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I heard 'em say the NBA's a bunch of million-dollar slaves Nas – Like Me

This is with reference to William Rhoden’s 2006 book, “Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete”.

Nas introduces the listener to capitalism and its unequal creation and distribution of wealth.

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"I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps" (Nas – It Ain't Hard to Tell) | rejected

The imagery of respiration takes on a politico-economic concern when one seeks to address the existential angst of living in the ghetto.

As an MC, Nas is conveying not only the necessary breath control needed for rapping but also the breath control needed to surmount his local limit-situations.

Labeling weed as “buddha” is meant to indicate illumination (bodhi) from smoking it.

"Everything connects to you" (Nas – We're Not Alone) | pending

Nas recognizes the truth of the Sanskrit statement, Tat Tvam Asi, meaning, Thou art That.

"We depend on Mama Nature" (Nas – We're Not Alone) | pending

Nas affirms the goddess as supportive of all life, including man’s.

"This is what came from their pain from their hurt we gain..." (Nas – Blunt Ashes) | pending

Nas affirms the life emergent in death theme that is indicative of lunar consciousness

"And then we'll walk right up to the sun / Hand in hand / ..." (Nas – If I Ruled The World) | accepted

The appropriation of the Delfonics hook is meant to convey an eschatological mood, where Nas' walk to the “sun” could also be interpreted as a walk to the “son”, a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ in Christianity that is indicative of the end of the world.

This is also reminiscent of the cover illustration of “The People can Fly” book by Virginia Hamilton where African-Americans- old, young, men, women- are seen ascending in the sky to an unrevealed destination.

"I'd open every cell in Attica send em to Africa" (Nas – If I Ruled The World) | accepted

Nas uses the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, NY to address prison conditions and prisoner rights, echoing George Jackson’s call for prison reform. This may also be a reference to the Attica Prison Riots in 1971.

Sending the prisoners to Africa is meant to be a corrective to institutional racism embedded in the prisons and a call for repatriation. Nas is aligning himself with Black leaders who see Africa as the final destination of all Black people- Malik Shabazz, W.E.B. BuBois, and Marcus Garvey

"Lost Tribe of Shabazz" (Nas – If I Ruled The World) | rejected

Nas demonstrates here a theological strain from the Nation of Islam, vis a vis, the Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths.

"If I ruled the world (Imagine that) / I'd free all my sons" (Nas – If I Ruled The World) | accepted

The appropriation of Curtis Blow’s chorus strikingly mirrors Point #8 of The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program- “We Want Freedom For All Black Men
Held In Federal, State, County And City Prisons And Jails.”

"Open they eyes to the lies history's told foul / But I'm ..." (Nas – If I Ruled The World) | accepted

The simile of the “old owl” could also be a reference to Athena, the Greek goddess of Wisdom and War. As the owl is a nocturnal bird, Nas intends to convey a knowledge that surpasses the illusions of solar consciousness to an affirmation of transcendent knowledge.

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