This Can't Be Life - Jay-Z

Written by：Dwight Grant/Leon Huff/Malik Cox/Kenneth Gamble/Kanye West/Shawn Carter/Brad Jordan

Geah whassup

Where's all my street niggaz project niggaz

Real niggaz worldwide

Let's reflect e'rybody got a story

We all ghetto B here's mine

Geah

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 embalmin' fluid

Sh*t 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 kinda calm to it

'Bout to lose it voices screaming

Don't do it

It's like '93 '94 'bout the year

That Big and Mag dropped and Illmatic rocked

Outta every rag drop and the West had it locked

Everybody doing 'em I'm still scratchin' on the block

Like damn I'ma be a failure

Surrounded by thugs *** and ** paraphenalia

Cops courts and their thoughts is to derail us

Three time felons in shorts with jealous thoughts

Trying 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

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 dog

Second oldest born from Michelle Brown my mother

Hell bound 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 niggaz 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 dog of course it's real

Passing judgment you niggaz second guessing Beans

Cause you don't eat swine don't make you Amin

Dog you know a couple suras out the Qur'an

I guess you all on your din and I ain't on mine

Stop that Akki 'fore I send shots though your body

Make 'em feel hell on earth before Allah drop thee

I feel the line's drawn here nutting more can stop me

Till them feds pick me up or them boys pop me

There's only three things that make Mac not act like Beans

Amatullah Tisha Po Aldin Samir Amin

My seeds dog gotta teach 'em that before I leave dog

Sh*t I know that I'ma see 'em when I leave dog

I come back in the afterlife

Like f**k it I done touched hell twice what's the meaning

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

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 atlife through the stars

Loving your kids just like you was ours

And I'm hurting for you dog 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 but you can view it like this

God's got open hands homey he in the midst of good company

Who loves all and hates not one

And one day you gon' be wit your son

I could've rapped about my hard times on this song

But heaven knows I woulda 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

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