Judas was one of the 12 original apostles to Jesus Christ who betrayed him by revealing his identity to the Sanhedrin. As a result, his name and legacy is one that’s considered as treacherous and disloyal. In the same vein, D Smoke exercises caution even to his friends and loved ones because even the ones closest to you can betray you.

Stan Lee is the late comic book writer who not only was Marvel Comics primary creative leader for two decades but was also famous for co-creating the popular Marvel superheroes such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the X-Men. While the heroes themselves were fictional, Stan Lee indirectly served as a hero for many individuals who looked up to his creations while he himself appeared in just about every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a cameo role.

Similarly, D Smoke is trying to become a hero to the youth in his hometown Inglewood or at the very least, create the hero the city needs.

Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African-American from Florida who was fatally shot at the hands of a civilian George Zimmerman who claimed self-defense and was eventually acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges. The incident sparked a myriad of rallies and marches across the nation pointing the death of Trayvon to be racially motivated. Reason is fearful that his unborn son could suffer the same fate as Trayvon seeing as how Zimmerman referred to Trayvon as “suspicious” when he was in fact coming back from the local 7-11.

On the same coin, Reason also fears suffering the same fate as Eric Garner who was murdered in the hands of NYPD officers – forcing his kids to grow up without a father figure in their lives.

P refers to Reason’s brother Prentice (also known as Coach P) who is not only his closest friend but the one whom he confides to the most being his twin.

Reason insists there’s nothing soft nor sweet about him while using a play on words with the popular candy Starburst.

This is the introduction to the second character in this story, Kendrick’s father, Kenny Duckworth—otherwise known as Ducky.

Kenny was prominently featured on skits throughout Kendrick’s major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, and even appeared on Kendrick’s “Backseat Freestyle” music video.

This is likely a shout-out to Joey’s labelmate, Mick Jenkins – both artists are signed to Cinematic Music Group. The Healing Component is the name of Mick’s debut studio album. Mick claims “The healing component” is love. Joey is searching for love in a time of hate.

The two artists collaborated on Mick’s track “Jerome”.