Man beat off the wap, no proof

[valecrep97]

Hi everyone 🙂

I'm listening to a rap song by Unknown T, a British rapper from London. He says in the refrain:

Let's fry up the beef cah they chat too loose
Man beat off the wap, no proof
The beef goes on, now it's World War II

Now, I realize it's not easy at all since it's slang. Thanks to Google and a few other songs like this one that I listened, i know that "beef" is a feud between rival gangs ("fry up the beef" is probably a metaphor for settling the dispute) and "wap" is slang for gun, probably from "weapon". In your opinion, what does "beat off the wap" mean?

Thank you 🙂

 

[Starless74]

Urban dictionary (spesso poco attendibile ma, trattandosi di hip-hop, magari qui ci prende) suggerisce due soluzioni per wap:

1) variante di wop, slang offensivo per indicare gli immigrati italiani (da cui il nostro: guappo);​

2) acronimo di: wet ass pussy.​

...magari un gioco di parole tra entrambe, data anche l'accezione offensiva di pussy quando riferita a persona (≈ "fighetta" / "checca")

Ma tutto il testo per me è incomprensibile, non ho idea se "cacciare a botte i guappi" (visto che si parla di World War II...) c'entri o no qualcosa.

 

[GavinW]

I listened to the original, and looked up the lyrics too. I couldn't find or hear the word(?) "wap" anywhere. In fact, the performer seems to deliberately skip the word that occupies its position in the sentence/line.
It occurs to me that, if it's implied, or referred to elsewhere, someone may have misheard it. It may be "rap" which (also) means "charge" (ie police charge, alleged crime). If so, there could be an interesting double meaning, also involving the term "rap music", which the artist may be exploiting for artistic effect.
HTH (but I may be way off base).

 

[theartichoke]

It may be "rap" which (also) means "charge" (ie police charge, alleged crime).

Strictly in the context of the line, that would make sense: the man "beat off the rap" -- i.e., he got the charges dropped, or got himself acquitted of them -- because there was "no proof" he'd committed the crime.

 

[valecrep97]

Thank you all. Thank you GavinW, I think your interpretation is on point. I made the usual mistake of trusting my source with the lyrics and did not make sure they were reliable. I actually threw in the towel with this song ... I literally can't understand 90% of it.

So if the correct lyrics is "Man beat off the wap rap, no proof", considering the idiom "to beat the rap" (escape punishment and win acquittal), it makes perfect sense. Good job! 🙂

 

[johngiovanni]

So if the correct lyrics is "Man beat off the wap rap, no proof", considering the idiom "to beat the rap" (escape punishment and win acquittal), it makes perfect sense. Good job! 🙂

But then what is the translation in this translation forum?
"È stato assolto per mancanza di prove"?

 

[Pietruzzo]

But then what is the translation in this translation forum?

La mia risposta è "Non ci sono dati sufficienti per proporre una traduzione".