Sadomasochism is giving and recieving punishment (usually phyisical) or humiliation, but enjoying it. To put it simply, it’s like rough sex but worse. Whips and chains are two tools those that enjoy S&M would use.

Whips and chains also represent cars and necklaces, respectively. Many rappers become obsessed with buying expensive versions of these items in order to flaunt their wealth and one-up their peers in the rap game. The pain from these whips and chains may hurt a lot later if their value has greatly depreciated when it comes time to resell them.

Surprisingly, the two actually appeared together on a song. Granted, it was a remix for the NBA, and they probably never came face to face… and it featured Shaquille O'Neal… but that still counts, right?!

Ice Cube was hard and “black.” Willing to say things like, “fuck the police.” (“All Falls Down” (Original))

Michael Jackson wrote amazing pop hits and classics that will never die. Michael Jackson was also a black male who “was white.” I believe this is a reference to how many people think that Kanye doesn’t “act black.” (“Everything I Am”)

West is calling himself the combination of a hard black man who isn’t afraid to say what he believes, and a man who “acts white enough” for white america to be comfortable with him “[getting] them singles though.” ‘Ye’s gonna sneak into the suburb and then “Get extra black on 'em.”

Also important: White people hate Ice Cube. White people love Michael Jackson. Or maybe, “A nigga you love to hate.” (“Take One for the Team”)

A reference to the classic Public Enemy track “Burn Hollywood Burn” – an anti-establishment creed of early rap

Also a reference to the prolific novel ‘The Day of The Locust’ in which all of hollywood burns down for being a fake, superficial place. Also a reference to the L.A. riots of 1992 and 1970.

This line may connect to the previous, because if someone who was not already dark skinned tried to “get extra black”, they would most likely get sunburned.

Most well known for his Academy Award-nominated performance in Hotel Rwanda, Don Cheadle is a darker-skinned black man, the shade Kanye prefers. Get extra black also means that he has to act more black. The previous line says “Why y'all got all caps on?” This is a stereotype for black people.

This line is also similar to a line on Mos Def’s 1999 song “Do it Now”:

I’m black like Don Cheadle shoutin' power to the people

Mos Def and Kanye West were frequent collaborators around this time, working on songs like “Lord Lord Lord” and “Don’t Look Down.” The overall message of the lines is very similar as well, with “all caps” being comparable to “shoutin'.”

Referring to Kanye’s meme phrase spoken during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; Kanye exaggerates the effect his words had on the media’s coverage of Katrina

In his memoir Decision Points, President Bush refers to Kanye’s emotional exclamation as one of the “lowest points” during his presidency. Kanye recently sympathized with the president during an interview with The Today Show

Also, this is probably also a shot at many people who said that Katrina happened because of the greed and general sinfulness of the New Orleans, which brings a whole ‘nother set of unfortunate implications given that NO is a majority Black city.

Not only is Kanye’s physical chain heavy, his metaphorical chains are too. After a year of being reviled by pretty much everyone, Kanye was done being painted as the bad guy. He broke free of the chains placed on him by the media and rose back to prominence like, well, a phoenix

The song and hook also seem to be a play on the song “Heavy” by Gucci Mane.

A clever reference to one of Jay’s most famous lines, made famous by Nas for his misinterpretation on the classic diss song “Ether.”

Coincides with two lines before, when J. Cole calls himself Jesus. In this cosmology, Jay is Jehovah, God-the-father, and JC is–wait for it–JC.

Hov shouts out the track’s producer Pete Rock. He has also worked on legendary tracks as “The Bitch in Yoo” and Nas' “The World is Yours.” And per the needle drop, there is a brief pause in the backing track.