This Can't Be Life

[Intro: Jay-Z] Gyeah, what's up? To all my street niggas, project niggas Real niggas, worldwide Let's reflect, everybody got a story We all ghetto, B Here's mine, gyeah [Verse 1: Jay-Z] See I was–born in sewage, born to make bomb music Flow tight like I was born Jewish Used the streets as a conduit I kept arms, .38 longs inside my mom's Buick At any given moment, Shawn could lose it, be on the news Iron cuffs - arms through it, or stuffed with embalming fluid Shit, I'm going through it – Mom Dukes too Tears streaming down her pretty face, she got her palms to it My life is getting too wild, I need to bring some sort of calm to it 'Bout to lose it, voices screaming "Don't do it!" It's like '93, '94, 'bout the year That Big and Mack dropped and 'Illmatic' rocked Outta every rag drop, and the West had it locked Everybody doing them, I'm still stretching on the block Like, "Damn, I'ma be a failure" Surrounded by thugs, drugs, and drug paraphernalia Cops, courts, and their thoughts is to derail us Three-time felons in shorts with jealous thoughts Tryna figure where your mail is Guesstimate the weight you selling So they can send shots straight to your melon – wait! It gets worse, baby momma water burst Baby came out stillborn, still I gotta move on Though my heart still torn, life gone from her womb Don't worry, if it was meant to be, it'll be–soon [Chorus: Jay-Z] This can't be life, this can't be love This can't be right, there's gotta be more, this can't be us This can't be life, this can't be love This can't be right, there's gotta be more, this can't be us (Chill, dawg) [Verse 2: Beanie Sigel] Second oldest born, from Michelle Brown, my mother Hellbound, grew with two sisters and one brother Pop wasn't around, so many stories – that's another I'm thinking, "Damn, how my older sister gon' make me tougher?" When steel sharpens steel, I'ma keep it real I'm tired of trying to hide my pain behind the syrups and pills Dead to the world, stretched out like a corpse for real Y'all niggas thinking what y'all reading in 'The Source' is real What my life like, you looking at the source–it's real "What your life like?" Mine, dawg? Of course it's real Passing judgment, you niggas second-guessing Beans 'Cause you don't eat swine don't make you Mu'min Dawg, you know a couple surahs out the Qur'an I guess you all on your Dīn and I ain't on mine Stop that, Ahki, 'fore I send shots through your body Make 'em feel Hell on Earth before Allah drop me I feel the line's drawn here, nothing more can stop me 'Til them Feds pick me up, or them boys pop me There's only three things that make Mack not act like Beans Amatullah Tisha, Po Aldin, Samir Amin My seeds, dawg, gotta teach 'em that before I leave, dawg Shit, I know that I'ma see 'em when I leave, dawg I come back in the afterlife Like, fuck it, I done touched Hell twice – what's the meaning? [Chorus: Jay-Z] This can't be life, this can't be love This can't be right, there's gotta be more, this can't be us This can't be life, (Life) this can't be love (Yeah) This can't be right, there's gotta be more (Uhh), this can't be us [Verse 3: Scarface] Now as I walk into the studio to do this with Jig' I got a phone call from one of my nigs Said my homeboy, Reek, he just lost one of his kids And when I heard that, I just broke into tears And see, in the second hand – you don't really know how this is But when it hits that close to home, you feel the pain at the crib So I called mine, and saddened my wife with the bad news Now we both depressed, counting our blessings, 'cause Brad's two Praying for young souls to laugh at life through the stars Loving your kids, just like you was ours And I'm hurting for you, dawg – but ain't nobody pain is like yours I just know that Heaven'll open these doors And ain't no bright side to losing life (Life), but you can view it like this God's got open hands, homie, he in the midst Of good company, who loves all and hates not one And one day, you gon' be with your son I could've rapped about my hard times on this song But Heaven knows I would have been wrong I wouldn'ta been right, it wouldn'ta been love It wouldn'ta been life, it wouldn'ta been us This can't be life [Chorus: Jay-Z] This can't be life, this can't be love This can't be right, there's gotta be more, this can't be us This can't be life, this can't be love This can't be right, there's gotta be more, this can't be us This can't be life...