[Intro: Jay-Z & (Funkmaster Flex)]
I been crushing the building since Izod socks
So independent, sh..I might buy Koch
I might not stop
Places to cop, seventy-six floors, you can call me the Doc
Say when, say when
(When!)

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Inspired by Basquiat, my chariot's on fire
Everybody took shots, hit my body up, I'm tired
Build me up, break me down to build me up again
They like: "Hov, we need you back so we can kill your ass again"
"Hov got flow though he's no Big and Pac, but he's close"
How I'm 'posed to win? they got me fightin' ghosts
Same sword they knight you they gon' good night you with
Sh.., Thats' only half if they like you
That ain't even the half what they might do
Don't believe me, ask Michael
See Martin, see Malcolm
You see Biggie, see Pac, see success and its outcome
See Jesus, see Judas; see Caesar, see Brutus
See success is like suicide
Suicide, it's a suicide
If you succeed, prepare to be crucified
Media meddles, n***as sue you, you settle
Every step you take, they remind you you ghetto
So it's tough bein' Bobby Brown
To be Bobby then, you gotta be Bobby now
Now the question is, is to have had and lost
Better than not having at [all]
[Verse 2: Jay-Z]
Everybody wanna be the King then shots ring
You layin' on your balcony with holes in your dream
Or you Malcolm X-d out, get distracted by screams
Everybody get your hand off my jeans
Everybody look at you strange, say you changed
Uhh! Like you work that hard to stay the same
Uhh! Game stays the same, the name changes
So its best for those to not overdose on being famous
Most kings get driven so insane
That they try to hit the same vein that Kurt Cobain did
No dangers, so shameless
Invited to the inner sanctum of your chambers
Low chain 'em as the enemies approach
So raise your draw bridge and drown them in the moat
And the Spirit I'm evoking
Hold on

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
Everybody screaming they want the old Hov
But the new improved Hov hit like Albert Pujols
Everybody wanna hear me talk that money like Phil Rizzuto
But my mind is on Pluto
Bills that I do fold, I now invest on
Trying to find some loopholes in the IRS
As where I used to have a few hoes, I am just
Concentrating on making a new Hov through sex
I've awakened just in time to school those putos
Trying to follow in my shoes with jewels froze
Better adhere to this text 'fore you go
Broke, spending more than you've accrued on silly baguettes
I know silly begets silly you'll learn on your own
At least my conscience is clear, I'm no longer steering you wrong
Ain't nothing wrong with baguettes after you get a home
Take care of your home, you can go back and—ugh!
[Verse 4: Jay-Z]
I'm getting courted by the bosses
The Edgars And Doug Morris-es-es
Jimmy I's and Lyors-es -- it's
Gotta be more than the choruses
They respecting my mind now
Just a matter of time now
Operation: Takeover Corporate
Makeover offices-es-es then takeover all of it
Please may these words be recorded
To serve as testimony that I saw it all before it
Came to fruition, sort of a premonition
Uncontrollable hustler's ambition
Alias Superstition, like Stevie
The writing's on the wall like my lady, right baby?
Saw it all before, some of y'all thought I was crazy, maybe
Like a fox, I'm cagey, ah-ah
The more successful, the more stressful
The more and more I transform to Gordon Gekko
In the race to a billion got my face to the ceiling
Got my knees on the floor, please Lord forgive him
Has he lost his religion, is the greed gon' get him?
He's having heaven on earth, will his wings still fit him?
I got the Forbes on my living room floor
And I'm still talking to the poor, n***a I want more
TIME's most influential, was impressive
'Specially since I wasn't in the artist section
Had me with the builders and the titans
Had me right with Rupert Murdoch
Billionaire boys and some dudes you never heard of
Word up on Madison Ave is I'm a cash cow
Word down on Wall Street, homie, you get the cash out
IPO Hov, no need for reverse merger
The boy money talk no need to converse further
The baby blue Maybach like I own Gerber
Boardroom I'm lifting ya skirt up