this, power could've been free.)

But no potential for threat from this enemy,

(He could see everything, but he could see nothing dangerous from Edison.)

So you can call me Tesla, Nikola, impeccably dressed,

(Tesla, due to the fact of having OCD, always kept himself well dressed and spotless. His friends would always address him as 'impeccably dressed'.)

Giving lessons in electrical, nemesis, this will be on the test!

(Tesla has a much more superior mind than Edison, showing that he should learn from Tesla.)

So confess to your thefts, and let the whole world know

(Most of Edison's inventions were either stolen or improvised versions of other inventions, and the people back then never knew this.)

What the Serbian did for the Wizard of Menlo

(Most of Edison's inventions were made in Menlo Park, New Jersey, so he was called 'The Wizard of Menlo Park', also, Tesla served as Edison's assistant for a while.  In this verse, "Park" had been dropped to mantain both rhyme and meter.)

History is getting rewritten and I have Reddit

(Reddit users are very supportive for Tesla.)

Your best invention was a way to steal credit

(Edison's best invention, the lightbulb, was not actually his invention, it was created by ten other people.)

Thomas Edison:
The truth Hertz, you're broke and washed up

(Pun on the word 'hurts'. The Hertz is a unit of measurement for the frequency of electromagnetic waves, with 1 Hz as the distance between the same points on two similar waves over one second. Tesla was also a broke man, he died penniless and in-debt.)

Don't give a smidgen 'bout your visions if they can't make a buck

(Edison was business minded so he never cared about Tesla's work if they couldn't profit from it.)

I conduct business, understood things you never could

(Tesla was a very bad business man, but Edison understood business very well.)

So dope that I even make New Jersey look good

(Edison's inventions made New Jersey a glimmering city of light, New Jersey now is noted for it's horridness.)

I'm on the record I invented, you got duped, there, I said it

(Edison invented the record player. And Edison also 'duped' Tesla.)

And I'll bet you fifty thousand dollars that you'll never forget it

(By duped, he meant tricked. Edison once said to Tesla that if he could fix the electrical problems with his company, he would give Tesla 50,000 dollars. Tesla managed to fix it. Edison was shocked and said, 'Tesla, you don't understand our American humor' and did not give him 50,000 dollars.)

Without me, here's a taste of what this battle would be

(Edison will show Tesla what the battle will look like if he didn't exist.)

(microphone and beat off)

'''No lights, no camera, no sound. See?'''

(Without Edison, the lights, the camera, and the microphone wouldn't have existed.)

Nikola Tesla:Erb_30.png
You fool, you think that you can touch me with this?

(Tesla says that Edison could not diss him with his raps.)

You couldn't handle my gifts with your greedy little mind

(Tesla's inventions were always ignored due to business minded people saying that it would not profit.)

What's inside mine was ahead of its own time

(Tesla's inventions were way ahead of it's time, no meer man of that century could have thought of his inventions.)

You did not steal from me, you stole me from mankind!

(Edison did not steal Tesla's inventions, but Edison just stole these inventions from humanity, which could have been used for them.)

It's the wireless transmission of truth

(One of Tesla's final inventions was a wireless electrical transmitter)

And it's shocking real story of a banker and you

(JP Morgan funded Edison. But JP Morgan had some complications with Tesla and Edison.)

And if the people knew you stopped me from making power free

(Tesla's invention, the wireless electrical transmitter, would provide all devices with free electrical energy with no wires needed. But JP Morgan, supported by Edison, did not fund this as he saw no reason how free electricty for the people would be profitable thus leaving his electrical transmitter tower to shatter.)

They would curse the con Edison with every utility

(Tesla was very underrated, most people today and during his century did not know him and they credited Edison for his inventions. But if these people knew that Tesla would have a lot more for us such as free electricity and was stopped due to Edison, then people would finally stop crediting Edison and would curse him. 'Con' meaning a fake.)

(Hidden reference: Areas in and around New York, NY, USA are served with their utility commodities (natural gas, water, and electric power)  by Consolidated Edison, colloquially "Con Ed" or "Con Edison."  This may just be one helluva coincidence, but it wouldn't be stretching the truth much.)