Vol. 2 - Hard Knock Life

I'm rollin with roc-a-fella man
Cause they got money man, heh heh

[jay-z]
Uh-huh, uh-huh uh uh, uh-huh, 'hovah
Yeah, stevie j nigga
Y'all ready? yo, yo

How many y'all wanna ride tonight (ride tonight)
How many y'all down to die tonight (die tonight)
How many y'all wanna ride tonight
Nigga ride or die or ride or die
(repeat 3x)

Verse one: jay-z

Aiyyo fuck y'all, niggaz i crush y'all, rush y'all
With the four drawn and i touch y'all, plus y'all
Little motherfuckers ain't ready for war
I seen your team in a chrysler before, but i forgot?
The same rules apply, don't try to switch up your style
Y'all niggaz is pumpkin pie, and that's plain as i
Much better than you cat, shocked when i got the news that
This nigga ready for war, well where that fool at?
I bruise wack rap niggaz severely punish them
Especially those that get fucked for they publishing, heh
Always gotta be the weakest nigga out the crew
I probably make more money off yo' album, than you
You see the respect i get everytime i come through
Check your own videos, you'll always be number two
Niggaz talkin real greasy on them r&b records
But i'm platinum a million times nigga, check the credits
S. carter, ghost writer, and for the right price
I can even make yo' shit tighter
I roast niggaz like ya, smoke niggaz like ya
Take your little jewels and put the toast to niggaz like ya
You know what the fuck we do and why we done it
How i bring it to niggaz who, probably want it
Keep playin, you gon' find me in your lobby blunted
And i don't even smoke nigga, ain't no joke
Niggaz cat fightin with jigga, kickin sneaky shit
Makin little tapes but keepin it secret
Cause i kick that deep shit that divide your peeps shit
Now i don't know if you fuckin with jigga
Spittin that weak shit y'all

How many y'all wanna ride tonight (ride tonight)
How many y'all down to die tonight (die tonight)
How many y'all wanna ride tonight
Nigga ride or die or ride or die
(repeat 2x)

Yeah, yeah
Niggaz don't want it with jig, cause somethin got to give
I got homes where you hide, i hustle where you live
Jigga's the don, bitches scream "jigga dandy,
Dick is the bomb, about as thick as a arm"
Mr. exxon, gas 'em with the wit and the charm
Bitch i'm tryin to tell you like nichalous bond
I'm a big cat, listen mami, can you dig that?
Cars, jewelry, homes, i did that
Oh's, shootouts, keys, i live that
Actresses, models, chickenheads, hit that
I get stacks and still i kick back
And run up on niggaz with the midac, where the shit at?

How many y'all wanna ride tonight (ride tonight)
How many y'all down to die tonight (die tonight)
How many y'all wanna ride tonight
Nigga ride or die or ride or die
(repeat 2x)

Time to seperate
The platinum from the white gold, right from the door
The real from the fake, ready rock from the raw
The boss from the runners, cats who ride dick
From the cats with the numbers, the five from the six
I got cop n crash money, pop the dash money
Press the button, alluva sudden, glock in the stash money
Beef with jigga, watch yo' ass money
It's el presidente, top brass money
Now i don't flash the steel, i blast for real
My motto: you only good as the last nigga you kill
I'm here to snatch this meal, nigga that's for real
If you rollin with me grab the wheel, let's ride huh?

How many y'all wanna ride tonight (ride tonight)
How many y'all down to die tonight (die tonight)
How many y'all wanna ride tonight
Nigga ride or die or ride or die
(repeat 4x)

[jay-z]
Come on...life...death...here...gone...yo

If i should die don't cry my niggas
Just ride my niggas bust bullets in the sky my niggas
And when i'm gone don't mourn my niggas
Get on my niggas when it's real
Say word to shawn my niggas
If i should die *echoes*

Don't cry my niggas it's been one hell of a ride my niggas
In the middle of the trial i flip pies my niggas
I did joints with mary j. blige my niggas
I've eluded the coppers got booted with big poppa
Skated through with the ceasar picadas
At high school got head by the lockers
Gassed the baddest girl in the class to show me her knockers
Rocked jewels dropped school still didn't fail
Rhymes still written well hold court in the street
Never sit in the cell for a second then i'm gettin' my bail
Shoot it out with the bounty hunters fuck
Sittin' in the county for summers if they should down me
Everybody around us become one for that day
To live life get your shit right & play
Don't get it twisted like rays if i miss that's ok
But life's short don't miss a day uhh

If i should die don't cry my niggas
Just ride my niggas bust bullets in the sky my niggas
And when i'm gone don't mourn my niggas
Get on my niggas when it's real
Say word to shawn my niggas
If i should die...

