Huh? 

I'd like to echo the comments from years ago about this article's opacity.  After reading it carefully I have little understanding of what "signifyin'" is.  The impenetrable Gates quote doesn't help.  Nor do statements such as this:

Gates expands the term to refer not merely to a specific vernacular strategy but also to a trope of double-voiced repetition and reversal that exemplifies the distinguishing property of Black discourse.

I have no idea what that means. 71.166.248.180