What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Diamond D is a producer and rapper who, the year after this song’s release, would put out his classic album Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

“Midnight Train to Georgia” was a 1973 number one single for Gladys Knight & the Pips. It has become Knight’s signature song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdfZnWsps34

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Showbiz produced almost the entire album, including this song, by himself, with two assists by Diamond D

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Prior to the album on which this song appears, Runaway Slave, Showbiz & A.G. released their debut recording, an E.P. called Soul Clap

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Show gives a nod to MC Breed and DFC’s 1991 hit single “Ain’t No Future in Yo' Frontin'”. Note the near-homophone of “breathe” and “Breed”

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Show gives a shout-out to the pro wrestlers of old (ancient even at the 1992 date of this song’s release) – 1960’s and 70’s legend Bruno Sammartino, 1970’s and 80’s star “The Polish Hammer” Ivan Putski, and the “Black Superman”, Tony Atlas (pictured below):

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Showbiz here makes another reference to a then-hit song – in this case, Nice & Smooth’s 1991 jam “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow”

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

“Diggin' in the crates” here has a dual meaning. It refers to the actual act of crate digging – i.e., going through record stores to search for rare or unusual records to sample; and to the Diggin' in the Crates Crew, the Bronx-based hip-hop collective to which Diamond, Show, and A.G. all belonged, along with Big L (one of the few non-Bronx natives affiliated with the collective), Fat Joe, Lord Finesse, O.C., and Buckwild

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Diamond is punning here on the name of Quincy Jones' Grammy-winning album Back on the Block, which featured guest appearances by artists ranging from Miles Davis to Ice-T

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

It seems extremely likely that this lyric was inspired by a Nas line on 1994’s “Life’s a Bitch,” released 5 months before “Big Poppa”:

I’m sayin', that’s what this is all about right?
Clothes, bankrolls and hoes
You know what I’m sayin'?

Nas himself acknowledged the influence in a 2014 Spotify interview:

That became the phrase—next thing you know Biggie said “money, clothes, and hoes, all a nigga knows.” It was just because those words rhyme together and they felt good together.

Jay Z’s 1998 underground hit “Money, Cash Hoes” was in turn influenced by Biggie’s line.

Big himself uses a similar line on “Niggas”:

Money, hoes, and clothes
Blunt smoke coming out the nose, is all a nigga knows

In 2011, Kendrick Lamar referenced the line on his track “Ab-Soul’s Outro”:

See a lot of y'all don’t understand Kendrick Lamar
Because you wonder how I could talk about money, hoes, clothes
God and history all in the same sentence

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.