The verse Jay-Z cried while writing: “I had tears in my eyes”
Jay-Z has written many songs throughout his career, establishing him as one of the greatest rappers ever. He’s touched on many personal subjects across his 13 solo albums, collaborative projects with Kanye West and Beyoncé, and countless features. For one of his guest verses, he admitted to crying while penning the lyrics in his head.
Hov collaborated with Jeezy in 2014 on ‘Seen It All’, the title track from the Atlanta rapper’s Seen It All: The Autobiography album. In his verse, Jay dived into his past and addressed subjects that have deeply affected his life.
Jay raps, “Uncle died on the spot/ Pop killed the family with heroin shots (Real shit)/ Gave my life to the block/ Figured I get shot, ‘least I die on top (Real shit)/ I came alive in the drop/ Big body all white, shit looked like a yacht, ugh (Real shit)/ I got ’em five grand a pop/ Had a plug in Saint Thomas on a trillion watts, ugh (Trill shit).”
Speaking to MTV News, Jeezy said, “We got on the phone and [Jay] was like, ‘Yo, Jeezy, when I was writing the verse I had tears in my eyes, man,’ because it took him so far back to Marcy. Every bar in that song was real — I put my hand on the bible.”
The lines reference Hov losing his father, Adnes Reeves, and his uncle, Ray, to the streets. His dad’s brother was stabbed when Jay was nine years old. In his 2010 memoir, Decoded, he wrote, “My dad swore revenge and became obsessed with hunting down Uncle Ray’s killer. The tragedy – compounded by the injustice – drove him crazy, sent him to the bottle, and ultimately became a factor in the unraveling of my parents’ marriage.”
He also discusses his drug-dealing past in the Marcy Projects. Jay found his place in the streets after his father left when he was 11, going on to sell drugs at 13. Following deaths and incarcerations, he realised he needed to find a way out. “I started seeing people go to jail and get killed, and the light slowly came on,” he once told Oprah Winfrey. “I was like, ‘This life has no good ending.’”
Jeezy and Hov have collaborated several times on songs like ‘I Do’ with André 3000, which appeared on his 2011 album, TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition. They also teamed up on the ‘Go Crazy’ remix, ‘Real As It Gets’, and Bun B’s ‘Get Throwed’. The pair have a history that runs deep. They see similarities in each other, having both come from the streets and made it as musicians.
Speaking on Jay’s integrity and not being a people-pleaser, Jeezy told TV One TV, “That’s the biggest thing I see in him. You gotta have tough skin. Anybody can be an artist. Anybody can be a rapper. But when you start talking about life changing and being in a position that most of us never thought would be humanly possible, and balancing all that and not losing yourself, that takes a special kind of skin.”