Vol. 2 - Hard Knock Life

[jay-z]

Yeah, un huh, watch this y'all, come on,watch this y'all, jigga
Roc-a-fella ya'll, uhhhh, come on yea !

[kid capri}

It's kid capri and jay-z, it's kid capri and jay-z
Cause i'm like that yo ! cause i'm like that yo !

Verse one: jay-z


As a young and dumb man, gun in the waist
Sold crack to those who couldn't take the pain
And had to numb it with baste
Couldn't drink the henny straight, i needed somethin to chase
I needed something to chase
Nowadays i throw shots back,leavin nothin to waste
Life is like a treadmill, niggas runnin in place
Gettin nowhere fast, a whole year done past
I vowed to never stop winin, 'til the earth stop spinnin
Rock hot lenin, cop hot cars and hot women
If it's not him then you got it confused, y'all not remembering,
My motto is simply i will not lose, abide by the block rules,
I buy my glock used, wit bodies on it, let me know anybody want it ?
I'm raised, illrational, way misunderstood,
If you ain't live like i live then run with the hood
I done what i could, to come up with this paper 'til this day still
Run with the hood, guess it's part of my nature, if hell awaits ya ?
Nigga i'm coming with the razors, still flashin ya shit
Try to pass me in a six, tight classy on the wrist
Every bit of 30 karats, this is not a game
This isn't why i came, make these words find a spot on your brain
And burn, then i recycle my life
I shall return

Chorus: female voice and jay- z

[woman]

How tight is your flow ?

[jay-z]

Cause i'm like that yo !

[woman]

How right is your dough ?

[jay-z]

Cause i'm like that yo !

[woman]

How white is your blow ?

[jay-z]

Cause i'm like that yo !


[woman]

Only writers you know

[jay-z]

Cause i'm like that

Verse 2: jay-z

I'm a hop, skip, a jump, from rippin the pump
Spittin a couple of curse words, and hittin you chump
Shit, i get digits in lumps, i'm a motherfucking problem is this what you want
?
Overachiever, i love chicks that puff chiva,
And reefer paper, i hate the one's that blow up ya beeper
Cause i, go in ya deeper, i only bone divas
Inpregnate the world when i "cum" through your speakers [ha ha]
Fuck hot my records got the fever
Niggas kick dirt, get ya whole block sweeped up
I creep up when the beef heats up, caught him with his feet up
And shoes off, bout to snooze off
Hatin, cause you can't turn the booze off
You dudes is too soft, when i fuck with you all
I might bark your ex, and spit at the locks
But, other than that i ain't even fucking with cats
Just me tied b.i., thug it like that, me,dame and biggs
What's fuckin with that ?
Y'all can never diss jigga, get nothing for that
Other then a couple slugs in ya back,[huh huh]
Rappers y'all runnin around, like i won't gun ya down
Last nigga that fronted, two spun him around
Lord, except this offer here's somethin for your crown
I admit no malice, i just met his challenge, in one

Chorus : repeat 3x

[jay-z]: repeat 2x til fade

Girls and guns, all i want
Stock exchange, rocks and thangs

[jay-z]
Yeah...
Come experience... life as we know it
As some of you should know it, yeah, yeah
Place, marcy, brooklyn
Actions... well, y'all know the actions

Uhh, i got this shorty on my block always clockin my rocks
He likes the style and profile i think he wanna mock
He likes the way i walk, he sees my money talkin
To honies hawkin i'm the hottest nigga in new york and
I see his hunger pains, i know his blood boils
He wanna, run with me, i know this kid'll be loyal
I watched him make a few ends, to cop his little sneakers and gear
Then it's just enough for re-up again
I see myself in his eyes, i moved from levi's
To guess to versace, now it's diamonds like liberace
That's just the natural cycle, nobody wanna be like michael
Where i'm from, just them niggaz who banned from a gun
We out here trying to make hard white into cohhhhld green
I can help shorty blow out like afro-sheen
Plus i can relive my days of youth which is gone
That little nigga's peeps, it's time to put him on

Chorus: jay-z and memphis bleek

It's time to come up (and hold my own weight, defend my crown)
Gots to lock it down and when they rush (stand my ground)
It's time to come up (stick up my chest, and make some loot)
Gots to lock it down and when they rush (stand on my own two)