[wais]
...don't cry my niggas
It's been one hell of a ride my niggas
Say word to wais my niggas
When i'm gone don't mourn my niggas
Just keep gettin' it on my niggas
Say word is bond my niggas

I got a lot to look back on in '88
Got my crack on ten years later gettin' my rap on
Gettin' shorties like a thespian
Had an episode with two lesbians got a fetish for that
Drunk ginseng with japanese chicks & pulled the root out
Squeeze my whole clip to survive shootouts
Been on both coasts fired all kinds of heat
Probably be kinda glad to leave these mean streets
I got demands to meet and questions to fulfill
Like is that mystery god real?
And how was kennedy killed? i ain't mad
I must've smoked a ton of reefer sipped coronas
With latifah broke the code of geneva
I know when i reach the other side i'ma see the
Cat i had beef with who blood remains on my sneaker
Then it's on again if i could be born again
I live my life through my son
And tell him never have a friend
Just family reincarnated i'll show him the time
That i waited to get paid tell him never be afraid
Niggas hearts pump kool aid and yo blood run thicker
Never shed tears cry liquor my nigga

If i die don't cry my niggas
It's been one hell of a ride my niggas
Say word to wais my niggas
When i'm gone don't mourn my niggas
Just keep bangin' these songs my niggas
Say word is bond my niggas
If i die...

[half dead]
...don't cry my niggas
Just stay gettin' high my niggas
Don't wonder why my niggas
When i'm gone live on my niggas
Just follow my path my niggas
Say word to half my nigga

I'm the aftermath of pleasure never die alone
Born to live forever through life's struggles
I cut corners & took drastic measures
See you niggas life expire right in front of me
Time could never mend what these cold streets
Mentally done to me too often i close my eyes
And see my own coffin feelin' haunted ready to leave
This world that i'm lost in my only chance
To see the seeds i lost through abortion
When i'm gone y'all niggas better not mourn
Keep flossin' as long as my name
Lives on what's most important
I'll be down in hell scorchin' preparin' for life
Afterlife still torchin' & blazin' these mics
It'd rain for 40 days & 40 nights
& i'd return on the 3rd like christ
Without my physical portion
My spirit a poltergeist for sure
I'll be back through the heist tomorrow
Blood over y'all fake niggas door
What you thought? [huh]
What you thought? [nigga]

If i should die don't cry my niggas
Just stay gettin' high my niggas
Don't wonder why my niggas
When i'm gone live on my niggas
Just follow my path my niggas
Say word to half my nigga
When i die...

[wais]
...don't cry my niggas
It's been one hell of a ride my niggas
Say word to wais my niggas
When i'm gone don't mourn my niggas
Just keep gettin it on my niggas
Say word is bond my niggas
If i die...

[jay-z]
...don't cry my niggas
Just ride my niggas bust bullets in the sky my niggas
And when i'm gone don't mourn my niggas
Get on my niggas when it's real
Say word to shawn my niggas
If i should die...

