JAY-Z

Released: January 1, 2003

Songwriter: JAY-Z

Producer: Marley Marl

[Intro: Louis Farrakhan]
And out of the mercy of Allah and the law written in our nature
We call an individual into existence, and when that individual comes
I make no apologies for what I'm about to do...

[Verse: Jay-Z]
I'm America's worst nightmare
I'm young, black, and holdin' my nuts like "Chyeah!"
Y'all was in the pub, having a light beer
I was at the club, having a fight there
Y'all can go home, husband and wife there
My mama at work tryna buy me the right gear
Nine years old, uncle lost his life here
I grew up thinking life ain't fair
How can I get a real job? China white right there
Right in front of my sight like, "Here, yeah
There's your ticket out the ghetto—take flight right here
Sell me you go bye-bye here," damn!
There's a different set of rules we abide by here
You need a gun—niggas might drive by here
Y'all having fun, racing all your hotrods there
Downloading all our music on your iPods there
I'm Chuck D, standing in the crosshairs here
Y'all straight, chicks got horse hair here
Y'all ain't gotta be in fear of y'all bosses there
You lose your job, your pop rich, y'all don't care
So I don't care, y'all acting like y'all don't hear
All the screams from the ghetto, all the teens ducking metal here
So they steam like a kettle here
Tryna take they mind to a whole different level here
Yeah, we real close to devil here
Gotta be a better way; somebody call a reverend here
Yeah, y'all must really be in heaven there
Somebody tell God that we got a couple questions here
My lil' cuz never got to see his seventh year
And I'm so used to pain that I ain't even shed a tear
Yeah

[Outro: Mariah Carey]
Jay is like the epitome of the American Dream. I mean, he had to come up in a very difficult environment. Um... And he's—Like he said himself, he's been fighting all his life. And, um... He... has taken his talent and his creativity and gone to, like—I think he's probably done things that are pretty much unparalleled.

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.

more tracks from the album

The Hits Collection, Vol. One

From the albums

The S. Carter Collection (2003)
The Hits Collection, Vol. One (2010)

JAY-Z popular songs

Young Gifted and BlackJAY-Z

JAY-Z

The Hits Collection, Vol. One