It Ain't Personal
R. Kelly & Jay-Z Lyrics

Man, they go and tell me like
People often say that

You never know who your true friends until you, ah umm
You cannot know who your real friends are until you both have some money

Both got a little bit of money
When you both have some cash

I mean, 'cause y'all both broke
When neither had any money

Then there's no strain on the relationship, y'all both broke
There is no tension in the relationship when you both are broke

And if you got money and he ain't got no paper
If you have money and your friend doesn't

He still needs you so you'll never know how he really feel about you
Your friend still needs you, so you can't tell how he really feels about you

When y'all both get some paper, you'll see
When you both have money, you'll see

We used to get money together, phone honies together
We used to make money together, get phone numbers from girls together

Pushin chromed out twinkies in custom coach leather
We used to drive expensive cars in leather interiors

You claim it's all love, but nigga it's whatever
You say it's all love, but it's all business

'Cause this is business, it ain't personal
This is business, not personal

Same dream, same team, same schemes
We had the same dream, team, and plans

(Mm)

We even sold to the same damn fiends
We sold to the same drug addicts

(How real is dat?)

Ain't no rules in this war for this green
There are no rules in this fight for money

This is business, and it ain't personal
This is business, not personal

Look, I'm a grown man dog
I'm a grown man

And I ain't got time to be runnin behind y'all
I don't have time to chase after you

I know when I first started it was crazy to y'all
When I first started, it sounded crazy to you

"He's gon' start his own label, he'll never be able"
You said, "He will never succeed in starting his own record label"

Well, nigga you've been wrong before
You've been wrong before

And you'll be wrong again if you bet against him
You will be wrong again if you bet against me

We move through the hood like identical twins
We are often seen together in the neighborhood

But it just so happen that a nigga made it rappin
But I made it big as a rapper

You showed your true colors, y'all niggaz stay yappin
You revealed your true motives; you talk too much

That don't stop him, a nigga weigh platinum
But it doesn't stop me, I am a successful artist

Stop through the hood, to say what's happenin?
I still come back to the neighborhood to visit

('Sup nigga)

Fake hugz
Insincere hugs

(Uh-huh)

Fake whassup
Insincere greetings

Fake love, fake fuck, fake thugs
Fake love, fake sex, fake tough guys

Gotta one myself for your fake shit, I raise up
I distance myself from your insincere behavior

Hop in my wheels and I peel, streets are blazed up
I get in my car and leave the neighborhood quickly

About my bid'ness dog, y'all need to stay up one
I'm focused on my business, you need to do the same

I wish, I wish, that success, we could all
I wish everyone could share in success

Get a piece of it
Have a share of it

(Word)

But that ain't real dog
But that's not realistic

(No)

'Cause in these streets it's war, the industry much more
Because in these streets, the fight for money is intense, and the music industry is even more cutthroat

But rich or poor, I'ma keep it real my nigga
But whether rich or poor, I will always stay true

Invest in chips and watch my money hill get bigger
I invest in stocks and watch my money grow

And do things like, pull up to some clubs
I do things like pull up to clubs

In the skirts with Jigga, and yellin out hey
With Jay-Z, and saying things like "hey"

What the fuck, pop that Cris' my nigga
What's up, let's drink Cristal

And then he wants to know how many chips I done sold
Then he wants to know how much money I've made

Well, it ain't y'all business what's behind my doors
It's none of your business what I do with my money

But y'all niggaz don't appreciate shit
But you guys don't appreciate anything

Helped you out and you still actin like a little bitch
I helped you out and you still act ungrateful

Then you wonder why I put yo' ass in the tenth row
Then you wonder why I gave you bad seats at my concert

When you asked me for some tickets to my TP-2 show
When you asked me for tickets to my show

Lawd tell me, why we don't like to see us grow?
God, tell me why we don't like to see each other succeed?

A-alike

Be alike
We should be like each other

(That's right)

We don't vibe no more because we don't see alike
We don't get along because we are too different

And your mom got it twisted, she think Hov' changed
And your mom got it wrong, she thinks Jay-Z changed

Nope, Hov's still here like Rogaine
Nope, Jay-Z is still here like hair growth product

Ask your boy what he did to the Hov' game
Ask your friend what he did to mess up Jay-Z's career

How he jeopardized the whole game
How he jeopardized the entire rap industry

Now when we see each other it's so strange
Now when we see each other, it's awkward

I don't know whether to hug him or slug him
I don't know whether to hug him or hit him

(Damn)

I don't know whether to cap him or dap him
I don't know whether to shoot him or give him a fist bump

I don't know what to think of him, I don't know what's happenin
I'm not sure what to think of him, I don't know what's going on

But what I do know, all the niggaz that you know
But what I do know is that all the people you know

Locked up doin a few doe, but who knows?
Are in jail or struggling financially, who knows?

Maybe it wasn't you, maybe I'm buggin too
Maybe it wasn't your fault, maybe I'm overreacting

(Right)

But I'm scared dog, I don't know what the fuck to do
But I'm scared, I don't know what to do

Do me a favor, place yourself in my shoes
Try to imagine how I feel

The game, no exceptions, gotta follow the rules
The music industry has no exceptions, you have to follow the rules