This reference to a Biz Markie line off his song “The Vapors” is made elegiac by the subtle shifting of the original line to the past tense (“felt good”)

Continuing the diving metaphor above, Dice points out that there is no room for error in the street life. If your attempts flop at any point, you might just end up like Redford.

Continuing the metaphor even further, Redford cannot afford to flop if you want to want quench the hunger in your belly.

Redford’s brief burst of luck was itself like a drug addiction, leaving him with a need to search continuously for that sublime moment again

Adam Krims' excellent book discusses what he calls the “hip-hop sublime”, rap’s characteristic “dense combinations of musical layers”. He further elaborates that standard definitions of “the sublime”, especially Edmund Burke’s, emphasize that it “involves the simultaneous response of fear and pleasure”

Dice explicitly states here what had only been implicit before – that despite its many downsides, the street life provides its own incomparable thrills

See this note for further discussion of “the sublime”

There are two readings here – the first is the relatively straightforward one, with Redford as the high-living life of the party

Another, darker one is also possible. By “have a blast,” Thought-as-Redford is referring to blasting a gun, not having a good time. His victims say goodbye, and he says hello, for the first and last time because he’s not planning on seeing these people again. The lines about hellos and goodbyes are a reference to this Beatles song

“Stick to the script” has long been a meme rap idea, loosely meaning “don’t get out of place”. Phonte puns on a more literal meaning of phrase here, as improv is, of course, acting done without a script at all.

Life on the streets for these kids is laid out and planned from day one, to the point that it has become a routine that isn’t questioned (much like a script) while the kids that act out of place and try to take the road less traveled by often get ridiculed.