D'Evils

"Throughout my junior high years it was all friendly, but now this higher learning got the Remy in me"

He has often said that he came from the school of hard knocks, so the first obvious interpretation of this lyric would be that his early introduction to the school or hard knocks was "junior high" where he didn't know much about how the streets worked. His vision was clouded by dreams and greed, both very exciting to a young hustler.

But as time went on and he lost friends or whatever, that excitement faded away and the danger got very real. To numb this pain, many street hustlers will turn to the very substance that drowned many of their clients whether it be crack or alcohol (Remy Martin)

But there is also a movie titled "Higher Learning" which is about tremendous racial strife on a college campus in the 90's. It was directed by John Singleton who was introduced to the cinematic world by his direction of "Boyz N The Hood" (another hood classic).

In this movie a young man named Remy finds himself lost on a college campus. He seemed to be "a pleasant guy all his f*ckin life" until he ran into a group of skinheads that he identified with and was thus accepted by and initiated into.

Now this higher learning got the Remy in me...

Ignorant Shit

"That's him. I'm usually what they whisper bout. Either what chick he with or his chip amount. Cause I been doin' this since chips was out. Watchin' Erik Estrada, baggin up at the Ramada, table full of powder, AC broke bout to take another shower, in my 25th hour. Spike Lees everywhere, game or the flight"

This is classic Jay. Knowing that he's under a watchful eye. People just can't seem to believe that he really has all that he has. He is the one who really started with the Cristal in the club, the sports cars, the yachts, the women, the chains, the money. He really had it and put it in his videos BEFORE anybody, period. Nowadays when you see somebody with all that in their videos it's rented.

On "A Million and One Questions" Jay-Z says from the perspective of an interviewer "Can you really match a triple platinum selling artist buck for buck by only a single going gold" Meaning did Jay really make as much money selling 500,000 singles as an artist selling 3 million albums? Yes, he did, if not more. This was due to the joint venture he set up with Def Jam.

He also says on the Go Crazy (Remix) "While Puff was in the tub spillin Mo (Moet), I was at my video, Cris (Cristal) on the speedboat. In my lifetime nigga, go do research, St. Thomas my nigga, that was me first"

But to get to the real killer in this line where he talks about Spike Lees. Spike Lee directed a film called 25th Hour about a man who is enjoying his final day of freedom before he goes to jail to serve a long term sentence for drug trafficking. Jay-Z in this quote is "baggin up at the Ramada", in other words, preparing to sell the drugs.

In addition to the movie reference, Jay is also saying that he has the best seats everywhere. On a flight, he's first class. At the game, he's courtside. There is also another person who is very famous for having good seats, particularly at Knick's basketball games. Spike Lee

Pray

"Look...mindstate of a gangster from the 40's meets the business mind of Motown's Berry Gordy. Turned crack rock into a chain of 40/40's. Sorry my jewelry's so gaudy"

It would be an understatement to say that Jay is a successful businessman. In this bragadocious statement of utmost proportions, Jay proves that not only is he the best, but he is the best at bragging.

From drug dealer beginnings to franchise owning milestones (becaues he's not close to the end) Jay has always had to come up with innovative ways to flash his success.

While on the streets, he probably donned the symbol of the era. In his hustling days the status symbol of choice no doubt was a fat gold chain. Today, if Jay had to rely on gold to signify his success, he would be draped in jewelry way beyond anything any human being should wear.

So instead, to signify his success he rocks another type of chain. A chain of successful restaurants/night clubs.

Sorry his jewelry is SO gaudy.

This Life Forever

"Over the years I seen rooks get tooken by the knight. Lose they crown for tryin to defend the queen. Check mate in four moves, the Bobby Fischer of rap with raw moves"

This line is so complex it's hard to even know where to start.

First look at the obvious. Speaking metaphorically, Jay is saying life is like a game of chess. You have to think a few moves ahead, primarily so you don't get caught too off guard by anything, especially when you're out in the streets hustling drugs.