[memphis bleek]
I'm out here slingin bringin the drama, tryin to come up
In the game and add a couple of dollar signs to my name
I'm out here servin disturbin the peace, life could be better
Like my man reclined in plush leather seats
He's sellin weight, i'm sellin eight... balls
Sixteen tryin to graduate to pushin quarters y'all
I ain't gon' sweat him i'ma let him come to me
If he give me the nod then these niggaz gon' see
I'm tired of bein out here round the clock
And breakin day, and chasin crackers up the block for my pay
I'm stayin fresh, so chickens check
I'm tryin to step up to the next level, pushin vettes to the jets
Diamonds reflect from the sun, directly in your equilibirum
And stunned i'm waitin for my day to come
I got the urge, to splurge, i don't wanna lifetime sentence
Just give me the word

Chorus

[jz] hey fella i been watchin you clockin
[mb] who me holdin down this block it ain't nothin
You the man nigga now stop frontin
[jz] hahahh i like your style
[mb] nah, i like yo' style
[jz] let's drive around awhile
[mb] cool nigga
[jz] here's a thou'
[mb] a g? i ride witchu for free
I want the longterm riches and bitches
[jz] have it all; now listen to me
You let them other niggaz get the name, skip the fame
Ten thou' or a hundred g keep yo' shit the same
[mb] on the low?
[jz] yeah, the only way to blow
You let your shit bubble quietly
[mb] and then you blow!
[jz] hey keep your cool
The only way to peep a fool is let him show his hand
Then you play your cards
[mb] then he through dealin i understand
[jz] don't blow your dough on hotties
[mb] the only thing i got in this world is my word and my nuts
And won't break em for nobody!
[jz] hah, i like resume, pick a day, you can start
[mb] from now until death do us part...

Chorus 2x

[jay-z] uh-huh
[$hort] that's right
[jay-z] uh-huh-uh, it was all good just a week ago
[$hort] last week i had everything
[jay-z] uh, uh-huh-uh, had this all good just a week ago
[$hort] i had the money.. had the cars, the bitches
[jay-z] uh-huh, yeah, it was all good just a week ago
[$hort] and the jewelry..
And then my motherfuckin niggaz started snitchin
[jay-z] uh-huh, uh uh, yo
[$hort] beyotch!

Verse one: jay-z

Growin up in the hood just my dog and me
We used to hustle in the hood for, all to see
Problems, i called on him, he called on me
We wasn't quite partners, i hit him off my p
Met him unlocked doors, off my keys
Yeah we spoke, much more than cordially
Man he broke bread with me, my business spreads with me
The feds came to get me, we both fled quickly
Wasn't quick enough to jump over the hedges with me
Got caught, and that's when our relationship strayed
Used to call me from the joint til he ran out of change
And when he called collect and i heard his name
I quickly accepted, but when i reached the phone
He's talkin reckless, i can sense deceit in his tone
I said, "damn dawg, what, nine weeks and you're home?"
He said, "main man, you think shit's sweet cause you're home."
I just sat, spat no more speech in the phone
The crackers up there bleachin your dome, you're reachin
I said, "the world don't stop i've got to keep keep on."
From there i sensed the beef was on
I ran to the spot, store to add some more features to my phone
To see if i had bugs and leeches on my phone
Can't be too safe cause niggaz is two-faced
And they show the other side when they catch a new case
It's on

Chorus: too $hort, jay-z

It was cool when you had hella weed to smoke
And you bought a new home where you could keep the folks
I don't see how this side of you could be provoked
(uh-huh, uh-huh, it was all good just a week ago)

Funny what, seven days can change
A stand up nigga, now you sit down to aim
Used to have a firm grip now you droppin names
Uh-huh, uh-huh (it was all good just a week ago)

