The second line i highlighted here defines the first one. Pun is giving a couple reasons to us why shit is rough in the ghetto.

1. “You bluff, blow your head off”
   -This means if you lie, you’re gonna get shot

2. “Fuck a snuff, we bust lead off”
   -“snuffing” someone is to physically hit them. Busting lead off is to shot someone. Here he’s saying they dont hit people, shots get fired.

Paints his depression perfectly. All he worked for to gain fame is now practically which is easily possible. Once your famous its a big risk that affects your peers, friends and family in which could be a positive, negative or both types of ways.

Negative effects: Jealousy, which can lead too:

-Violence

-Betrayal

-Emotional and mental pain and suffering

-Changed perspective

-Easily tarnished reputation if did wrong

-More emphasis on mistakes

These are only the few of many.

The word Legislature comes from the Legislative Branch, which is the branch of the government that can make, repel or amend laws.

In an intellectual mind, a “Thug”, by definition, is someone who endures an everyday struggle. Someone its usually associated with those living in ghettos and poverty within them.

This is simply impying that street life is different from what normal people go through therefore creates a “thug legislature”. Whats normal for more people is different for those in the struggle. The positive of this is that they foresee what can happen going through the struggle so Cormega reminds you not only of the thug legislature, but tells you that when your time is up- “heavens above await ya”. One of the laws in the streets is that you cant put trust in anyones hands no matter how promising they sound.

A mission child report is a filed report to the local police when a guardian is missing their child. This line is VERY well put by Chino XL.

He chooses to include in the beginning of the line that she’s standing next to him. You gotta emphasize that phrase to understand this. Although his women is standing next time him, not literally but together or in his life, he wants to find the woman he met years before when they were just kids. They had big dreams as of staying together forever and these lines also allude this woman got pregnant at a young age.

“my products” most-likely refers to the result of the influence his music can have on whoever. Here, he is saying dont feed his music to the animals (people from New Jeru) because they will most-likely retaliate in a negative way.

Thats where the animal-zoo word usage comes in.

New Jeru is a home of the most african american populated communities in newark, east orange, orange, irvington,camden,jersey city, asbury park. They are rich with black culture.

Newark:

Great wordplay. Deciphered this means back in 1995 he wasn’t with the ordinary wakeup, go-to-work, then come home type job. <—This is what a 9 to 5 is usually referred to. It is not a positive thing because it is not above-the-line top average. Thats why you hear the phrase “fuck a 9 to 5”.

1995 was a year before his debut album, Here to save you all, which this song is from, was released.

Late rapper Ol Dirty Bastard once collaborated on a track with Mariah Carey for a track called the “Fantasy Remix”.

I guess if you can collaborate with a singer you can peep game

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=ol+dirty+bastard+mariah+carey&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1338&bih=780&tbm=isch&tbnid=G8nYJdSLaYJ_5M:&imgrefurl=http://classichiphop.tumblr.com/post/9710641611&docid=rCRljfFZV3RuhM&imgurl=http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqwoctPAnJ1qc0trjo1_500.jpg&w=467&h=460&ei=np_4UOr4HsrU0gGlz4DYDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=63&vpy=212&dur=62&hovh=222&hovw=225&tx=180&ty=171&sig=113717097949512957475&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=137&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0,i:108

Here we are introduced to a VERY wicked and crooked relationship here. Cormega speaks for the ghetto; you most-likely wouldn’t see these type of situations in a well guarded household.

Anyways, respect is a euphemism for much worse because no mother would want to turn the other cheek on their son whos locked up just because they didnt do the laundry.

By disrespecting, it can be something much worse as in drug-dealing, violence whether its gang related or not, ect. As a result he ends up locked up calling his mother although she’ve previously tried to help her son out before but got largely disregarded and disrespected. She trys to turn the other cheek but cant because her son proposes that she’s his only hope and being his mother, she cant refuse her son.

Many consider being born in poverty a curse that leads to death and such. Here he’s paining his depression implying that he was cursed from birth which would affect his whole life. I dont think being poor is the only factor in this case, as you may or may not know, Chino XL was born half Black- half Puerto Rican, he was highly discriminated against his whole childhood. This could have been the curse and/or evil angel he’s proposing. Regardless, it destroyed his ambitions because he cant get anywhere under these conditions.

Describing how his dark side assaulted them and “lynched” which means to hang them.