Circle can also be used as a synonym for clique. ‘My circle of friends’

Blue blood referes to royal family ties..ie.Blue bloods come from privileged, noble families that are wealthy and powerful. The word blood has long referred to family ties: people you are related to share the same blood…..so in this case Nas is saying he will stay true the game as long as him and his family ties remain strong which is basically when he dies.

Isn’t Nas a part of this group??? So I heard at least that he explains his on lyrics. I think only he can help us understand this verse since he is still alive. I’m looking at wide variety.

I don’t think Nas is a crip, I remember an interview with snoop where snoop said he was about to shoot nas because he pulled up in a tinted car wearing a red hoodie.

I don’t think Nas is a crip, I remember an interview with snoop where snoop said he was about to shoot nas because he pulled up in a tinted car wearing a red hoodie.

Also possible an Adam and Eve reference.

In line with ApyroG, I would note that the practice of pouring libations to memorialize or propitiate the dead was integral to many ancient cultures, including Greece, Rome, and the Jews in some contexts. How exactly this became incorporated into American black culture is uncertain, at least to this commentator, but to offer a wild guess, it may derive from African Americans' interactions with Catholicism and Islam, both of which have preserved aspects of Greco-Roman philosophy and custom in their rituals and philosophy. A better explanation would be appreciated though, as my own seems a bit far-fetched.

@genius-editorial-board
Blue blood is also an English idiom used for someone with noble birth or descent; in addition it’s also a translation of the Spanish phrase sangre azul, describing the Spanish royal family and other high noble men who claimed to be of Visigothic descent (a flourishing tribe during the late Roman Empire), in contrast to the Moors.

As most of us know, the Moors took the majority of Spain (and other countries) during the Middle Ages. In later years the name Moors is used in a derogatory way to insult North-Africans. Which may also explain the use of the snake in his sentence; referring to the Moorish Viper, which is a venomous viper found in Northwest Africa.

The rest is already explained in the annotation above. A snake in this context is a snitch, which means; having blue blood running through his veins (of a higher descent/a higher state of mind), Nas will not get involved with snakes (snitches).

I don’t know if this was intended to be used in this context, but this is genius nonetheless!

just a play on words too..
high school:Cooley High
no biggie. NaS really differentiates himself.

Double meaning. He dropped out, high, and gassed up

Cooley High was also an actual high school during that time period in Chicago that existed from 1958-1979, it’s safe to say that the film had some connection with the Chicago school, as the movie was filmed in Chicago

Double meaning again? Literally the guy was shot for his coat. But maybe he was also shot for coming across as a sheep (weak).

“Sheepskin clothing” (like from the phrase “a wolf in sheepskin clothing”) is when someone appears nonthreatening and blends with the masses. But on the streets you have to wear a wolf’s coat, looking weak will get you killed!