Here Jay compares his relationship to the professional relationship of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, an almost unstoppable duo who led the LA Lakers to 3 consecutive championships from 2000-2002. Shaq eventually left the Lakers to play for the Miami Heat (where he ended up winning again in 2006). This song was released prior to the Heat’s back to back championships in both 2012 and 2013.

N.B Shaq and Kobe were also co-MVP’s of the all-star game the year this song came out

She left him feeling empty, deaf, dumb and bland. Coke Zero is a zero calorie soft drink that tastes like it (“No it’s good!” “No, it’s not”)

“Dollars” refers to Jay’s bank account as well as the US dollar, while Euros refers to European men as well as Europe’s main currency

The US Dollar has been falling relative to the Euro for a while; the Euro is worth more

Adrian is Rocky’s girlfriend in the movie Rocky

A “rocky” relationship is a troubled, tumultuous one

Adrian (Rocky’s wife) stuck through rough (rocky) times and supported him no matter how tough things were. He thought he’d found a ride or die chick but clearly not

Takeover is a Jay-Z diss song directed towards Nas and others and Ether is Nas' response song

The ensuing beef between the two rappers is the second biggest feud in rap history, after the aforementioned one between the Notorious BIG and 2Pac

Jay finding his girl listening to a scathing diss song directed towards him would be a hard slap in the face akin to cheating on him

Check Beyonce’s playlist on iTunes

Short for ‘put up a front’ meaning to act fake (in this case probably fronting like she’s not that into Jay), which completes the front/bach(back) pun from the last line

Jay-Z is the “coke” man (again, he’s not talking about soda), whereas Beyonce has endorsed Pepsi since 2002

Vive la difference!

Jay-z also has a business relationship with the Coca-Cola Company. It started in 2007 when he helped design the new Cherry Coke cans. I believe the relationship still stands because he’s not one to do one-off endorsements. Coca-Cola also famously used to use cocaine in their original recipe, so I think this line is a double entendre: Beyonce endorses Pepsi, he endorses Coca-Cola but also used to deal crack rock.

I say I stay on my grind

In his early years, before his corporate takeover, Hov would diss pretty much any rapper who crossed his path, often in ways so subtle that only they would notice.

Knowing Hov’s lexical ambiguity we can also interpret it as a play on the number of legs a cow has: “Got a lot of beef, so logically, I pray on my fours.”

Jay respects women doing unsavory things to make money for their futures because he did the same thing.

Clipse would later use this line in “Dirty Money”

“You done got you a rapper, I see ya vision
And one of the best too, that’s ambition”