But when you think a little bit about it, he is also saying that he has seen unsuspecting newbies (rooks/rookies) get tooken (lose their life) to the knight (night). They literally "lose their crown", get shot in the head, for "tryin to defend the queen". You could argue here that the queen could mean that these guys were protecting their girlfriends/wives (which is why most fights start, so it's somewhat logical) but if you are familiar with street terminology, you know that heroin and cocaine are referred to as girl and boy, respectively.

So one might deduce that the person who lost their crown was trying to protect their stash of cocaine because to get robbed means not only a tremendous financial loss, but also a loss of respect in the streets, which could lead to more robberies.

Jay-Z Wants to Be A Dad

Encore- "From Marcy to Madison Square, to the only thing that matters it's just a matter of years"

Freestyle- "Where as I used to have a few hos I am just, concentratin' on makin' a new Hov from sex"

That first line from Encore is very ambiguous. What is the only thing that matters? It means different things to different people. To some it means establishing a career, which he has already done. He went from the Marcy projects in Brooklyn, a severely impoverished neighborhood, to selling out the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. This song was made for the Black Album which was to accompany his farewell concert at MSG, which was documented in the film "Fade To Black" (the title was in reference to his career).

To others, the only thing that matters is passing teaching the next generation how to love. Most people do this in the form of having a child and teaching it how to love and live. When you couple that thought up with the fact that he and Beyonce just got married (and Jay is getting a little older and settling down) AND the other line, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

Jay is looking to have a child. That's the only thing that matters, and it's just a matter of years. He wants to make a new Hov from sex.

Beach Chair

"Went from having shabby clothes to crossing over Abbey Road"

Jay is not only the epitome of the American dream, he is extremely adept at declaring it in different, innovative, and thought provoking ways. In the line you know he's saying he went from poor to something. Deductive reasoning would tell you he went from poor to rich, but it's deeper than that.

Jay went from the Marcy projects to a being a successful rapper. That could have been enough, but he was so successful that his "farewell" opus The Black Album was stripped of its music and blended in with another very successful album... The Beatles White Album. This was one of the most popular and controversial bootlegs of all time completed in just a few weeks by DJ Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley fame).

One very famous picture of the Beatles happens to be of them crossing over Abbey Road...

PSA (Interlude) Pt 3

"Check out my swag yo, I walk like a ball player. No matter where you go, you are what you are player. And you can try to change but that's just the top layer. Man you was who you was fo' you got here"

Not to be dramatic, but this line saved my life to some extent. I don't want to get too personal on this site, but I will say that I used to drink and drug heavily, and now I don't. That's all about that. Now, a common misconception of people in my shoes is that well maybe after a few years I'll be able to drink with impunity, or if I go on vacation it doesn't really count. Obviously people don't change on fundamental levels. Not just by changing their environment anyway.

I believe Jay was talking specifically about a person leaving their neighborhood where everybody knew this person was soft because of things they had seen going to another town and acting hard. You can try to change but that's just the top layer. That top layer gets peeled away pretty easily by people that are coming from a deeper place (mentally). A place where they are truer to themselves. "Real recognize real and you looking familiar"

PSA (Interlude) Pt 2

"Flier than a piece of paper bearing my name"

The first few times I heard that I rapped right along with it but was thinking "What the hell does that mean?"

He is more fly than a piece of paper bearing his name (a flier)

That's one of those lines you can't even explain the illness because your head would explode.

PSA (Interlude)

"I never claimed to have wings on nigga.
I get my "by any means" on whenever there's a drought, get ya umbrellas out...cause...that's when I brainstorm"

There is not really much to discern here. I just want to recognize a great line.

Jay did what he had to do to get ahead in life, even if that meant temporarily putting himself in danger or permanently hurting others. But he is a crafty individual and you can almost see him making phone calls to his connects, trying to cop his next shipment to no avail. He would not stop until he found what he was looking for and he made the move.

On the music end, he knows that music is not selling because most of it that comes out is garbage and people are jaded. They don't want to gamble on a cd anymore. So if he makes the best music he possibly can by storming his brain and coming up with the most ridiculous verses rap has ever been a privy to, he might just be immune to the drought.

