these are often used in rap songs and im gettin rusty on my old school history so if anyone can drop some knowledge as to the origins id appreciate it.
“Industry rule number 4080 / record company people are shady” is a line from A Tribe Called Quest - Check the Rime. I don’t think it’s a real rule, just that 4080 rhymes with ‘shady’. The track is from 1991 so it’s not exactly oldskool but old enough. If a newer track says something about industry rule number 4080, it means ‘record company people are shady’ without saying something a record company person wouldn’t like.
“11:55 be the time on the clock” means it’s almost midnight so I think it means that something serious is about to happen. I can’t find anything that uses that other than Paris - Evil, which is from 2003. I don’t think it refers to anything older.
The Paris song is where I heard it. One thing I’ve noticed is that in all watch ads the time is 11:55… hmmm i dunno.
thanks for your help
There’s a Straight Dope article about the time in watch ads. Basically, they’re not all 11:55 and they’re not all the same time. Usually it’s a time that looks nice, shows both hands, and doesn’t cover the logo.