...i'd tell big they're still hearin' his songs
Run into pac ask him where we went wrong
Tell him life is miserable when ya dealin' in the physical form
Is everything that's invisible gone?
I need to know will i still feel pain or will it be ironic?
Will i chill in the flames for all the ills of my brain?
Can i reveal the game to all the hustlers
Trapped in the race and if so can i leave this place?
Can i puff cigars & drink cristal?
If this is heaven to me is this considered heavenly?
Can i still touch lives answer they "whats & whys"
Make sure everybody in my fam' clutch five?
If i should die...
...don't cry my niggas

[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

[jay-z]
Uh-huh uh-huh, gi-gi gi-geyeah
Roc-a-fella y'all, uh-huh uh-huh, jigga
Timbaland shit, nine-eight beyotch
Say what, say what? uh-huh uh-huh, follow me beotch

Nigga what, nigga who?
Nigga what, nigga who?
Switcha flow, getcha dough
Can't fuck with this roc-a-fella shit doe
Switcha flow, getcha dough
Can't fuck with this roc-a-fella shit doe

[jay-z] --> first four lines overlap the section above
Can't fuck with me
They ain't ready yet
Uh-huh uh-huh
Yeah, yeah
Motherfuckers wanna act loco, hit em wit, numerous
Shots with the fo'-fo'
Faggots wanna talk to po-po's, smoke em like cocoa
Fuck rap, coke by the boatload
Fuck dat, on the run-by, gun high, one eye closed
Left holes through some guy clothes
Stop your bullshittin, glock with the full clip
Motherfuckers better duck when the fool spit
One shot could make a nigga do a full flip
See the nigga layin shocked when the bullet hit
Oh hey ma, how you, know niggaz wanna buy you
But see me i wanna _fuck for free_ like akinyele
Now i gotta let her take this ride, make you feel it
Inside your belly, if it's tight get the k-y jelly
All night get you wide up inside the telly
Side to side, til you say jay-z you're too much for me

Chorus: jay-z (with amil-lion)

(nigga what?) make you think you can fuck with me
(nigga who?) recognize girl, jay to the z
*repeat 3x*
(nigga what?) make you think you can fuck with me
(nigga who?) recognize bitch, jay to the motherfuckin z

[jay-z]
Got a condo with nuttin but condoms in it
The same place where the rhymes is invented
So all i do is rap and sex, imagine how i stroke
See how i was flowin on my last cassette?
Rapid-fire like i'm blastin a tec, never jam though
Never get high, never run out of ammo
Niggaz hatin n shit cause i slayed your bitch
You know your favorite, i know it made you sick
And now you're, actin raw but you never had war
Don't know how to carry your hoe, wanna marry your hoe
Now she's mad at me, causer your majesty, just happened to be
A pimp with a tragedy
She wanted, us to end, cause i fucked with friends
She gave me one more chance and i fucked her again
I seen her tears as she busted in, i said, "shit..
There's a draft, shut the door bitch and come on in!"

Chorus (with variation in last line)

[jay-z]
Gotta vendetta even though i been better
Left him in the cold with a thin sweater
Rap niggaz on prozac get the bozack, niggaz threw
Two at me i threw fo' back, hold that
Let the dough stack, way before big had the gold ac'
Dame had the lex black
Motherfuckers wanna test that, stress that
And right where you're stressed, where you rest at
I suggest that, niggaz invest, in a vest, when i come through
With the glock jet black, you niggaz step back
I'm the best at, you know i ain't no apprentice to this
Me and my niggaz we invented the shit
I came into the business with this, the originator, non greater
Jaz-o finish this shit

[big jaz]
Better learn, jaz'll relax that, ever heard of me?
Worldwide originator, say word to me
The population holla certainly, i burn a nigga
Like a third degree, see me shine so bright
Nigga i'm my light, runnin rulin with rigor and vigor
Nobody bigger than me and my nigga jigga
You fly-by-nights stop chirpin b
Heavyweights type work to me
For the time, in this motherfucker ain't nobody hurtin me
What? cut your face in like surgery
Who the fuck got a vs, fuckin bm's on the road
When you had to be in bed at the pm
Need the info, jaz on the c-n-n
Forever touchin my workers beginnin you're endin
Nigga your style's no style my style's hostile
C'mon, faggot nigga down to take the gun home
O-r-i-g-i-n-a-t-o-r (can't fuck with it can ya?!)

Chorus (with variations)

[amil-lion] * repeat to fade *
Switcha flow, getcha dough
Can't fuck with this roc-a-fella shit doe
Switcha flow, getcha dough
Can't fuck with this roc-a-fella shit doe

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