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Diggy is willing to respond to anything J. Cole throws at him. He doesn’t have time for back and forth friendly jabs.

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This a reference to “A Star Is Born” by Jay-Z. In that song, Jay-Z looks back at his career and how he is king. In doing so he also introduces J. Cole to the world (giving him a platform). J. Cole gained a tremendous amount of publicity after this verse. The hook says “Clap for em,” hence Diggy’s line about not clapping for Cole. .

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The uncut raw cocaine is pure. The uncut raw rap is the real hip-hop that isn’t commercialized. Both the substance and the music will have an addict convulsing, whether that is through muscle spasms induced by the drugs or dancing to whatever Jay’s latest street single is.

Slowly, over time, Jay takes over the area. He becomes the kingpin, controlling the block through either his cocaine dealership, or his musical abilities. Everyone driving past has Jay’s song on blast, and everyone is cruising his block to buy his drugs.

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The Wiz and Camelot are two defunct mom-and-pop’s record stores. The Wiz and Camelot is also mentioned in Nas' “One Time 4 Your Mind”.

This is how Jay “hustled” his music in the early stages of his career. From Decoded:

Back then they’d go to record stores – this is when New York record stores like Fat Beats and the spot on 125th Broadway still sold singles on consignment. They’d drop the single off and come back every couple of days to collect half the proceeds of what had been sold. They’d show up and collect $150, an amount that would have been toll money in a former life. Ty, B-High, and I were right in there too, in the stores, politiciking with retailers, and personally building relationships with DJs. It was do or die.

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Consignment refers to giving someone drugs to sell without paying for it upfront. If you get drugs on consignment you then have to sell the drugs and payback. This is very risky and not recommended. Peep Notorious B.I.G.’s “10 Crack Commandments.

Jay uses the concept of consignment to compare what rappers have at stake when they don’t produce a quality album/product. Record companies invest millions of dollars into artists and not producing could ultimately end up in that money being lost. This is similar to losing a shipment when on consignment.

We all know rap is a risky business.

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This line is a reference to another song on the album, “Ham ‘N’ Eggs”:

Chicken for lunch, chicken for my dinner
Chicken, chicken, chicken, I’m a finger lickin' winner

However, this lyric could be misunderstood due to the fact that this song comes before “Ham ‘N’ Eggs”. If this album is listened to by its tracklist, this line could puzzle a few.

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One Time is a slang term for the police.

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Vernon is a street in Long Island City, Queens. That is the location of Queensbridge, the housing projects that Nas is from.

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A car with no brakes doesn’t stop. Essentially Nas is saying that he is very industrious, so today he deserves celebration. Seems about right for a man on his tenth album.

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Nas hangs with former killers. However, this song is celebratory and all his homies are on chill mode, but they will kill if you put them in that “seat.” You shouldn’t test their queen roots.

Below is a picture of Nas' brother Jungle. In the Behind the Music documentary, Jungle says he once wanted to shoot 2pac. Peep the video below.

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

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