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Song Stories

“All Night Long (All Night)”

Lionel Richie | 1983

Inspired by his own Caribbean vacations, Lionel Richie channeled the reggae/calypso beat everyone danced to there. To offer a worldly feel, he threw in Caribbean, Swahili and Spanish words. And where he couldn't find the right international words, he simply created his own ("Tambo liteh sette mo-jah! Yo! Jambo jambo!"). In a strange twist, Iraqi residents were jamming in the streets to this song the night U.S. tanks rolled into Baghdad in 2003. "The answer is, I'm huge -- huge in the Arab world," said Richie, who opposed the war. "The answer as to why is, I don't have the slightest idea."

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Song Stories

“My President”

Young Jeezy | 2008

Young Jeezy teams up with Nas on this track, in which he compare his own success with the idea of an African-American winning the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election. "When I pulled up in my car, that s--- was unbelievable to people in my neighborhood because they were like, 'We grew up with him. How the hell did he accomplish this?'" he told Rolling Stone. "I feel like it was the same way with Obama. I grew up all this time, but I've never seen a black man this close to running this country."

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