Shad’s relating with Star Wars character Darth Vader, who was the villain for the majority of the series but kills the Emperor in the end, proving his goodness.

Build your own teddy bear. You have to be one cool cat to go here:

Who doesn’t want a little buddy like this:

Here he plays both sides of work out, using it to say that things will be okay. By adding flex now, he’s treating it as if he’s exercising.

Ab-Soul is slaying (killing) niggas with his music. Slay is a homophone of sleigh, what the mythological Santa Claus travels in.

His raps are cold, meaning awesome. This makes him think of a simile, a literary device that compares two things using like or as, with an Eskimo.

Eskimos are native to Alaska, the coldest state there is.

Blue’s Clues was a popular children’s television show, featuring a dog named Blue.

He believes there’s a higher power, but he’s not about to stand back and let him do all the work. He is going to put in the effort, himself.

This goes against the common sentiment “good things come to those who wait.”

Oddisee uses the metaphor of drinking from a glass. He ties everything together nicely at the end; while he knows that it’s hard to find the balance between compromising your art while still being true to yourself, he’s still optimistic in the face of an idea that’s really pretty pessimistic.

Perhaps he is playing on the idea of glass half-empty glass half-full

Oddisee grew up with these things, and they have become fond childhood memories. He seeks to create such warm feelings in other people with his music.

When other rappers really think about their music, they feel guilty about the fake dumbed down lyrics they write (because they know they could do better) but still act like it’s hot just so they can keep their record deal and get that paper.