Shaka Zulu vs Julius Caesar/Rap Meanings

Shaka Zulu:
Iwisa, meet Caesar; he's a commander

(A knobkierie, also known as an iwisa, is a wooden club used as a throwing spear. Shaka Zulu is jokingly introducing the iwisa to Caesar, similarly to the idiomatic action of one "introducing" their weapon to an opponent, thereby meaning he will physically attack Caesar with it.)

Who thinks he can dance with Conan of the Savanna,

(Shaka Zulu is calling Caesar inferior to him by comparing himself to Conan the Barbarian, a fictional warrior. While Conan lived in a location similar to Caesar's own home during the fictional Hyborian Age, Shaka lived in the South African savanna during the late 18th and early 19th century, making Shaka the "Conan of the Savanna".)

But when I go hand-to-hand with you, I go hammer!

(Zulu warriors were masters of hand to hand combat, since the previous Native African Tribal tactics of throwing spears were inefficient. Shaka Zulu changed the strategy by fighting enemies at close range with weapons like the knobkierrie. Since knobkierries have a similar shape to a hammer, Shaka Zulu makes a pun with this by "going hammer", as in "Going 'HAM'", meaning to go "Hard As a Motherfucker", or go as strong as you can. In doing so, Zulu says he's stronger than Caesar in a fight.)

Knock off his dome, wrap it up in his own banner!

(The Pantheon in Rome is known for having the world's largest concrete dome. Shaka Zulu is saying he will knock down the Pantheon, showing disrespect of Caesar and victory over Caesar. Shaka's then saying he will wrap up the remains of the broken temple using a Roman Empire banner. Dome is another word for head. Shaka's going to knock off Caesar's head and wrap it up in a flag.)

Send it back to Rome with a message from the Zulu!

(After defeating Caesar, the Zulu will send his head back to his homeland of Rome with a message, just like how Pompey's head was sent to Caesar after he was assassinated. It's also a reference to the senates led by Pompey's message to order Caesar to go back to Rome in 49 BC during the triumvirate, which later led to Caesar's Civil War.)

If you battle Shaka, this what happen to you:

(Caesar's head will be sent back to Rome as a warning from the Zulu, demonstrating that Shaka is a very powerful man who shouldn't be messed with and can beat Rome's own powerful leader.)

If you cross that Equator, you'll head straight into a massacre,

(Whilst the Roman Empire was known for controlling a large proportion of the world, they never expanded south of the Equator, the area where the Zulu lived. Shaka says that if Caesar leads his men to Zulu territory then they will all be killed in battle. This could also reference Caesar's historic crossing of the river Rubicon into Rome, the start of his Civil War. In crossing that line, as it would be if he were to cross the Equator, many lives were lost.)

And get fucked by more than just Cleopatra in Africa!

(Cleopatra was Ptolomeic Queen of Egypt at the time Caesar was in power. During his conquests in Northern Africa he had a prolonged relationship with her that lead to the birth of their son, Caesarion. Whereas Cleopatra, who also ruled over a Kingdom in Africa, "fucked" Caesar in the sexual meaning of the word, Shaka will "fuck" Caesar as in "fucking him up", or defeating him.)

Julius Caesar:
You talk a lot of shit for a man wearing a diaper.

(The Zulu wore loin cloths, which Caesar compares to diapers, an article of clothing commonly used by non-toilet trained children to contain their urine and feces. He is amazed that the said "diaper" isn't holding all the shit Shaka is saying, as well as ridiculing him for wearing something associated with babies.)

'''I heard you had poison spit. Where was it in this cypher?'''

(Shaka Zulu was known to mix poisonous herbs with saliva and spit it out to blind his opponents. Caesar also makes a reference to the Caesar cipher, which is a cipher used and presumably invented by Julius Caesar to protect messages of military significance. This is a play on words, as a cypher is a term in rap culture where several rappers contribute a single verse. Caesar is saying that Zulu can't spit, or rap, very well in this battle.)

'Cause all I hear is threats from a brute with no discipline,

(Caesar isn't intimidated because he claims that Shaka is only giving empty threats. He also calls him a brute, meaning Shaka depends on sheer strength while Caesar is more strategic in comparison, as well as undisciplined, unable to match up to Caesar and his armies. This is also a play on words, since Brutus, one of the assassins responsible for Caesar's death, is written as "Brute" in Latin when in the vocative case, as in the famous alleged last words of Caesar- "et tu, Brute?" meaning "and you, Brutus?".)

And I'm ruling over you like a boot full of my citizens!

(Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Empire, is saying that he can rule or dominate over Shaka as if he were one of the citizens in Italy, a country famous for being shaped like a boot.)

You should take your cow skin shield and hide under it!

(The Zulu are known for their unique shields made of cowhide, which Caesar pokes fun at and creates a pun with this information by telling the Zulu to hide behind their shields.)

You're fucking with the most triumphant third of the Triumvirate!

(The Triumvirate was a political agreement between Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey the Great that established them as the leading political force in Rome. Crassus died in the battle with the Parthians and Pompey was murdered, so Caesar claims he is the most successful of the trio.)

I'm first of the empire and last of the republicans,

(Caesar marked a new chapter in Roman history by ending the Roman Republic in 27 BC and establishing the Roman Empire.)

And hunting you, accompanied by legions of my countrymen!

(Caesar is referring to the Roman Legion and the saying, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears", threatening to hunt Zulu like an animal with the many men he commands.)

(Ooh!) Ask my kidnappers if I'm just a shit talker.

(Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates and put up for ransom. During this kidnapping, he told them all that he would return after he was released and crucify them, a promise he did go on to fulfill. He did however have them killed kindly before being put on the cross as a symbol of how well they treated him.)

Doc J dunk on you like Boom Shakalaka!

