The Blueprint: 44 Life Lessons We Learned From Jay Z

December 4, 2013 - 7:04 pm by VIBE

Jay Z is the lyrical miracle that keeps giving. While his copious amounts of cheese have turned him vegan and taken him out of tall tees into Tom Ford threads, Shawn Carter is still a Brooklyn boy at heart whose work ethic stays as fit as the Yankee blue on his head. On his 44th birthday, VIBE hits rewind on some of his best rhymes that soundtracked our life and times.
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This is the number one rule for your set

In order to survive got to learn to live with regrets

—"Regrets", 1996

Look a man dead in his eyes so he know you talk truth When you speak it, give your word, keep it —"New Day", 2011

If you put crabs in a barrel to ensure your survival You're gon' end up pulling down niggas that look just like you —"Murder to Excellence", 2011

The pressure for success can put a good strain On a friend you call best, and yes it could bring Out the worst in every person, even the good and sane —"Black Republican", 2006

What you eat don't make me shit —"Ain't No Love", 2001

I keep my head, both of them where they supposed to be Hoes'll get you sidetracked, then clap from close feet —"Can I Live", 1996

I do this for my culture To let them know what a nigga look like when a nigga in a Roadster Show them how to move in a room full of vultures Industry is shady, it needs to be taken over —"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)", 2001

It's just life, I solemnly swear To change my approach, stop shaving coke Stay away from hoes, put down the toast Cause I be doing the most —"Allure", 2003

Nobody built like you, you designed yourself —"A Dream", 2002

Well, my glove compartment is locked, so is the trunk in the back And I know my rights, so you gon' need a warrant for that "Aren't you sharp as a tack You some type of lawyer or something Somebody important or something" Well, I ain't passed the bar but I know a little bit Enough that you won't illegally search my shit —"99 Problems", 2003

Lights is blinding/ Girls need blinders So they can step out of bounds quick The side lines is lined with casualties Who sip the life casually, then gradually become worse —"Empire State of Mind", 2009

One life to live - notice you get no sequel So I truly got to live this like my last movie —"Hola Hovito", 2001

Step one in this process: scramble up in your projects And head to the heights where big coke is processed You gotta convince them that you're not from the precinct Please speak slow cause he no speaky no English If he takes a liking after a couple of trips And your money is straight, he's going to give you consignment You're now in a game where only time can tell —"American Dreamin'", 2007

I used to give a fuck, now I give a fuck less What do I think of success It sucks too much to stress —"Success", 2007

I'm different, I can't base what I'm gon' be Offa what everybody isn't, they don't listen —"So Ambitious", 2009

If it wasn't for the crime that I was in But I wouldn't be the guy whose rhymes it is that I'm in —"Blue Magic", 2007

Fear not when, fear not why, fear not much while we're alive Life is for living, not living uptight, 'till you're somewhere up in the sky —"Young Forever", 2007

So if y'all hear my plight And if you think you can make it this far without a fight Couple mistakes here and there Not always right, but I'm always real That's how I sleep at night —"Sweet", 2007

The greatest form of giving is anonymous to anonymous —"Nickels And Dimes", 2013

You just got good genes so a nigga trying to cuff you Tell your mother that I love her cause I love you Tell your father we go farther as a couple They ain't lose a daughter, got a son I show you how to do this, uh! —"Suit & Tie", 2012

And we don't really care what you used to say Unless that affects your future pay I'm on a practice field runnin Two-A-Days So I don't drop the ball when it's threw my way So I don't give a fidduck abiddout the shit That you probably did, who you probably is The only time I deal in past tense —"Off That", 2010

Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week I do this in my sleep I sold kilos of coke, I'm guessing I can sell CDs I'm not a businessman I'm a business, man! —"Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)", 2005

I don't know how to sleep, I gotta eat, stay on my toes Got a lot of beef, so logically, I prey on my foes —"Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)", 1998

I’m losing myself, I’m stuck in the moment I look in the mirror, my only opponent —"Welcome To The Jungle", 2011

And since life's a bitch in mini-skirts and big chests How can I not flirt with death? That's life's enigma, long as life's within us We gonna sin a lot and pray that Christ forgive us —"Money, Cash, Hoes", 1998

Graduated to the MoMA and I did all of this without a diploma Graduated from the corner Y'all can play me for a muthafuckin' fool if you wanna —"Who Gon Stop Me", 2011

Fresh to death Head to toe until the day i rest And i don't wear jerseys I'm thirty plus Give me a crisp pair of jeans nigga button ups —"What More Can I Say", 2003

Street-smart and I’m book smart coulda been a chemist cause I cook smart Only thing that can stop me is me and I’mma stop when the hook start, hold up —"Who Gon Stop Me", 2011

I've been sinning since you been playing with Barbie and Ken and You can't change a players game in the 9th inning —"Ain't No Nigga", 1996

Success is so sublime Gotta do that time to time so I don't lose my mind Something 'bout the struggle so divine This sort of love is hard to define —"Nickels and Dimes", 2013

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 —"Money Ain't A Thang", 1998

See I got demons in my past, so I got daughters on the way If the prophecy's correct, then the child should have to pay For the sins of a father, so I barter my tomorrows against my yesterdays In hopes that she'll be okay —"Beach Chair", 2006

We don't lease, we buy the whole car, as you should —"Can I Live", 1996

All us blacks got is sports and entertainment, until we even Thieving, as long as I'm breathing Can't knock the way a nigga eating, fuck you even —"Can't Knock The Hustle", 1996

I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one —"99 Problems", 2003

No compass comes with this life just eyes So to map it out you must look inside Sure, books can guide you but your heart defines you, chica Your corazón is what brought us home —"Beach Chair", 2006

From my nigga Sauce, I hit you with this advice Life's short, so play hard and stick hard And the only time you love them is when your dick hard —"Cashmere Thoughts", 1996

The problem is, you dudes treat the one that you loving With the same respect that you treat the one that you humping —"'03 Bonnie & Clyde", 2003

People often warn me that the fame ain't for the faint of heart It'll change those who said they had love for you into strangers —"Hollywood", 2007

We have yet to see a ceiling, we just top what we top Cause the bars don't struggle and the struggle don't stop —"F.U.T.W.", 2013

I move onward, the only direction Can't be scared to fail in the search of perfection Gotta keep it fresh girl, even when we sexin But don't be mad at him when it's on to the next one —"On To The Next One", 2009

But time don't go back, it goes forward Can't run from the pain, go towards it —"Lost One", 2006

Whoever said illegal was the easy way out, couldn't understand The mechanics and the workings of the underworld, granted Nine to five is how to survive, I ain't trying to survive I'm tryna live it to the limit and love it a lot —"D'Evils", 1996

Standing back from situations gives you the perfect view You see the snakes in the grass and you wait on their ass Bite your tongue for no one and whatever is said Take it how they want, a closed mouth don't get fed —"Anything", 1999

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