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Translation
Two Brothers
[Verse 1: Ademo]
We grew up like The City's Princes1, crazy like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Corvette, Ford Mustang style, in the legend2
Once upon a time, two brothers, two wild animals, two holes in the brain
Homie, two pairs
Locked up, dreams that throw off more than one shackle
A child's mind behind the V9
Full of ambitions while stagnating in front of L.V10
A cop's salary in the Nike shoes11
Dope's profits going straight towards the mike12
We grew up like The City's Princes, the hallway's kings
In the sky, no more than one star, in front of the throne
Gramms, kilos of sorrows, even in the hood13
[Chorus: Ademo]
Two brothers, two brothers
Two brothers, two brothers
Two brothers (M, M, M), two brothers
Two brothers (M, M, M), two brothers
I don't give a fuck about these motherfuckers, I'm not here to be loved, you gotta get used to the idea
I don't give a fuck about these whores from the woods16, about this shitty rap or who you'll approve of
Powerful, Kaïô Ken-like19, c'mon, it's time (c'mon, it's time)
[Verse 2: N.O.S]
I grew up in the zoo, I followed the jungle's cries, my big brother's steps
Papa put us head-to-head, told us: "I want love of steel"
I want nobody between you two, not me, not even hell's angels (hell's angels)
So I loved my brother more than my life, like my dad taught me
Every dream, every nightmare, every ennemy, every euro: shared
And except for the number of scars, nothing will change
In the same, same mirror, we looked at eachother
In the same, same black holes, we lost ourselves
When we were little, we had the same clothes, later on, the same weapons
The same blunts, same turf, igo, the same bums20
Never the same women: I was more of a pretty blonde-haired women guy
Nothing will tear us apart, not even our bitches
Everything I get, I give it to you, a bit like my life
Only you know what it's like being in my shoes, only I know what it's like being in yours
[Chorus: Ademo]
Two brothers, two brothers
Two brothers, two brothers
Two brothers (M, M, M), two brothers
Two brothers (M, M, M), two brothers
I don't give a fuck about these motherfuckers, I'm not here to be loved, you gotta get used to the idea
I don't give a fuck about these woods' whores, about this shitty rap or who you'll approve of
According to Vé-Her, I don't even have to serve quality anymore
Powerful, Kaïô-Ken-like, c'mon, it's time (c'mon, it's time)
- 1. Reference to the 1993 "Blood In Blood Out" movie. The French title for it is "Les Princes De La Ville", litteraly "The City's Princes".
- 2. Reference to their previous album, Dans La Légende.
- 3. Reference to the "Grand Theft Auto" video game where you play a character that gets chased by the police when breaking the law. The more yellow stars at the top of your screen, the more aggressive and numerous the police gets.
- 4. In Algerian dialectal Arabic, "belek" means "beware". It can also mean "maybe".
- 5. Reference to the series "Step By Step", very popular in France in the early 90's to mid-00's.
- 6. Reference to Dragon Ball Z. Yes, again. It's where warriors train.
- 7. People, especially young men, brought up in what they refer to as "ghettos", generally don't have much optimism regarding their future. For a lot of them, the only way to make lots of money is selling drugs. That's heavily linked with a limited access to decent education in the country and poor conditions of living.
- 8. Common point of selling for drug dealers in ghettos.
- 9. Peace sign. Remember, PNL = Peace N'Lovés (= money in French slang).
- 10. Understand: Louis Vuitton window shop.
- 11. As a drug dealer, he hides his profits in his Nike shoes at the end of every day.
- 12. They've mentioned several time that they financed PNL with dirty money.
- 13. Melancholy is a recurring theme in the album. They miss the place they grew up in, even with its flaws, but they can't ignore how hard it was to live there.
- 14. They routinely refer to themselves as animals (Ademo dubs himself Mowgli) because they grew up in the ghetto of Les Tarterêts which has been nicknamed "zoo" for its violence.
- 15. Yet another reference to the anime Dragon Ball Z. This time, it's Babidi's character which is featured with the "M" mark he leaves on the forehead of the people under his spell.
- 16. Probably a reference to the Bois de Boulogne (public park in Paris) which is known for being a place of prostitution. Here, they link the rap business to prostitution.
- 17. Verlan of your typical French white name "Hervé". He's mentioned a lot in PNL songs and symbolizes the type of clients the two brothers had when they were drug dealing. In popular areas of France, it's joked about that the only person white upper-middle-class people know from "ghettos" are their drug dealer.
- 18. Reference to their song "Je vis je visser"/"I live, I serve" (N.B: "serve" in French here is written in verlan, "visser" "servis"/"sers"). Understand: Serve drugs to clients.
- 19. Reference to DBZ; it's a combat technique that demands a lot of strength, thus only a limited amount of warriors can perform it.
- 20. Maybe refers to junkie clients/
- 21. Ademo has mentioned Venezuelian women quite a lot ("Wesh ma go, wesh la plus belle, wesh ma go du Venezuela"/"Hello girl, hello the prettiest, hello my girl from Venezuela" in PNL for e.g).
- 22. Ademo has been incarcerated in the Fleury-Merogis prison around 2013.
- 23. You guessed it, another reference to DBZ where two warriors can merge to become one, more powerful warrior. Prior to PNL, the two brothers had solo careers (esp. Ademo) but they only became successful once they joined forces.
- 24. According to chirunning.com, Chi is "the life-giving, vital energy that unites body, mind and spirit" in traditional Japanese & Chinese culture.
Farha✕
Please help to translate "Deux Frères"
PNL: Top 3
| 1. | J’comprends pas |
| 2. | Onizuka |
| 3. | DA |
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