There’s a double meaning here.

“Sic” is a term used to indicate a mistake by a writer or speaker. So Big L is saying his clique is here in the rap game like a wolves to correct these mistakes rappers are making.

Also this can be seen as “sick season” as in hiphop is slacking and not in its healthiest position. The wolves out to destroy these rappers, aka the DITC.

The opposite of the term “holding on to ___” lifes so bad on the streets that the only thing you can hold on to is nothing. And by phone mega means either a phone call for a job, drug deal, or something to come up.

The lines dealing with shots ringing while watching tv is referencing the fact no matter what they do they cant hace peace in the ghetto and projects.

Aliteration in these lines with “echo-ear” and “cops-came”

Double entendre on dog.

“Dog” as in your boy.

He’s basically saying you’re a follower of your homeboy. Also a dog as in animal. Dogs are “mans best friend”. You basically train a dog to follow your commands.

These lines tell you a couple things. First off “we dont believe in "knocking knees” “ is a clever way of saying they dont get that close to their enemies they’ll shoot beforehand then "breeze” which means run.

Also Kool G is saying he attracts any kind of women even black and japanese which is one of the rarest combinations

Fast as in mentally quick and rock past the rap world. He saw the mass and the mainstream (imagine now) as weak and overrated. Yet, when he created his intricate and complex rhyme patterns and songs he couldn’t get radio play and shit. This is what he means by “flake music people making artists wait”. He expresses his anger throughout the album too because of this.

When you listen to the context of this song and Chino’s first album ; he was very confident, prominent, and bound to blow up. But unfortunately never did because as time passed people degraded their intelligence and started not to mess with or even notice hip-hop music with CONTEXT. This includes metaphors, similes, punchlines and puns, wordplay, generally good lyrics and more. Regardless, his lyrics, im sure, has had an impact and can be noted as “innovative” at that time atleast. Chino sees the world through his notepad implying he writes down a lot of what he sees and his emotions as we came to acknowledge through all his crazy references. His real world experience has expanded his vocab which would hold true to anyone because when you go out and live, your vocab inevitably goes up. But besides all this until Chino XL gets the appreciation and admiration he deserves, his mood remains pessimistic.

“View this world through my notepad” Just check the picture

Personally, Chino XL’s lyricism has definitely had an impact on me. Too me, this album was and is a classic which many Mc’s can learn from.

Cormega is expressing his loneliness by making a mathematician metaphor expressing how he has to divide his real boys with his fake boys. He talks about going to god because lets get one thing straight, you can make educated guesses but you’ll never know what goes on inside of someone and how they can turn any second. He goes to god in this case and hopes he makes the right predictions; on the other hand, he hopes god forgives him for his sins.

These lines paint his sadness and distrust for the street life. Positively for himself and the listener he lets you know you can achieve what you believe in if you dont give up.

These lines mirror the Moral in Cormega’s R U My Nigga?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5nZtPz7F18

Cormega doesn’t lie in his rhymes. He’ve got convicted for armed robbery, which is a felony, and have done time.

The era Cormega is talking about is considered the crack epidemic. It lasted from 1984-1990 and was a surge of crack cocaine in the major cities in the U.S around that time. Around that time large amounts of crack was being shipped in from over seas and landing in Miami Florida. Crack was being used and sold out of control especially in New York. Many rappers who were on the streets then can relate and this is why you usually hear artists mention 88' constantly. This includes Cormega himself, Jay Z on “Dead Presidents”, Immortal Technique in an interview, Nas, and more i cant remember at the minute.

Cormega, being a seller and a witness acknowledges the destruction of so many people in his era. Crack is serious.

Cormega is in “awe” of the dope fiends because of the wide amount of customers e had while selling dope and this defines one of the reasons why he was addicted to selling.