The victory lap is a term used in races that indicates the last lap of a race in which the first one has a big lead and receives the cheers of the crowd while he drives around.

In the following lines, Jay explains how to get him to start rapping again; with hindsight, we know Jay Z would come back on his own.

Also, the way Jay pronouncing the word “leaving” is a shout-out to John Denver’s famous song “Leaving on a Jet Plane”.

Furthermore, note how he initiates his last verse using the same rhyme he started the first verse with: “victory lap” and “riddle me that”.

Jay also samples the line “then I’m leavin'” from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Rap Promoter”.

When his friends ask him for hard drugs, Black Rob is so flabbergasted that he spits as he denies their request. I tend to stutter when I’m excited, too

Craig Mack was a New Jersey rapper affiliated with Bad Boy in the 90s. His biggest hit was “Flava in Ya Ear.” The remix featured the debut of the Notorious BIG who overshadowed him. He’s also responsible for one the most ironic lines in rap history:

You won’t be around next year
my rhymes too severe, kicking mad flavor in your ear

It’s ironic because he wasn’t around the next year!

Just as Poseidon is the king of the seas, Lupe is the king of the rap game and Chicago’s Westside. Seas/C’s (for Chicago) may be a double entendre.

Recall the earlier reference to Pegasus — Poseidon is Pegasus’s father (he sired him in his role as horse-god).

Snorkels help you breathe underwater. The rap game is the water and it takes a lot to survive it. Lupe says he can survive because his snorkel is as big as a tuba, the biggest instrument in the brass family.

Lupe is quite fond of the tuba, even describing it as the instrument he’d most like to play in “And He Gets the Girl”

This also the lowest pitched brass instrument which can be tied into the “excess depth” theme.

The first thing to note is that Lupe continues the heaven/earth bifurcation of the previous line, boasting that he flies underground. He is also calling himself “fly” and a “king” of the underground hip-hop scene, winning the respect of pimps across the land.

The second thing to note is the shout-out to Houston hip-hop legends UGK (Underground Kings). Pimp C was the group’s rapper-producer, and at the time of this song’s release he had just been released from prison. Moreover, as you see in the picture below, Pimp C’s logo features wings on either side.

The shout-out is eerie, as Pimp C died of a codeine overdose about three months after this song debuted, giving another layer to the wordplay since Lupe can be seen as depicting Pimp C with angel wings.

Ichabod Crane is a character from Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow who is chased from town by The Headless Horseman.

But Ichabod isn’t headless you say?

You’re right. But while Ichabod retains his head, he loses his nerve. He’s so scared of the Headless Horseman that he runs away from his life and the woman he loves, so in that sense, he has lost his head.