Blu is refering to J Dilla’s final album, Donuts, that he made while he was literally on his death-bed. Not a surprising reference, a lot of the beats Blu uses have obvious J Dilla influences, especially the ones by Exile.

In hip-hop production you dig through crates of old vinyl to look for songs to sample.

Also a possible reference to the D.I.T.C. (Diggin' In The Crates) Crew, which includes producer Lord Finesse. Joey even used his beat from Xperadó’s “All Night” for his track Funky Ho'$ on 1999.

This is Q-Tip’s real name. It is not his birth name. He changed his name from Jonathan Davis to Kamaal Ibn John Fareed when he converted to Islam in the mid 90s.

Those who grow up in the ghetto dream of glamour and riches. Referencing “Street Dreams” from Nas’s 1996 album It Was Written.

A reference to Slum Village. An underground Jazz Rap group from Detroit. It should be noted that their leader is famous producer Jay Dee. He is part of the Ummah and therefore dropped some beats on this album and Beats, Rhymes, and Life.

Black thought gives a shout out to all the different sections of Philly! (Except East Philly, because that doesn’t exist)

ATCQ are most certainly a hip-hop group. Jawn is a slang term originating in Philadelphia. It is basically a word you could substitute for any noun. Phife probably uses it to imply that they have everything hip-hop, so it doesn’t matter what word it put there.