Verse two: jay-z

Like i put the toast to your head and made you sell
We both came in this game, blind as hell
I did a little better, had more clientele
Told you put away some cheddar now you cryin for bail
Seventeen and i'm holdin on to around a mill
I could bail out and blow trial and come around on the pill
Had niggaz thinkin i was from uptown for real
I had so much hustle plus i was down to ill
Like a brooklyn nigga, straight out of brownsville
Down and dirty, down to fight the round thirty
Freezin on them corners still holdin my crack
Lookin up and down the block, the fuck is the dough at?
Came from flat broke to lettin the dough stack
You tell them feds i said i'm never goin back
I'm from marcy, and marcy don't raise no rats
You know the consequences of your acts, you can't be serious

Chorus

Verse three: jay-z

The lawyer i retained you said you leakin some things
All this after a week in the bang
I'm mad at myself cause i didn't spot the weak and lame
I woulda bet the house you wouldn't speak a thang
Nigga this was the oath, to the top of broke
Even pricked our finger, anything that got between us
We sposed to cock the ninas, what happened to that?
Instead you copped out to a misdemeanor
Fuck it, the same thing make you laugh make you cry
That's right, the same game that make you mad could make you die
It's a dice game, and sometimes you crap
Who woulda thought you'd get popped one time and rap?
Now you know that's bad when your sister is mad
And your son gotta grow up like, "this is my dad?"
The labelling of a snitch is a lifetime scar
You'll always be in jail nigga, just minus the bars

Chorus

[too $hort]
Shit is crazy man
All these niggaz out here snitchin
We was one step away from takin this crack money
And recyclin it through the ghettoes
And buildin back up our own hoods
Now all you niggaz start snitchin on each other
I got partners doin 15-20
Wouldn'ta been doin shit
If you didn't snitch
Beyotch!
It's about time y'all check that shit out man
It ain't all good
Shut your mouth
Just watch the game
And don't snitch
It sure will do a lot for you
Believe that baby
Jay-z, short dawg's in the house main
You know i got it
Got it goin on
We got the money
Ain't got nuthin to do with crime baby
But i'm recognizing

[jay-z]
You rat bastard!

[jay-z]
What? well fuck you... bitch

Bounce wit me, wit me, wit me wit me
Can you bounce wit me, bounce wit me, wit me wit me
Can you bounce wit me, bounce wit me, ge-gi-gi-gi-gi-gi
Can you bounce wit me, bounce wit me, ye-ye-yeah

Uh-huh uh-huh bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Can ya can ya can ya bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Ya-yah-yah, ya-ya-yah-yeah bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Ge-gi, ge-gi-gi-gi-geyeah bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Get it!

Verse one: jay-z

Can i hit in the morning
Without givin you half of my dough
And even worse if i was broke would you want me?
If i couldn't get you finer things
Like all of them diamond rings bitches kill for
Would you still roll?
If we couldn't see the sun risin off the shore of thailand
Would you ride then, if i wasn't droppin?
If i wasn't ah, eight figure nigga by the name of jigga
Would you come around me or would you clown me?
If i couldn't flow futuristic would ya
Put your two lips on my wood and kiss it - could ya
See yourself with a nigga workin harder than 9 to 5
Contend with six, two jobs to survive, or
Do you need a balla? so you can shop and tear the mall up?
Brag, tell your friends what i bought ya
If you couldn't see yourself with a nigga when his dough is low
Baby girl, if this is so, yo..

Chorus: repeat 2x

[jay-z] can i get a fuck you
To these bitches from all of my niggaz
Who don't love hoes, they get no dough
[amil] can i get a woop woop
To these niggaz from all of my bitches
Who don't got love for niggaz without thugs?

[amil] now can you bounce wit me, uhh
[jay-z] bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Can ya can ya can ya bounce wit me, bounce wit me
[amil] uh uh.. major coins, amil-lion
[jay-z] bounce wit me, bounce wit me
[amil] uhh, yo bounce wit me
[jay-z] can ya can ya can ya bounce wit me, bounce wit me
[amil] yeah, uh-uh uh uh

Verse two: amil

You ain't gotta be rich but fuck that
How we gonna get around your bus pass
Fo' i put this pussy on your mustache
Can you afford me, my niggaz breadwinners, never corny
Ambition makes me, so horny
Not the fussin and the frontin
If you got nuttin, baby boy, you betta
"git up, git out and get somethin" shit!
I like a, lot of p-rada, alize and vodka
Late nights, candlelight, then i tear the cock up
Get it up i put it down erytime it pop up, huh
I got to snap em, let it loose, then i knock ya
Feel the juice, then i got ya, when you produce a rocka
I let you meet momma and introduce you to poppa
My, coochie remains in a gucci name
Never test my patience nigga, i'm high maintenance
High class, if you ain't rollin, bypass
If you ain't holdin, i dash yo

