1) The literal story of the guy coming back from his grave. He obviously never lived a decent life, ignored his family (the note from his sister) and was involved in drug dealing.
2) The moral side - The chorus gives it away on this one away - "Life goes passing you by" and "chasing the cool".
Life is short and you should make what you can of it. If you keep trying to chase the cool (image) then chances are you end up like the guy in the story. Not satisfied with where you are, not living a great life.
Keep in mind that lupe is also religous. When the guy says "no heaven for a gangsta" it might be lupe's way of saying bad deeds in this life dont allow satisfaction in the next i.e. you're doomed to repeat your mistakes and relive your failures (possible reference to reincarnation?) However, that depends on your personal view, as in whether you're religous or not, but Lupe definitely is.
I thought when The Cool said "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster" it was a reference to the last (rap) line in 'The Die', where his 'friend' says "remember my nigga, 'its a heaven for a G'", implying the Cool has learned from his mistakes (in trusting the guy who set him up). Then again, i've only listened to it a couple of times - still, mine is just an explanation of what it meant to The Cool and not the message Lupe was trying to get across. So you're probably right anyway :)
I thought when The Cool said "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster" it was a reference to the last (rap) line in 'The Die', where his 'friend' says "remember my nigga, 'its a heaven for a G'", implying the Cool has learned from his mistakes (in trusting the guy who set him up). Then again, i've only listened to it a couple of times - still, mine is just an explanation of what it meant to The Cool and not the message Lupe was trying to get across. So you're probably right anyway :)
There are two sides to this coin:
1) The literal story of the guy coming back from his grave. He obviously never lived a decent life, ignored his family (the note from his sister) and was involved in drug dealing.
2) The moral side - The chorus gives it away on this one away - "Life goes passing you by" and "chasing the cool". Life is short and you should make what you can of it. If you keep trying to chase the cool (image) then chances are you end up like the guy in the story. Not satisfied with where you are, not living a great life. Keep in mind that lupe is also religous. When the guy says "no heaven for a gangsta" it might be lupe's way of saying bad deeds in this life dont allow satisfaction in the next i.e. you're doomed to repeat your mistakes and relive your failures (possible reference to reincarnation?) However, that depends on your personal view, as in whether you're religous or not, but Lupe definitely is.
I thought when The Cool said "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster" it was a reference to the last (rap) line in 'The Die', where his 'friend' says "remember my nigga, 'its a heaven for a G'", implying the Cool has learned from his mistakes (in trusting the guy who set him up). Then again, i've only listened to it a couple of times - still, mine is just an explanation of what it meant to The Cool and not the message Lupe was trying to get across. So you're probably right anyway :)
I thought when The Cool said "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster" it was a reference to the last (rap) line in 'The Die', where his 'friend' says "remember my nigga, 'its a heaven for a G'", implying the Cool has learned from his mistakes (in trusting the guy who set him up). Then again, i've only listened to it a couple of times - still, mine is just an explanation of what it meant to The Cool and not the message Lupe was trying to get across. So you're probably right anyway :)