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What does “les p'tits caïds” stand for in the sentence “trafiquent les p'tits caïds et puis les gros bonnets”?

My fast Google search shows it's supposed to mean “something not important” but maybe it has some other meaning in French.

Context: lyrics of On pense tous monnaie monnaie Scred Connexion.

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  • Ohhh, good old rap ! I love hearing a non-native French speaker listening to 'real' rap. Dec 1, 2017 at 13:50

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In French a "caïd" is a gang leader of dealers, thieves and other shady stuff but not in big organisations like mafia.

Historically Qaid means “chief” in arabic but the word has been deformed : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaid

In this music, it's a contrast with "les gros bonnets", who are important people thanks to finance, their job position or the mafia.

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  • hm ,that makes me even more confused, what does it mean "trafiquent" in this context, "to spoof" or something? Dec 1, 2017 at 11:30
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    Ceux qui trafiquent: les p'tits caïds et puis les gros bonnets -> "Those who smuggle: small gang leaders and bigwigs"
    – jlliagre
    Dec 1, 2017 at 11:39

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