Chorus

[jay-z] now can you bounce for me, bounce for me
[ja] uhh
[jay-z] can ya can ya can ya bounce wit me, bounce wit me
[ja] uhh!
[jay-z] gi-gi-gi-geyeah-geyeah
[jay-z] can ya bounce wit me, bounce wit me
[ja] uhh!
[jay-z] gi-gi-gi-gi can ya bounce wit me, bounce wit me
[ja] uhh! yeah

Verse three: ja (rule)

It ain't even a question
How my dough flows, i'm good to these bad hoes
Like my bush wet and undry like damp clothes
What y'all niggaz don't know, it's eazy, to pimp a hoe
Bitches betta have my, money fo' sho'
Before they go, runnin they mouth, promotin half
I be dickin they, back out, go 'head, let it out
I fucks with my gat out, bounce and leave a hundred
Makin em feel, slutted even if they don't want it
It's been so long
Since i met a chick ain't on my tips but then i'm
Dead wrong, when i tell em be gone
So hold on to the feelin of flossin and platinum
Cause from now on, you can witness ja the i-con
With hoodies and timbs on, cause i thugs my bitches
Veve, studs my bitches, then we rob bitch niggaz
I'm talkin bout straight figures if you here, you wit us
If not boo, you know what, i still fucked you

Chorus

[jay-z]
Now can you bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Ge-gi, ge-gi-gi-gi bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Wit me wit me wit me bounce wit me, bounce wit me
Bounce, bitch, bounce.. wit me wit me wit me wit me
Can ya bounce wit me wit me
Ge-gi, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh
Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh
Can ya bounce wit me bounce wit me
Geyeah

Uh uh
So so def
Yeah, yeah

Chorus: jermaine dupri and jay-z

[jermaine dupri]
In the ferrari or jaguar, switchin four lanes
With the top down screamin out
Money ain't a thang

[jay-z]
Bubble hard in the double r flashin the rings
With the window cracked, holler back
Money ain't a thang

[jermaine dupri]
Jigga, i don't like it if it don't gleam clean
And to hell with the price
Cause the money ain't a thang

[jay-z]
Put it down hard for my dogs that's locked in the bang
When you hit the bricks, new whips
Money ain't a thang

[jermaine dupri]
Come on, y'all wanna floss wit us
Cause all across the ball we burn it up
Drop a little paper, baby toss it up
Ya slackin on your pimpin, turn it up
See the money ain't a thang

[jay-z]
I flex the rol', sign a check for yo' hoe
Jigga's style is love, x and o
Save all your accolades, just the dough
My game is wide, all lames aside
Tryin to stay alive, hundred thou' for the bracelet
Foolish, ain't i? the chain'll strain ya eye
Twin platinum gun son, aim for the sky
Ice on my bullet, you die soon as i pull it
Willies wanna rub shoulders, your money's too young
See me when it gets older, ya bank account grow up
Mine's is one-zero-zero-zero-zero-oh-doub'
Damn near out the rear trunk when i roll up
Multi til i close up, it's all basic
I been spending hundreds since they had small faces
Rob your stash house, doubled out down in vegas
Me and jermaine dupri got it locked crazy
Where you at haters?

Repeat 1

[jermaine dupri]
My cake thick, i live the life
Eatin' crab, watching bitches shake shit all night
I make the big moves, do the big things
Take small groups, turn them into big names
The big dog with the big chain, frost bit bracelet to match
Cats say i'm the shit man
The type of nigga that you need in yo' crew
Type of dude that will do shit you won't do, can't do
Get more burnt than a candle
Too hot to hold, too much to handle
In the black c-low, he know if she look
She go bye-bye with da-da and i ain't gotta say no more
I'm the truth like air, got the proof and stay fly
In the safest shit you could never buy
Know why? cause i write the songs that the whole world sing
I don't know bout y'all but every night i swing