(Julius Erving, sometimes known by the nickname "Dr. J", was a professional basketball player and thought to be one of the greatest "dunkers" in basketball history. Caesar, sharing his first name, compares himself to him by saying that he will dunk like "Boom shakalaka", a line of celebration after a player dunks a basketball with a similar word to Shaka's name, and win the rap battle.)

So don't go rattling your sticks at me!

(Caesar is telling Zulu not to rattle, or make menacing gestures with, his spears, mere sticks in comparison to the blades of the Roman Legions, at Caesar, or he will fight back.)

If I wanted to shake spears, I'd waggle my biography!

(William Shakespeare famously wrote the play Julius Caesar, a biography of Caesar's last days. Caesar makes a pun out of Shakespeare's surname, in doing so also referencing the previously suggested action of Zulu shaking spears. Caesar also claims that he is more famous, as he has a world-renowned play based on himself, whereas Zulu does not.)

Shaka Zulu:
'''Right, I've heard of your play. Tell me, how does it end?'''

(Shaka is saying he's heard of the aforementioned play Julius Caesar, and mockingly asks Caesar to tell him how it concluded, as a build-up to the next line.)

'''Oh yes! You get stabbed many times by your friends!'''

(Following on from the last line, Shaka is stating how the play ended with Caesar being assassinated by Brutus and others of the Roman Senate, being stabbed 23 times. This is also a play on words, as Caesar was not only stabbed literally by the Senate, but the Senate were also his acquaintances, which in turn means that they had back-stabbed Caesar by killing him. 

So whatcha gonna do with your Roman swords?

(Shaka then asks Caesar what he's going to do with the swords he brags of, retorting to Caesar's previous comparison of his spears to sticks and building up to the next line.)

When the lines of your legions get gored by the horns

(Shaka Zulu was famous for utilizing the "bull horn" formation in battle, and when a person is killed by a bull's horns they are gored, thus he is saying he and his army will kill Caesar's legions, whilst mocking his plain army formation.)

'''Of the Zulu warriors! Trained on thorns'''

(Continuing on from the last line, Shaka is saying that his warriors will kill the legions. Zulu warriors would train by running on thorns barefoot for hours on end, which Shaka Zulu says makes them tougher than the Romans. As well, a crown of thorns was used as a form of punishment by Roman soldiers.)

To dismember any emperor's pasty white hordes!

(Shaka is saying that his warriors will cut to pieces, or dismember, the legions, or hordes, of Caesar, an emperor, and calls his army pasty white, suggesting that they don't get much sunlight to tan because they don't get much action or practice and are therefore inexperienced in battle. It is also stereotypical for a darker colored person such as Shaka to mock a Caucasian like Caesar and his fellow Romans for being "white" by calling them pasty or other similar words.)

I got the strength of a lion and the speed of a cheetah,

(Here Shaka is implying that he has the noted abilities of animals native to his homeland, such as a lion's strength and a cheetah's swiftness, and Caesar is weaker in comparison.)

And everyone knows you're just a chicken, Caesar!

(He finishes his verse by calling Caesar a chicken, meaning he is easily scared, weak, and a prey to stronger animals like the previously mentioned lion and cheetah. This is also a play on words of chicken Caesar salad.)

Julius Caesar:
'''Oooh, can I be a hyena? 'Cause I'm going to laugh!'''

(Caesar continues Shaka's trend of calling himself and his opponent animals, in this case calling himself a hyena, an African scavenger known for it's laugh-like calls. In saying this, he calls Shaka's raps laughable.)

I'll pave roads with the bones of your goat-herding ass!

(The Romans were known for having straight paved roads. Caesar says he uses Shaka's bones to pave them, implying his total domination of Shaka. The Zulu herded goats on the plains of South Africa, for use as food and in rituals.)

First, my front lines will drop back and spank you in the Chest,

(Julius explains exactly how his army will fight the Zulu, ordering his front lines to fall back then strike the Zulu in their chests. This also refers to the "Chest", the front lines of Shaka's bullhorn formation.)

Then I'll decimate your horns; you can't outflank the best!

(The horns are another portion of Shaka's bullhorn formation, continuing Caesar's assault on his battle strategy. To decimate in a modern sense is to "kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of." However, in Caesar's time this referred to the killing of one in every ten of a group of soldiers or others as punishment for the whole group, something Caesar threatened to do to the 9th Legion during the war against Pompey, but never did. Also, flanking is a military tactic, where an armed force move around a flank to gain an adventageous position over an army, and the Battle of Marathon, a fight between Athens and Persia, is one of the examples of the flanking maneuver. Julius claims that Shaka's bullhorn formation will be prove to be inferior to Caesar's own military prowess, as he is the greatest in battle.)

'''Let your reserves come at me. My ballista's cocked and ready!'''

(Shaka had reserve men outside his ordinary bull horn formation, and Caesar is saying that now as he has decimated the bull horn, he invites Shaka's reserves to come fight, as he is prepared with another piece of his superior military technology, a ballista (similar to a catapult), to shoot at them.)

When I take aim, I always keep my whole crew steady!

(Caesar brags that his Roman Warriors' fighting formation is more organized than the chaotic Zulu tribe, and this does not change when he prepares his attack.)

Because there's no use in murdering you and your heathen.

(Caesar claims murdering Shaka Zulu and his men would be useless and explains why in the following line.)

You can grow my wheat for me after you're beaten.

(Many African tribes were captured by white settlers in the 17th and 18th century and were forced to do labor. Instead of Caesar killing all of Zulu and his men, he is going to enslave them. Slaves were commonly beaten by their masters, so Caesar is saying Zulu is his slave and is going to both beat him in battle, and beat him for disobeying his commands. This is also a reference to Shaka's banning of wheat after his mother's death, one of the many events that lead to his assassination.)