It’s not just that Wile E. Coyote is a killer, but the chase mentality he’s trapped in as a perpetual victim to his own shortsightedness which keeps him from getting his meal.

The Wile E. Coyotes in Kendrick’s world were violent, but to go deeper, Kendrick seems to imply that these doomed cycles of violence and robbery kept them from escaping their circumstances, as they chose quick fixes to their dissatisfaction that would inevitably backfire. Kendrick’s parents wanted to protect his innocence as long as possible so that maybe he’d have a chance at not falling prey to their influence (or worse). Distraction in the form of cartoons was the only shield they had for him, even as those themes of instant gratification permeated the safety of his shows (“wanna lose weight and keep eating?” “Elmer Fudd said, ‘shoot em down’”)

Now he’s saying they were successful, positioning himself as the Roadrunner to all the Wile E. Coyotes with the refrain, “I run it.” He didn’t get caught up in the culture of instant gratification many of his peers fell to. But he’s playfully pointing out a coincidence – that the cartoons that saved him from that fate would end up reflecting his current reality, just from the other side.

I’ve also thought this line could be a reference to people breaking into his house, which is a theme throughout the song. So, if that’s the case – that the Wile E. Coyotes are people breaking in – then what’s ironic is how he’s told to look at the W.E.Cs on TV, but now the rooms filled with them. Ironic… Also, in this interpretation “I run it” can also be read as him running away from the people who have just broken in and begun firing bullets (Yuh Yuh Yuh Yuh).

There’s also irony in the fact that he looks up to his dad and values his word, which is “don’t be like me.” Then, Kendrick realizing that he ended up like his dad probably thinks, “Hmph, that’s ironic.”

Wile E Coyotes are also a nickname for drug task force agents and their search dogs as they seem to have the senses, but also the stupitidy of coyotes. He claims that his father said don’t be like me, but he has obviously gone into illeagle activities as well. So, as the story pans, his house is getting raided and he is being arrested and is reminiscing and smirking at his father’s remark.

I always thought it was the mother talking to him…

He’s also saying that he’s the RoadRunner because, in the next line when be goes “and run it (whoop whoop)” he’s the one running being chased by these Wily Coyotes, possibly these people chasing him are either Cops when they broke into his house (“Sunday morning should’ve went to church” from another one of his songs.. Sunday there are cartoons on in the morning so instead of staying up watching cartoons and getting Their house broken into he should’ve went to church) but these Wiley vaulted could also be other gangmembers

Hence the hook when he says “raised in a sandbox.. [and] she was holding a handgun..” he is saying instead of growing up with a gun in hand like most kids at his age, he was forced to grow up watching cartoons because his father told him not to grow up like him and everyone else. So instead of seeing reality, he is still stuck behind ‘eating cereal and watching cartoons.’

Hence the hook when he says “raised in a sandbox.. [and] she was holding a handgun..” he is saying instead of growing up with a gun in hand like most kids at his age, he was forced to grow up watching cartoons because his father told him not to grow up like him and everyone else. So instead of seeing reality, he is still stuck behind ‘eating cereal and watching cartoons.’

With describing the people he hangs with as “Wile. E Coyotes” he’s painting them as killers, but misguided and cartoonish ones. They’re running around with big weapons and doind more harm to themselves than they are to their perceived enemies. This imagery of gangsters as cartoon characters with guns is central to the imagery of the song. Kendrick is told to watch cartoons and grow up like a normal kid, while all the kids around him are acting out a real-life rendition of a cartoon.

Wile E. Coyote in the room could also be seen as the police, who were chasing his father. Kendrick’s father was the coyote who was outsmarting the police and getting away from them, and he told kendrick not to be like him but he already is like him, but he’s running away with the game, not the police. Kendrick and his father are both coyotes.

These lines likely reference Kendrick’s father, or a fellow fatherly figure, following the common acts of providing by means of gangbanging. Lyrically this is depicted as a handgun. Meanwhile his mother was nurturing a child, symbolic of the duos struggle to raise Kendrick right while using negative influences to do so

I see this as one of the first times the concepts of uncle sam and lucy are brought into Kendricks music. It is not about two people or problems specifically but more so represents issues with society in general. You, being Uncle Sam, who represents American Society, co-orporate greed and the americn dream is holding the handgun. The handgun could literally mean it was the american hierarchy giving the people of compton the weapons or promoting the violence, but it could also mean that the corrupt system is what divides the classes and the dream to climb to the top is what gives the incentive to use violence.

Lucy, female lucifer [devil], is used to symbolize the female qualities of evil or temptation. The fact she was giving birth could demonstrate his ideology that humans are innately evil but also show how the lust of women can lure men to get them pregnant. The fact that the baby is not given a name seems to paint the picture that this girl has a lot of sex rather then is becoming a parent.

Nas had two lines that cover the same topic, and Metta spoke on them and pretty much it’s like covered these two

Freedom or jail, clip’s inserted, a baby’s being born
Same time a man is murdered, the beginning and end

in my interpretation, kendrick is suggesting that they ARE his peers. “I was raised” indicates that kendrick is young in this scene, and “you and her” indicates that they are his peers, due to the lack of formality. Kendrick also calls the baby in the next line a baby boy, not his brother, reinforcing the peer aspect–granted they might be a year or so older. His peers are already participating in violence (likely gang affiliated) and having children, all while they are still children. kids having kids. they don’t have real role models (mentioned two lines below), thus the cycle continues (hinted at in the next line).