Like Shad notes throughout the song, this song/project is a classic. He compares the classicness of this joint to an old cassette of legendary DJ/co-producer of this track DJ Jazzy Jeff mixing together tracks with his classic DJ flare. Classic, indeed.

Sampling Kanye’s song of the same name featuring Rakim, KRS-One, Nas & DJ Premier.

Sampling Lil Fame of M.O.P. off of Cormega’s “Let It Go”, on his 2004 album Let It Go.

Sampling Jay-Z on his song “Public Service Announcement” off of his 2003 classic The Black Album.

Sampling a Jay-Z line from “The Return (Remix)” from Jay-Z and R. Kelly’s 2004 collaborative album Unfinished Business.

Shad has known to be lazy, and the biggest one to point this out is Shad. He has mentioned it in a few songs, but at this point in his life and his career he finally pushes himself to get up and do something with his time, showing an older and more mature Shad.

Using (or not using) the metaphor of a race to describe the social hierarchy between different races. While people aren’t acting like race is a race, white people are still ahead and beating black people.

Stephon Marbury is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for the Beijing Ducks. He was a 2-time NBA All-Star while playing for the National Basketball Association. These young men with no hope look up to basketball players, idolizing them, while they subconsciously gave them the hope to aspire to become something more than the streets allow.

Back in the late-80s and 09s, SEGA Genesis ruled the gaming world. To get the game going, you had to blow on the cartridge to remove the dust. XO describes his trouble being caught up in “the system”, or the government’s plan for society, like blowing on a cartridge before putting it in the SEGA gaming system.