For Da Fam- Amil

"Y'all niggas truly ain't ready for this dynasty thing. You're thinking Blake Carrington. I'm thinking more like Ming"

First of all, Ty Fyffe really nailed it with this beat. This is one of my favorite tracks of all time, music wise. It is epic. The beat alone makes me want to go out and do good things for people.

The first meaning of the dynasty he is talking about is his Roc-A-Fella family. He often referred to himself and his constituents as "The Dynasty".

But this line specifically really shows just how well rounded Jay-Z is as an individual. Constantly bucking the idea of what people think someone from Marcy should be like, Jay illustrates his ability to observe, catch, retain, and recall stimuli from all areas of his life.

"You're thinking Blake Carrington" Blake Carrington was a fictional character from the show Dynasty. He was an oil tycoon, so although in the show he was powerful, ultimately his character was in a soap opera. In other words, your ideas of a dynasty are soft.

The Ming dynasty on the other hand, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. It is said to be "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history".

So obviously, you and Jay-Z have two totally different ideas in your head when it comes to what a dynasty means and this will obviously lead to two different outcomes.

Brooklyn Go Hard

"I father, I Brooklyn Dodger them. I jack... I rob... I sin.. Aw man (Amen). I'm Jackie Robinson, except when I run base, I dodge the pen"

The fact that he opens up and ends that first line like a prayer is ill. Like he's repenting for all the people he's hurt.

But when he says "except when I run base I dodge the pen"

Obviously, the real Jackie Robinson ran bases.

But, when Jay was out selling drugs (free BASE cocaine aka crack) he was trying to stay out of the pen (penitentiary).

BUT!!!!!

If you are a true Jay-Z fan, you know that Jay developed his song writing ability while out on the streets, hustling. He couldn't stop and write down rhymes so he had to keep them in his head by going over them and adding to them until he could get somewhere to write them down. Think of a time when you knew you had to talk to somebody. The more you went over it in your head and the more you practiced it, the better it came out.

So when he was out running base, he dodged the pen. Writing only in his head...

Pray

"And my poppa just left the house, in search of the killer of my Uncle Ray..."

At first listen, you would think that a young Shawn Carter is observing his father leaving the house to go avenge his brother's death. It is totally possible that this lyric sounds good only at face value. But when you consider that Jay has mentioned his Uncle Ray before, it appears that there may be more to this line.

From The Black Album- Moment of Clarity
(to his deceased father in a casket)

"It wasn't all your fault homey, you got caught, in the same game I fought, that Uncle Ray lost"

Jay-Z is a known drug dealer, and although he was very successful at it, it seems that he has a deeper understanding of the addict's plight being that he is one himself, just on the other end.

So I would say that in this line Jay's father is not leaving to go seek revenge on his brother's killer, he is actually going to GET some of his brother's killer for himself. In other words, he is going to cop drugs.

Black Gangster

"Even rap ain't all it's cracked up to be"

This line exploded in my head one day as I was reciting this verse from the unreleased song "Black Gangster". What I liked most about this song was the beat and just through osmosis I learned the words.

When I thought about it though, and I thought about the fact that Jay-Z left crack sales to try and become a rap star, this line really took shape.

I have switched jobs before only to find that there are common themes that supersede any occupation. Provide a quality product and good customer service.

But even rap ain't all it's CRACKed up to be...

Come on, that's just ridiculous.

Diamonds Are Forever (Remix)

"How could you falter, when you're the Rock of Gibraltar.
I had to get off the boat so I could walk on water. This ain't no tall order, this is nothin to me. Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week. I do this in my sleep. I sold kilos o' coke, so I'm guessin I could sell cd's. I'm not a businessman, I'm a business man..."

For so many reasons, this is one of the illest few lines Jay-Z has ever "written". But this is one of those passages that sounds cool, but doesn't make much sense unless you really understand Jay as an artist.

First you would need to know that he did, in fact, sell kilos of cocaine. This is where he got most of his start up money for Roc-A-Fella records. So if he could sell something so scrutinized and dangerous as cocaine, obviously he could sell cd's.

Second, you would need to know that Jay-z is much more than a smart business man. He is someone who has branded HIMSELF, not just the wares he peddles. He is synonymous with all products he aligns himself with. He is careful to never spread himself to thin, but he also has no fear of diversifying because at the root of his marketing, it is HIM that is selling this stuff.

