[Verse 1: JAY-Z]
Y'all wanna know why he don't stop?
Y'all wanna know why he don't flop?
Let me tell you pe-people why
Came from the bottom of the block I
When I was born, it was sworn, I was never gon' be shit
Had to pull the opposite out this bitch
Had to get my ri-ide on
Eyes on the prize, Shawn knew I had to
Had to had to get these chips
Had to make moves like Olajuwon
Started out selling dimes and nicks
Graduated to a brick
No exaggeration, my infatuation with the strip
Legendary like a schoolboy
Crushin' merely nearly every every chick
Heavy shit – that's how schoolboy got whipped
And got left on some Just Me, Myself and I
On some Trugoy shit
Had to voyage to a place of, to a place of no return
Had to play with fire and get burned
Only way the boy ever gon' learn
Had to lay way in the cut, 'til I finally got my turn
Now I'm on top in the spot that I earned

[Chorus: JAY-Z]
It's my life, it's my pain and my struggle
The songs that I sing to you is my everything
Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst is the same as when I came
It's my joy and my tears
And the laughter it brings to me, it's my everything
[Verse 2: JAY-Z]
Like I never rode in a limo
Like I just dropped flows to a demo
Like it's '92 again and I got O's in the rental
Back in the Stu' again
No prob' livin' was a whole lot simple
When you think back, you thought that
You would never make it this far
Then you take advantage of the luck you handed
Or the talent you been given
Ain't no half steppin', ain't no, no slippin'
Ain't no different from a block that's hittin'
Gotta get it while the getting's good
Gotta strike while the iron's hot, before you stop
Then you gotta bid it, good riddance
Goodbye! This is my second major breakup
My first was with a pager
With a hooptie, a cookpot and the GAME
This one's with the stu', with the stage, with the fortune
Maybe not the fortune, but certainly the FAME

[Chorus: JAY-Z]
It's my life, it's my pain and my struggle
The songs that I sing to you is my everything
Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst is the same as when I came
It's my joy and my tears
And the laughter it brings to me, it's my everything
Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst like the first song I sang
[Outro: JAY-Z]
Woo, it's like the blues, we gon' ride out on this one
Ty-Ty, B-High
Yo High, remember you was making them baskets
For them n***as at radio and shit?
Clark Kent, that was good looking out, n***a
Carline, who ever thought we'd make it this far, homie?
Sha, they can't stop us, knahmsayin'?
Lenny S
Dame, whattup! Robbing the bank
N***as thought we was crazy, man, remember uhh
You had that fucked up ass handwriting
You was writing all the numbers that we was spending down
For the videos we was doing ourselves
(Ski, whattup? Original Flavor in the house)
Your accounting was crazy wrong and shit
But we still put it together
Biggs, whassup?
Member we went to St. Thomas and uh (John Meneilly)
Your dog peed on homie leg and shit
At his crib, I think that was Rudy
And they was having a lil trouble with the pool
You and Ty-Ty was laughing
Emory was there; whattup, Emory?
What up, Ty? Hip-Hop, whattup, man?
Aye, aye Hop, you ain't, you ain't have no uhh
You ain't have no muh'fuckin seat on your, on your bicycle
Now you're uhh, the head of black music
That's what I'm talking 'bout right there, homie
Gee, whattup, Gee?
Yessir, e'rybody in the Roc
Hey, Guru, I know you spoiled, man
I be taking them shits in one take
You gonna have to punch n***as' shit (?Snigity?)
You gon' be tight?
OG Juan, whattup? I'm a little upset that you wasn't involved in this whole process, but it's all good
Wassup, Dez?
My whole family, my nephew, cousin Angie, whassup? Ti-Ti
(Bey, Bey, Bey, Bey)
Mom, you made the album, how crazy is that?
Bobalob, rest in peace
My pops, rest in peace (Sup A.J.?)
Biggie Smalls, rest in peace
Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh
N***a, I'm bout to go golfing, man
Aye, I might even have me a cappuccino, fuck it!
I'm going somewhere nice where no mosquitoes at, n***a
Holla at me! It's your boy