Louis Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam. A controversial figure, he’s been accused of antisemitism, yet maintains a position of sometimes grudging respect among many African Americans.

A speech of his was also sampled in the song’s opening.

Malcom X, or El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, was an African-American Muslim civil and human rights activist, who helped to promote Pan-Africanism and sought to connect the struggles of African-Americans with blacks around the globe. A recent biography, entitled Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, universally lauded by critics and Malcolm X enthusiasts alike, was published on April 4th, 2011, also known as the date of Dr. King’s assassination.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African-American Baptist minister and civil rights activist who was instrumental in securing various gains in race relations, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. During the latter part of his life, he campaigned against both the Vietnam War, and poverty. Upon engaging these issues, he received criticism from all sides, unlike the “I Have A Dream” speech King we get on TV around his holiday.

Jay has been known to confront the devil before.

Jay seems to be using the Qur'an as a method to combat the devil, as ayahs are equivalent to Biblical verses, and suras are equivalent to Biblical chapters.

By “lifted,” Jay either means battling Satan is getting him high, or it’s bringing him closer to heaven, and thus God.

Pusha is referring to a 1992 horror film titled Candyman. If his name is called he’ll appear and kill his summoner with his hook hand.

Tupac also referred to this film in his song “Troublesome ‘96”.

Say my name three times like Candyman
Bet I roll on yo' ass like an avalanche.

Jay has taken tumbles, i.e. falls in his life, but look at him now. He also gives a shoutout to Rashad “Tumbling Dice” Smith, a DJ for Erykah Badu, who is Jay Electronica’s girlfriend. Rashad has also produced for such greats as Rakim and Biggie. He also gave Jay Electronica a helping hand in NYC years ago.

As Jay looks forward to the new year, hustlers walk around with loaded guns (literally heavy metal, like the Metal band Metallica).

“Killing soldiers softly” refers to the silencers that their guns have and is Jay’s allusion to the song made famous by Roberta Flack in 1973, and Lauryn Hill in 1996.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1eOsMc2Fgg

Jay utilizes Philly slang he to show that like the prophets of old, he’s a traveling truth-teller.

He’s lived in many places, Philadelphia being one of them.

People in Philly usually pronounce it “boul,” as Jay does here, instead of “boy”

Liver cancer took Ricky’s father in 1999, preventing him from witnessing Ross’s musical success. In the lines below, Ross questions the very merit of wealth if it can’t be shared with those who were so essential to his upbringing.

Ross would gladly stop rapping just to tell his father, in person, that he’s dearly missed.

This is the oft-quoted lyric of the popular Method Man song “Method Man”

They’re not fit to inhabit the same casa (house, meaning skill level) as Jay.

He responds further by asking them “que pasa” (what’s up) in a confrontational manner, thus inviting them to respond and get burned.

Jay’s house; where wack MC’s fear to tread.