JAY-Z

Released: November 6, 2007

Songwriter: JAY-Z Diddy Deleno Matthews Levar Coppin Rudy Love

Producer: Sean C & LV Diddy

[Produced by Diddy, Sean C & LV]

[Verse 1]
Sweeeet... and still there's pain (pain, pain, pain...)
If I would have grew up to be a doctor
My nephews would have grew up to do the same (same, same...)
But since I grew up through the game
And my influence is the same
And my therapy is music
They ask if you ashamed (ashamed...)
And though I wish I could separate the two things
I cannot so my answer to you remains
I can walk down the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles
And be so satisfied when I look myself in the eyes
No shame, no sir
Just big boats and tearing the coast up
Tight coupes like I'm wearing the roadster
For any coupe, bear-hugging the holster

[Chorus]
Hov', alright al-right
And it may not be what you call perfect, but
But it's my life (uh)
The life (uh-uh), the life (uh-uh), the life
Once again it's the life

[Verse 2]
So I make no apologies, crooked policies
So a G a nigga gotta be
We playing for property, no Monopoly
So I'll pass go and let my nephew follow me
They say the child shall lead
So I take it far as I can and then we shall see
Shall we dance with the devil for a beat
I pray to God I ain't got two left feet
Do the hustle put keys in the street
Then I'm ballroom dancing
Ke-ke'in in the suite
Sweet, BB's on the feet
TV's in the seat, ene-mies on the creep
It's so corrupt
Soak it up, it's a lesson, every fuck up
One day you're up
Next day you're down
Long as you stay the same it'll come back around

[Chorus]
Hov', alright al-right
And it may not be what you call perfect, but
But it's my life (uh)
The life (uh-uh), the life (uh-uh), the life
Once again it's the life

[Verse 3]
I'm even better
I'm eating better
Best thing about it is
My niggas eating together
With each endeavor, we reaching levels
Niggas ain't seen in like forever
I'm Hyman Roth, so made all my partners rich
I can't vouch for you
If you ain't a part of this
So pardon me as I pave my wrist, uh
As I parlay my chips
Hov', alright al-right
American gangster, gangster
Businesses like I'm white
But I'm not, I'm just bright
So fly with no fear of the flight, uhh
So if y'all hear my plight
And if you think you can make it this far without a fight
Couple mistakes here and there
Not always right, but I'm always real
That's how I sleep at night

[Chorus]
Hov', alright al-right
And it may not be what you call perfect, but
But it's my life (uh)
The life (uh-uh), the life (uh-uh), the life
Once again it's the life

[Outro]
Sweeeet...

Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, and holding the solo artist record of 14 Billboard 200 #1 albums, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter is possibly the most talented, accomplished and respected rapper of all-time. He has released 13 studio albums and five collaborative albums over his 30-year career.

Three of his albums, Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album, are considered landmarks in the genre, with all of them featured in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Hov has won 21 Grammy Awards from sixty-four nominations, making him the 10th most awarded artist of all-time.

Legendary for never writing down his lyrics, JAY-Z’s flow is considered one of the greatest to grace the genre, his wordplay and metaphorical ability is unmatched, and his live shows push the envelope of what it means to be a hip hop artist. His MTV Unplugged appearance introduced the idea of having a full band (The Roots) backing up a hip hop artist at major concerts, and during his 2004 documentary Fade to Black he doubled down, selling out Madison Square Garden (in mere minutes) while featuring an enormous live band performance.

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