December 4th
100dBs feat. Jay-Z Lyrics

Shawn Carter was born December 4th
Jay-Z was born on December 4th.

Weighing in at 10 pounds 8 ounces
Jay-Z was a large baby.

He was the last of my four children
Jay-Z was the last child of his parents.

The only one who didn't give me any pain when I gave birth to him
Jay-Z's birth was easier for his mother compared to his siblings.

And that's how I knew that he was a special child
Jay-Z's easy birth made his mother believe he was special.

They say "they never really miss you til you dead or you gone"
Jay-Z acknowledges that people don't appreciate others until they're gone.

So on that note I'm leaving after this song
He's about to leave with his music career.

So you ain't gotta feel no way about Jay, so long
Jay-Z doesn't want people to feel hurt about his departure.

At least let me tell you why I'm this way, hold on
Jay-Z wants to explain why he thinks and acts differently.

I was conceived by Gloria Carter and Adaness Revees
Jay-Z's parents are Gloria Carter and Adaness Revees.

Who made love under the Sycamore tree
Jay-Z reveals the place where his parents conceived him.

Which makes me
This event played a significant role in Jay-Z's life.

A more sicker emcee than my momma would claim
Jay-Z thinks he's a great rapper.

At ten pounds when I was born I didn't give her no pain
Jay-Z's birth didn't cause any pain to his mother.

Although through the years I gave her her fair share
Jay-Z wasn't an easy child to raise.

I gave her her first real scare
Jay-Z made his mother really scared at least once.

I made it from birth and I got here
Jay-Z is lucky to have made it this far.

She knows my purpose wasn't purpose
Jay-Z's mother knows his life's goal was unclear.

I ain't perfect I care
Jay-Z cares about his imperfections.

But I feel worthless cause my shirts wasn't matching my gear
Jay-Z felt worthless when he didn't have perfect clothes to match his appearance.

Now I'm just scratching the surface cause what's buried under there
Jay-Z believes there's more to him than people assume.

Was a kid torn apart once his pop disappeared
Jay-Z was sad when his father disappeared from his life.

I went to school got good grades could behave when I wanted
Jay-Z was a good student and well-behaved most times.

But I had demons deep inside that would raise when confronted
Jay-Z had internal conflicts that would cause him to misbehave at times.

Shawn was a very shy child growing up
Jay-Z was a shy child when he was young.

He was into sports
Jay-Z was interested in sports.

And a funny story is
Jay-Z's mother recalls a funny story from his childhood.

At four he taught his self how to ride a bike
Jay-Z learned how to ride a bike by himself at the young age of four.

A two wheeler at that
Jay-Z learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike.

Isn't that special?
Jay-Z's mother thinks it's special that he learned to ride a bike at such a young age.

But, I noticed a change in him when me and my husband broke up
Jay-Z's personality changed when his parents got divorced.

Now all the teachers couldn't reach me
Jay-Z became unresponsive to teachers.

And my momma couldn't beat me
Jay-Z didn't listen to his mother either.

Hard enough to match the pain of my pop not seeing me, so
Jay-Z's mother couldn't match the pain of his father not being around.

With that disdain in my membrane
Jay-Z's memories of his father affected him negatively.

Got on my pimp game
Jay-Z resorted to hustling and pimping.

Fuck the world my defense came
Jay-Z became defensive towards the world.

Then Dahaven introduced me to the game
Jay-Z learned the hustling game from Dahaven.

Spanish Jose introduced me to cane
Jay-Z started dealing with drugs (cane) through Spanish Jose.

I'm a hustler now
Jay-Z became a hustler.

My gear is in and I'm in the in crowd
Jay-Z became popular socially and had good clothing.

And all the wavy light skinned girls is loving me now
Jay-Z became popular with light-skinned girls.

My self esteem went through the roof man I got my swag
Jay-Z felt confident and obtained swag.

Got a vocal from this girl when her man got bagged
Jay-Z got sexually involved with a girl whose man was in jail.

Plus I hit my momma with cash from a show that I had
Jay-Z gave his mother money he made from a show.

Supposedly knowing nobody paid Jaz wack ass
Jay-Z believed he was the only one who could satisfy the crowd.

I'm getting ahead of myself, by the way, I could rap
Jay-Z started to focus on his rapping abilities.

That came second to me moving this crack
Jay-Z's focus shifted towards drug dealing.

Gimme a second I swear, I will say about my rap career
Jay-Z promises to talk about his rapping career.

Til '96 came niggas I'm here
Jay-Z's music industry success happened in 1996.

Good-bye
Jay-Z is saying goodbye to the game.

Beating on the table and rapping
Jay-Z used to practice his rapping by beating on the table.

And um, until the wee hours of the morning
Jay-Z practiced his rapping till the early hours of morning.

And then I bought him a boom box
Jay-Z's mother bought him a boom box.

And his sisters and brothers said that he would drive them nuts
Jay-Z's siblings found his rapping annoying.

But that was my way to keep him close to me and out of trouble
Jay-Z's mother bought the boom box to keep him close and stop him from getting in trouble.

Good-bye to the game all the spoils, the adrenaline rush
Jay-Z says goodbye to the hustle and the addiction that comes with it.

Your blood boils you in a spot knowing cops could rush
Jay-Z knows how it feels to be in a spot with the threat of cops coming.

And you in a drop your so easy to touch
When in a convertible, it becomes easy for others to reach Jay-Z.

No two days are alike
Hustling is unpredictable; no two days are the same.

Except the first and fifteenth pretty much
The only predictable days for hustling were the day of the month when people were paid.

And "trust" is a word you seldom hear from us
Hustlers rarely use or trust the word "trust".

Hustlers we don't sleep we rest one eye up
Hustlers never entirely trust the people around them.

And a drought can define a man, when the well dries up
In the world of hustling, a drought can be the defining factor for a person.

You learn to work the water without working, of thirst you'll die yup
Hustlers have to learn how to work with whatever resources they have.

And niggas get tied up for product
People might get tied up if they try to steal a hustler's product.

And little brothers ring fingers get cut up
To assert dominance, some people cut off their little brother's fingers.

To show mothers they really got 'em
Some people cut off their sibling's fingers to show their mother they have control over their brother.

And this was the stress I live with til I decided
Jay-Z lived with this stress until he made a conscious decision.

To try this rap shit for a living
Jay-Z decided to focus on his rapping career.

I pray I'm forgiven
Jay-Z hopes he is forgiven.

For every bad decision I made
Jay-Z admits to making bad decisions.

Every sister I played
Jay-Z admits to playing girls.

Cause I'm still paranoid to this day
Jay-Z is still nervous and suspicious.

And it's nobody fault I made the decisions I made
Jay-Z takes responsibility for his decisions.

This is the life I chose or rather the life that chose me
Jay-Z chose to enter the life of hustling.

If you can't respect that your whole perspective is wack
Jay-Z tells people to accept his life choices.

Maybe you'll love me when I fade to black
Jay-Z hopes people will love him after he retires from music.