Again, Tupac mixes his life story (his mother became addicted to crack and his life continued to deteriorate) with stories from the Bible. He then ties it all in by discussing the inherent conflict between his life on earth and the fact that God will judge him on Judgment Day, injecting a bit of borderline blasphemy: Doin wild shit, lookin at the sun don’t pay= He has to hustle to make a living. Literally looking at the sun, doing nothing won’t make him any money.

Looking at the sun is also used as a metaphor for praying to God for wealth. Tupac believes that sitting around waiting for God to just give you things won’t work , hence he has to keep a “criminal mind all the time…”=commit crimes for money until he is judged on Judgment Day.

One can take the line “lookin at the sun don’t pay” as a blasphemous statement, however, given he ends this thought with “wait for Judgment Day”, it is highly probable that Tupac is simply going against many religious people’s passivity when it comes to changing their life circumstances.

It is also important to note that he did believe in God in his real life. This is well documented in his many intimate interviews. In this song however, as he and many artists do, he is playing a character, which gives him the freedom to express these various feelings and contemplations about life, God and the black experience in America

Continuing with the theme of the song “blasphemy”, Tupac rails against the media for unjustly targeting him. He also simultaneously laments his suffering with that of all black men, but comparing him/them to Jesus. A clear reference to the fact that he and many other black males in the ghetto live in single mother households, he flips the negative stigma on its head by making the Jesus compairson

A common theme in Tupac’s songs is to rap about the harsh realities of the Ghetto. He often raps about being hopeless and speaks in terms of the world being very bad and filled with evil. A very deep line, Tupac wonders if we are already in “hell”, ie, we have all actually lived a life, been judged and sent to hell — but we don’t know it. We still think we are living on earth and have the chance to make it to Heaven, but in reality we are in Hell

A play on words: “blast for me” (shoot at my order)

“Akki” is arabic for “brother.” Philly has a strong Muslim presence in the black community. As such, the term “Akki” is used by Muslims and non-Muslims alike

Play on words “relapse” like a drug addict/relapse to the days of being a drug dealer, i.e. resorting to violence to settle disputes. This is a common theme for successful rappers who come from a tough background

PETA vs. Young Money?

Animal cruelty has control over dogs that are being abused. Wayne can control his opposition.

Birdman is a five star General in Cash Money and has a 2.1 million dollar Bugatti

If you’re not talking about doing big business then what’s the point of talking about business in the first place? Jay’s a hustler above all

Don’t just bop your head to this dope song, learn and pick up the wisdom he’s giving you