The Blueprint: 44 Life Lessons We Learned From Jay Z
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
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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
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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
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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
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What you eat don't make me shit
—"Ain't No Love", 2001
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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
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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
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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
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Nobody built like you, you designed yourself
—"A Dream", 2002
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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
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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
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One life to live - notice you get no sequel
So I truly got to live this like my last movie
—"Hola Hovito", 2001
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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
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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
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I'm different, I can't base what I'm gon' be
Offa what everybody isn't, they don't listen
—"So Ambitious", 2009
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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
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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
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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
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The greatest form of giving is anonymous to anonymous
—"Nickels And Dimes", 2013
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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
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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
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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
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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
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I’m losing myself, I’m stuck in the moment
I look in the mirror, my only opponent
—"Welcome To The Jungle", 2011
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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We don't lease, we buy the whole car, as you should
—"Can I Live", 1996
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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
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I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one
—"99 Problems", 2003
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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But time don't go back, it goes forward
Can't run from the pain, go towards it
—"Lost One", 2006
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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
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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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