[Produced by Aqua and 3H]

[Intro: Notorious B.I.G. in a 1996 MTV interview]
Gotta try to stay above water y'know
Just stay busy, stay working
Puff told me like
The key to this joint
The key to staying on top of things
Is treat everything like it's your first project, nomsayin'
Like it's your first day like back when you was an intern
Like, that's how you try to treat things like, just stay hungry

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Y'all wanna know why he don't stop
Y'all wanna know why he don't flop
Let me tell you pe-people why
Came from the bottom of the block I
When I was born, it was sworn, I was never gon' be shit
Had to pull the opposite out this bitch
Had to get my ri-ide on
Eyes on the prize, Shawn knew I had to
Had to had to get these chips
Had to make moves like Olajuwon
Started out selling dimes and nicks
Graduated to a brick
No exaggeration, my infatuation with the strip
Legendary like a schoolboy
Crushin' merely nearly every every chick
Heavy shit - that's how schoolboy got whipped
And got left on some, Just Me, Myself and I
On some Trugoy shit
Had your boys threw place up
To a place of no return
Had to play with fire and get burned
Only way the boy ever gon' learn
Had to lay way in the cut, til I finally got my turn
Now I'm on top in the spot that I earned

[Hook]
It's my life
It's my pain and my struggle
The song that I sing to you is my everything
Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst is the same as when I came
It's my joy and my tears and the laughter it brings to me
It's my everything

[Verse 2: Jay-Z]
Like I never rode in a limo
Like I just dropped flows to a demo
Like it's ninety-two again and
And I got O's in the rental
Back in the Stu' again
No prob' living was a whole lot simple
When you think back, you thought that
You would never make it this far, then you
Take advantage of the luck you handed
Or the talent, you been given
Ain't no, half stepping, ain't no, no slipping
Ain't no different from a block that's hitting
Gotta get it while the getting's good
Gotta strike while the iron's hot, before you stop
Then you gotta bid it, good riddance
Goodbye, this is my second major breakup
My first was, with a pager
With a hooptie, a cookpot, and the GAME
This one's with the stu', with the stage, with the fortune
Maybe not the fortune, but certainly the FAME

[Hook]

[Outro: Jay-Z]
Woo, it's like the blues
We gon' ride out on this one
Ty-Ty, B-High
Yo High, remember you was making them baskets
For them niggas at radio and shit
Clark Kent, that was good looking out nigga
Carline, who ever thought we'd make it this far homie
Sha, they can't stop us, knahmsayin
Lenny S
Dame whattup, robbing the bank
Niggas thought we was crazy man, remember uhh
You had that fucked up ass handwriting
You was writing all the numbers that we was spending down
For the videos we was doing ourselves
(Ski whattup, Original Flavor now)
Your accountant was crazy wrong and shit
But we we still put it together
Biggs, whassup
Member we went to St. Thomas and uh (John Meneilly)
Your dog peed on homey leg and shit
At his crib, I think that was Rudy
And they was having a lil trouble with the pool
You and Ty-Ty was laughing
Emory was there, whattup Emory
What up Ty
Hip-Hop, whattup man
Ay, ay Hop, you ain't, you ain't have no uhh
You ain't have no muh'fuckin seat on your, on your bicycle
Now you uhh, the head of black music
That's what I'm talkin bout right there homey - Gee, whattup Gee?
Yessir, e'rybody in the Roc
Hey Guru, I know you spoiled man
I be taking them shits in one take
You gonna have to punch niggas' shit (?Snigity?)
You gon' be tight
OG Juan, whattup?
I'm a little upset that you wasn't involved in this whole process
But it's all good - whassup Dash?
My whole family, my nephew, cousin Angie, whassup? Ti-Ti
(Bey, Bey, Bey, Bey)
Mom, you made the album, how crazy is that?
Bobalob, rest in peace
My pops, rest in peace (Sup A.J.?)
Biggie Smalls, rest in peace
Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh
Nigga, I'm bout to go golfing man
Ay, I might even have me a cappuccino, fuck it!
I'm goin somewhere nice where no mosquitoes at nigga
Holla at me - it's your boy