ATCWT

In an interview with HipHopDX, Common had given an insight to this line.

Aw man! That line is… that line is just sayin' that sometimes reality will try to interfere with your dreams. But you have to let those dreams soar above that reality that exists right at that moment. Because really, the dream is the prize. When they say “keep your eyes on the prize,” the dream is the prize. The dream is the vision of where you’re gettin' to. You might not be there right at that moment, but you just have to see the dream, and you’ll get there. You just have to see it. The “rocks of reality” sometimes seem to crash the dream. But you gotta know, on the rocks of reality, the waves gonna keep it goin'. Don’t let it split the whole dream. That’s basically what I would say to somebody who references that lyric now — the dream still goes on. Dream on.

This is a reference to the character Jason Vorhees in the horror movie franchise Friday The 13th. Jason drowns at Camp Crystal Lake as a child and years later terrorizes people that visit the camp. O.C. compares himself to Jason and his victims are weak MC’s, and so he plans to get rid of them.

A humorous ending to a serious real life event, Prince Paul had made the album A Prince Among Thieves in 1999, a year prior to the release of Like Water For Chocolate. A Prince Among Thieves is a concept album that is widely acclaimed for its in depth storyline and writing. Towards the end of the skit you hear the officer pausing frequently trying to think of words to say and so suggests employing Prince Paul to write something new.

A ten minute video of the album was also made to conceive the album as a short film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-guxZPyxrY

Weeknd has previously stated his frequent travels to California (which is situated in the West Coast) in his song “The Morning”.

However, times have changed since his House of Balloons days and The Weeknd is now one of the most popular artists around. He can expect to be in the West Coast a lot more and whenever he needs some pleasure, he can turn to this girl.

Common is referring to the Shiny Suit Era that had plagued hip hop from the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s. The era consisted of many mainstream artists wearing flamboyant clothes made of metallic and usually in the style of a suit or a jumpsuit. Sean “Puffy” Combs aka P Diddy is often seen as the innovator of the era as he (and Mase) are seen wearing it in the Mo Money Mo Problems video, although the true innovator of the suit was stylist June Ambrose. The shiny suit had been adopted by many hip hop artists including Nas, Busta Rhymes and Will Smith.

Common also makes a reference to the song Been Around The World by P Diddy which was released in 1997. Much like Mo Money Mo Problems, the video consisted of P Diddy and Mase wearing shiny suits and had also featured the late Notorious B.I.G.

There’s some clever wordplay here, Common is a very conscious rapper who regards Afrocentricity highly. Following on from the previous line, Common wants a change from the racism and prejudice on African Americans.

Common also refers to his friend who wants change, but this is a different kind of change, Common’s friend who is likely homeless is asking for spare change (small amounts of money usually pennies, dimes etc.) from people. Homeless people who beg for money are usually seen carrying their money in cups.

In the early start of his career Ghostface was a Five Percenter and has since converted and become a devoted Muslim. His conversion could play a part of the subject matter in the song. Looking at the title of the song, Purified Thoughts, it indicates some sort of cleanliness of ones soul and it’s a new start to his life. The verse includes many references to God especially the last two lines of the verse which are direct references to Islamic prophets.

Faded is term used for being high, usually from marijuana. Many artists experiment with drugs as some people find being high stimulates creativity, thus improving the quality of their music. The Weeknd is no exception; finding his true talent when he is high and so decides to stay intoxicated all the time because he knows his fans and media executives will adore him for it, and he’ll get money in return.

Loud is a term used to describe very high quality marijuana. He smokes so much high grade you ought to be ashamed of yaself!

This is possibly a follow through from the previous line where he mentions EPMD. Every EPMD album has the word business in the title

• Strictly Business
• Unfinished Business
• Business As Usual
• Business Never Personal
• Back In Business
• Out Of Business
• We Mean Business

Following through from the previous line, Posdnuos may have been hinting a possible collaboration album with EPMD.