Jay Z is a rapper from Brooklyn, NYC, USA who also goes by the nickname, Jigga. In 1997, Jay released his 2nd album called In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. On that album was a song called The City is Mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i2K5bF1aXI

Like Jigga, Bodega Bamz believes that NYC is his.

Big Punisher was a Puerto-Rican rapper from the Bronx, NYC, USA, who died in 2000 from a heart attack. He was a respected rapper and the first solo Latino rapper to go Platinum. His real name was Christopher Lee Rios.

Lots of people are saying that since Pun’s death, Bodega Bamz is holding down the Latino Rapper throne. Similar to Pun, Bodega is from NYC and is half Puerto-Rican.

Other Latinos that dislike Bodega don’t believe that he’s Pun’s successor and they try their best to discredit Bodega. He could care less, he tells them “cry me a river” (“rio” means “river” in Spanish).

The hook is taken from Big Punisher’s verse on Fat Joe’s song, John Blaze, from Joe’s 1998 Don Cartagena album:

Hah, you ain’t got no wins en mi casa
Que te pasa, you ain’t even in my clasa

“En mi casa” means “in my house” or “in my home”. “Que te pasa?” translates to “what’s wrong with you?” or “what’s up with you?” The line means that opponents can’t claim any victories when Pun (or in this case Bodega Bamz) is in his hood. That homefield advantage is effective.

This is a reference to an ASAP Ferg song called 100 Million Roses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZpsn2j5JH0

Bodega Bamz and Ferg are good friends.

Could also be a reference to Youth Is DEAD, better known as iFFy The Badman. He’s a singer from Spanish Harlem, NYC, USA who’s affiliated with Bamz.

Ferg & Youth Is DEAD

Tego Calderón is kicking street knowledge in Spanish. This line translates to:

Very few criminals reach retirement (very few!).

“Bandito” literally translates to “bandit” but given the context, he probably means “criminal” in general. Criminals either end up dead or in jail, they rarely get to see old age.

Spofford was a notorious juvenile detention facility located in Hunts Point, Bronx, NYC, USA. In 1999, it was renamed Bridges Juvenile Center and 2011 it was officially closed by the city because of harsh conditions and harsh treatment towards juveniles.

It’s a well known fact that pants sagging started in prisons because inmates couldn’t keep belts out of concern that they would use the belts to harm themselves or others. It was adopted by the Hip Hop generation as a fashion statement. Bodega Bamz wants everybody to know that he was ahead of the curve and was sagging since he was a youngin and before it really became fashionable.

A reference to the fictional gangster, Carlito Brigante, from the 1993 gangster film, Carlito’s Way. Played by Al Pacino, Carlito is a former heroin dealer who tries to turn his life around after beating a case. Unfortunately, the streets won’t let him go and he finds himself in dangerous situations again. It culminates with his younger rival, Benny Blanco, shooting Carlito right before he has a chance to board a train and escape the New York City gangster life. The final moments of the film show Carlito laying on a stretcher as he takes his last breath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwmg-5HsspQ

Bodega Bamz is the new and improved version of Carlito. Those bullets wouldn’t be enough to kill him and unlike Carlito, he wouldn’t die and would instead hop off the stretcher.

This is a reference to Rakim, a legendary rapper from Long Island, NY, USA, who is credited with advancing the technical aspects of lyricism during the 1980’s Rap scene.

Rakim is also known as The R, and “R” is the 18th letter in the modern English alphabet. Rakim’s first solo album was also called The 18th Letter.

One of Rakim’s most popular songs is Microphone Fiend, from Eric B. & Rakim’s second album, Follow The Leader, released in 1988.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaaUdilCzH4

Like Rakim, Bodega Bamz also loves to rap and perform live.

Tego Calderón is speaking in Spanish, using a lot of Puerto-Rican slang (Tego is of course a Puerto-Rican Reggaeton artist).

“Oye” means “listen” or “look over here” in Spanish. “Mamar” means “to suck” and “bicho” is Puerto-Rican slang for “dick” or “cock”. “Dile” means “tell” or “tell him”. The way “deja de” is used means “stop” and “mentira” means “lie”. Therefore, these two lines translate to:

Listen, cocksucker (tell him!)
Stop lying

During Tego’s parts, he’s clearly targeting snitches in the hood.