Question from a song
Song: Timbaland - The way I are

1. What does it mean "The way I are"? I do not understand the grammar.
2. In the song there are a lot of times "I ain't...". What's this structure how to understand and use it?

Question

Question from a song
Song: Timbaland - The way I are

1. What does it mean "The way I are"? I do not understand the grammar.
2. In the song there are a lot of times "I ain't...".  What's this structure how to understand and use it?

Answer

It's simply bad English... but it gets attention and the kids think it's cool. That's pop music for you.

Just don't try learning anything from it. Even Timbaland knows it's wrong.

Answer

This is hilarious, welcome to the wonderful world of slang.

1) That phrase is an artistic feature of the music. Timbaland deliberately used bad grammar to better capture the essence of the song. Many songs (eg Jennifer Hudson "No one gonna love you") follow the same pattern.

It should be "the way I am."

2) ....don't use it until you know the proper way. "I ain't" is slang for "I am not." It is commonly used in the USA depending on where you are at but is grammatically incorrect.

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