Repeat 1

[jay-z]
Ya'll shit ain't for real til y'all ship a mil'
And ya hit a r&b chick and she fit the bill
Said she loved my necklace, started relaxin
Now that's what the fuck i call a chain reaction
Went from wholesome to jigga, you owed some
Baby, i don't play all my jewelry is light grey
Platinum, spend your whole life in the day
What's down is a bet, roll the dice

[jermaine dupri]
Yeah, yeah, so let's play
So what, you went gold and rock a roley with the ice bezel
It's gonna take a lot more to see my level
Where i'm at, your check, you better double that
And personally your raps is where the trouble at
I'm a benz bubble cat, leather with the wood grain
In the platinum frame screaming it's not a game
Gleaming, from ear to ear, wrist to wrist, ring and chain
Even me and jay-z got it locked, crazy

Repeat chorus

So so def, roc-a-fella, collabo'
You know, all we do is rock
Rock on

Jay-z:
Bounce if you wanna bounce, ball if you wanna ball
Play if you wanna play, floss if you wanna floss
It's alright, you heard?, it's alright, holla back
Get ill if you wanna ill, smoke if you wanna smoke
Kill if you wanna kill, loc if you wanna loc
It's alright, you heard? it's alright, yeah yeah

I need a ho in my life to blow on my dice
So we can make our points twice and skate out a town
I need that glow in my ice, e-class
Ladies screamin jigga you know we ease that, flowin out like jees-ass
Jay-z and me holdin the mic
So when you like you find mc's so impolite
And me i'm so into nice, got cats on the corner like
Don't me and jigga be flowin alike?
Nah, not in your life ain't nobody copin like
Mr. jay-z, shit you're crazy
I'm hot like the six maybe, deep dish with the great seats
I flow greater than you're navigator
I drop in you're town, block you're data
Pimps all comin through with a hot pair of gators
And a crew with rocks the size of craters
Can't touch like hot potatoes, ya heard?

Bounce if you wanna bounce, ball if you wanna ball
Play if you wanna play, floss if you wanna floss
It's alright, you heard?, it's alright, holla back
Get ill if you wanna ill, smoke if you wanna smoke
Kill if you wanna kill, loc if you wanna loc
It's alright, you heard? it's alright, holla back

Memphis bleek:
In the middle of a war rockin a vest
Who's the illest shorty alive, i confess
I take nine to the chest and i swear to the heaven sky's, i bless
The mics until the day i rest, till they can feel what i feel
I'ma try my best, and if you real like i real
You can provide the rest
Anything left out, you can blame it on the brain, not the heart
I'm playing my part, stretched out, just about the best out
Any nigga realer than me, is in a messhall with their chest out
Any rapper with less clout, sell more records than me
We extort them as soon as they record 'em, bleek
My name is clear, back when a shorty used to braid my hair
On the project stairs, once i drop to a ceaser ma i don't need ya
>from the block to the hot two-seaters

Jay-z:
Bounce if you wanna bounce, ball if you wanna ball
Play if you wanna play, floss if you wanna floss
It's alright, you heard?, it's alright, holla back
Get ill if you wanna ill, smoke if you wanna smoke
Kill if you wanna kill, loc if you wanna loc
It's alright, you heard? it's alright, check

On the two jew-el's i blew more money than latrell, who else?
They don't know you, think they know you too well, you jell
Like flubber i hover above the city in a private jet, the livest set
Press you're brakes, feds wanna investigate, mr. i don't cop nothin
Less than eight, and anything involved with my name
Regardless of the fame
It's hard, i can't even walk through harlem again,
Charge it to the game, i'm platinum like american express
My boy died, and all i did was inherit his stress
To make every jam tougher, you ain't my man fuck ya
I suggest let you live right? negative, i swear
It's dough or die, i hope your soul provides you with an afterlife
Close you're casket tight
Take you're last two deep breaths and pass the mic
To jay-z nigga, that's right!!

Bounce if you wanna bounce, ball if you wanna ball
Play if you wanna play, floss if you wanna floss
It's alright, you heard?, it's alright, holla back
Get ill if you wanna ill, smoke if you wanna smoke
Kill if you wanna kill, loc if you wanna loc
It's alright, you heard? it's alright