Now, this is one of those lines that you really don't understand unless you have a deeper understanding of Jay-Z the artist.

"I had to get off the boat so I could walk on water..."

I am going to need to pull two other lines in here to make sense of this. One is from "What More Can I Say" off The Black Album and the other is from a freestyle he did on Hot 97 which I wish he would make a song out of. We'll see I guess.

1) I'm supposed to be number 1 on everybody's list. We'll see what happens when I no longer exist.

2) Hovs got flows though he's no Big and Pac, but he's close. How I'm supposed to win, they got me fightin ghosts.

And one more line to help me illustrate my point by Jadakiss

3) You'll find ya man dead in the ocean. He'll be alright though. You know dead rappers get better promotion.

Jay-Z is a person who understands that absence DOES make the heart grow fonder. I have been listening to Jay-Z almost exclusively since he came out, and I STILL catch lines I never caught before. That is really the purpose of this website.

The "boat" that he had to get off of was the rap game. To be looked at as someone that could walk on water, or God-like in a way. But another thing that needs to be cleared up is that he does not see himself as a "God". He does believe that God speaks through him, which makes him more a channel or a servant than anything, not a dio.

So Jay understood that if he stopped making music then people would be forced to go back through his catalog (if they were real fans) and listen to what they had, just the same way they did for Biggie and Tupac. Biggie is good, but he's not the best rapper ever. The more you experience something the more you fall in love with it usually. The argument about where Biggie would be if he was still alive is dead now I hope. No disrespect, but he's not making any more records, so that argument should be over now.

No more what if, lets look at what is.

Whatchu Want?

"I'm too advanced, the Lance Armstrong of the dance.
Rubberband man before T.I. was"

Jay-Z is saying that there is really no competition for him in the rap game. Lance Armstrong is well known for dominating the world of cycling by winning the Tour De France the better part of the last century.

Rubberband man is a moniker for a drug dealer. Dealers started wearing rubber bands to wrap around stacks of money, but it quickly became a status symbol letting people know, I can get what you want.

Lance Armstrong is also well known for rubber bands.

Wow...

Rockstar- Remix

"I got Lyor rich, y'all got niggas fired"

During his tenure at Def Jam, Lyor Cohen launched a joint venture with Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella team in which it was a 50/50 split between Jay and Def Jam. This is something that was unheard of up until and since then. That is how good of a businessman Jay-Z is.

Other rappers on the other hand who went into deals giving 90% and getting 10% still got their A&R's fired because the sucked so bad.

Encore

"When I come back like Jordan, wearing the 45. It ain't to play games with you, it's to aim at you. Probably maim you. If I owe you I'm blowin' you to smithereens, c*cksucker take one for your team"

Jay-Z "Encore"- The Black Album

Jay-Z has always toyed with the idea of retirement. He wants to go out on top, like Seinfeld. The only problem is he can't stop coming back because he loves rap too much. Michael Jordan was in a similar situation where he wanted to stop playing basketball before he got old and couldn't play at the level he was known for anymore. So he retired, but he came back. He had to wear the number 45 because he retired his old number 23, plus 45 was the number he originally liked and wore anyway (23 was half of 45. In his mind anyway)

But that is not all there is to that line. Jay-z is also referring to wearing the 45 as coming back with a gun or a pistol, like the street thug he used to be. This is illustrated by the line after there where he says "it's to aim at you, probably maim you".

The Dawn Of A Dynasty

And I'm so far ahead of my time these rhymes is weak...til four years later, they on timed release.
It'll take you to cop your fourth copy to realize every track needed an autopsy.

Jay-Z
Hovi Baby (Remix)

Jay-z knows that his rhymes are time bombs waiting to explode in your head. How many times have you been reciting a verse or a line in your head and said "Holy shit! THAT'S what he meant? THAT'S what he was talking about?" That is what this blog is dedicated to. This site is for people who appreciate Jay-Z for the poetic genius that he is. This site is also for people who don't get him and need a little explanation to increase their appreciation.