The chorus samples lines from the 1977 track “Conscience” by Sun.

The beat samples Parliament’s “Aqua Boogie” and Y-N-Vee sings this chorus to the tune of the song’s opening lines:

Never learned to swim
Can’t catch the rhythm of the stroke

“You can dance underwater and not get wet” is a direct sample from the song.

Houston is considered the home of iced out jewelry e.g. chains with pieces and of course the home of swangs, which are 83 & 84 cadillac eldorado cragar wire wheels with the knock offs poking out.

This line is most likely a reference to professional boxer Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns, who grew up in Detroit, Michigan.

Shaq may also be alluding to the Detroit Pistons squads that won back-to-back NBA championships over the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons; they were known as the “Bad Boys” for their defense-minded and physically aggressive style of play.

First, this intro was intended for the original 3 Day Theory cut {tracklist}, “Watch Your Mouth”. Second, this is an actual take from 92.3 The Beat’s “Street Science” segment hosted by Dominique Di Prima. The segment goes hand in hand with the song as Di Prima was all about unifying the hip hop community and uplifting the minorities in society. The Beat is shouted out along with KDAY and Power 106 also for keeping Tupac records in heavy rotation, especially DJ’s like Fat Dre and Ed Lover Julio G and Theo Mizuhara who you might recongize from here.

Anger’s character would likely be personified by the high level criminals such as Drug Kingpins, Gang Leaders, Top Pimps who benefit the most from the ignorant lifestyle since their contribution to ignorance is chasing the huge financial benefits of their illegal trades and live by mantras such as M.O.E. and such. If you convince people not to slang dope, not to trip over red or blue, not to sell their bodies, not to revel in narcotics use, then these guys have nothing to live for(in terms of the ignorant lifestyle).

Here’s an early demo version with the more direct reference to the Bobby Caldwell song. Shock G was the main producer of this version.

Similar to the Common vs. Westside Connection beef with the same theme of misinterpreting messages during the rise of the East Coast vs. West Coast beef, Tupac was confused by the “Ego Trippin (Part 2)” video made by De La Soul that seemed to be mocking his “I Get Around Video.”

Pac had cleared the air with De La, but when Tommy Boy labelmates Treach and Posdnous became entrenched in beef, Pac had to ride for his Naughty By Nature homie.

This wouldn’t be the last time he dissed them; he also disses them on “Against All Odds,” “Last To Fall,” and “Watch Yo Mouth.”