[Jay-Z]
Is he a Blood, is he Crip?
Is he that, is he this?
Did he do it? Y’know, ehh
Look..
If I shoot you, I’m brainless
Different toilet, same shit, and I’m sick of explainin this
I’m waitin on arraignment, my nigga is the plantiff
Yeah, I know what you thinkin — fucked up ain’t it?
I shoulda known better, and I planned to
But dog they be takin me out of my zone like a nigga with a handle
I sat back and watched it, put the gats back in the closet
I tried to tie my hands like an Iraqi hostage
Let niggaz take shots at me, no response
I just — flip and, pop my collar like the Fonz
You give a nigga a foot he’ll take you one step beyond
He’ll try to play you twice, the third time is the charm
You wanna conversate with the writer of the Qu’ran
Or Old Testament, don’t test him then
I know what y’all thinkin dick, pause
Your future’s my past, I’ve been here before
I know when you’re schemin, I feel when you plottin
I got, mental vision, intuition
I know where you goin I read your mind’s navigational system
Everybody whisperin — pst pst pst ss perspirin
[Chorus]
When the, streets is talkin, niggaz is gossipin
Bitches all in your shit, what’s the cause of it?
I need to know.. geah geah
Yeah yeah yeah, yeah..
[Jay-Z]
You see me with a bodyguard that means police is watchin
And I only use his waist to keep my glock in
But when shit goes down you know who’s doin the poppin
And if you don’t know, guess who’s doin the droppin
S dot again, y’all got him in a bad mood
Bad move; that’s bad news
How many times have I got to prove?
How many loved ones have you got to lose
Before you realize that it’s probably true?
Whatever Jigga say, Jigga probably do
Shit I paid my dues, I made the news
I came in the door for dolo, blazed the crews
And the streets say Jigga can’t go back home
You know when I heard that? When I was back home
I’m comfortable dog, Brooklyn to Rome
On any Martin Luther, don’t part with your future
Don’t ever question if I got the heart to shoot ya
The answer is simply too dark for the user
And as a snot-nose they said that he got flows
But will he be able to drop those before the cops close in?
‘Fore the shots froze him, and he’s dead and gone
From what the block has spoken, my God
Everybody stressin, who’s his baby’s moms?
Who he got pregnant, let me tell you, ahh…
[Chorus]
When the, streets is talkin, niggaz is gossipin
Bitches all in your shit, what’s the cause of it?
I need to know.. chicka-uh-ah, ah-chk-ah-uh-ah
Chicka-ch-ah, chk-ah-ah-ah
When the, streets is talkin, niggaz is gossipin
Bitches all in your shit, what’s the cause of it?
I need to know.. gi-gi-gi, geah yeah uh, yeah yeah uh
Yeah, yo, yo
[Jay-Z]
I seen my first murder in the hall, if you must know
I lost my pops when I was eleven mmm twelve years old
He’s probably somewhere where the liquor is takin it’s toll
But I ain’t mad at you dad, holla at your lad
I grew up pushin snowflake to niggaz that was pro-base
The stress’ll take a young nigga, give him a old face
All I did was smoke joke, think and drink
Copped ‘caine and complained, front row watch game
I seen niggaz before me, with a chance to write they own script
Slip up and change the story
I seen young niggaz go out in a blaze of glory