Damn, Can I Live

[Jay Z] While I'm watching every nigga watching me closely My shit is butter for the bread, they wanna toast me I keep my head, both of them where they supposed to be Hoes'll get you sidetracked, then clap from close feet I don't sleep, I'm tired, I feel wired like codeine These days, a brother gotta admire me from four fiends away My pain, wish it was quick to see, from selling 'caine 'til brains was fried to a fricassee, can't lie At the time it never bothered me, at the bar Getting my thug on properly, my squad and me Lack of respect for authority, laughing hard Happy to be escaping poverty, however brief I know this game got valleys and peaks, expectation For dips, for precipitation we stack chips, hardly The youth I used to be, soon to see a mill'in No more Big Willie, my game has grown: prefer you call me William Illin' for revenues, Rayful Edmond like Channel 7 News, 'round seven jewels, head dead in the mic Forgetting all I ever knew, convenient amnesia "I suggest you call my lawyer, I know the procedure" Lock my body, can't trap my mind Easily, explain why we adapt to crime I'd rather die enormous than live dormant, that's how we on it Live at the main event, I bet a trip to Maui on it Presidential suites my residential for the weekend Confidentially speaking in codes since I sense you peeking The NSX rental, don't be fooled, my game is mental We both out of town, dog, what you trying to get into? Viva Las Vegas, see ya later at the crap tables Meet me by the one that starts a "G" up This way no Fraud Willies present gambling they re-up And we can have a pleasant time, sipping margaritas Ge-ge-gyeahh [Demetrius Capone] Listen here, I just wanna ball [??] up in this Leer And engineer all of the plots to free us, ge-ge-gyeahh It's been years livin' in poverty plus Witnessin' my father leave us, I'm feelin' double-crossed like Jesus If he was a Siamese twin, shit, my guard I'd keep up And a nigga be liftin' them dumbbells, I mean retarded ringers The streets done brought a G up, so it ain't my fault I'm G'd up But niggas with cold rags on they heads like they caught a fever Are eager to bother me, I'm like damn, can I cross the street cuz Damn, can I live? I'm not a Crip or a Pyro neither If we could just get a truce, somebody call the leaders And get both parties to come together like Obama fuckin' Condoleezza Nonbelievers of my struggle, get the tallest finger Armed with ninas cuz you can't get caught like the de Milo Venus I want the presidential suite life I'm kinda suicidal cause I'm tryin' to end my street life Even if that mean flyin' kilos in the air We get the key to your city and we don't need the mayor The older generation saying we in need of prayer And we in need of Jesus, cause G shit is our savior We hustle everyday like we can't wait for manana Cuz I'm one slip away from facin' your honor And I'm one hit away from datin' Rihanna This is grind to the death shit I'm like Jigga nigga except I'm on this west shit [Jay Z] My mind is infested with sick thoughts that circle Like a Lexus, if driven wrong it's sure to hurt you Dual level like duplexes, in unity My crew and me commit atrocities like we got immunity You guessed it, manifest it in tangible goods, platinum Rolexed it We don't lease, we buy the whole car, as you should My confederation, dead a nation, explode! On detonation, overload the mind of a sad patient When it boils to steam, it comes to it We all fiends, gotta do it, even righteous minds go through this True, this the streets school us to spend our money foolish Bond with jewelers and watch for intruders I stepped it up another level, meditated like a Buddhist Recruited lieutenants with ludicrous dreams of Gettin' cream, "let's do this!" It gets te-di-ous So I keep one eye open like C-B-S You see me stressed right? [Kenny] You see this west side, hang em by the ties on the chest if they chest ties Yes I'm from a raw city where it wasn't all goody Been awfully broke tryin' to get broke off fully I'm from where dudes get buried for not carryin' snubs But my only worry is that I'm not worried enough By beware, you probably should beware you probably shouldn't be there If you Hollywood, you probably would be scared The world's crooked but expect me to walk a straight line Cops too, but video chat's the only way I'll face time And my leisure women find this great wine and sit above my dick like my waistline while they're waist grind Other than that, there's no time to waste Grind is what I must do, for them times on the bus route Not livin' indoors and forcefully enduring Outdoor explorin', til I soar I'm ignorin' ignorance I was an eye sore in kid garments til all my wine is imported Grindin's important, my childhood was degrading Wasn't a plus, deserved to be grading We just tryin' to get some guaperella from a cappellas Then split the mozzarella like we're cheese grating Can I live?