15 Songs on How Jay-Z Is A Spiritual Guru Part 4

05. Empire State Of Mind

Summary of Principles:

Pure, unadulterated love for one’s environment. An interesting fact about this is that it seems to be a tribute to Nas’s song N.Y. State Of Mind, and at one time Jay-Z and Nas had quite an intense hip-hop beef (feud) going on.

[Jay-Z]
Yeah, I’m out tha’ Brooklyn
Now I’m down in Tribeca
Right next to DeNiro
But I’ll be hood forever
Jay-Z, though moving on up in the world through his success and his vision, is still grounded and remembers his roots.
I’m the new Sinatra
And since I made it here
I can make it anywhere
Yeah, they love me everywhere
Keep striving and if you’re able to make it in a challenging environment, then you are blessed with the utter feeling of confidence of being able to succeed anywhere, and since feelings guide reality...
I used to cop in Harlem
Hola my Dominicanos
Right there up on Broadway
Brought me back to that McDonalds
Took it to my stash spot
560 State street
Catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons whipping pastry
A lengthy reference to Jay-Z’s early days in the drug game, and despite that being an experience most people wouldn’t choose, he remembers it fondly and loves all parts of New York even those considered ’dark.’ - Beautiful.
Cruising down 8th street
Off-white Lexus
Driving so slow but BK is from Texas
Me I’m out that Bed-Stuy
Home of that boy Biggie
Now I live on Billboard
And I brought my boys with me
Jay-Z grew from the BedSty ghettos of New York to the Billboard Charts, and his friends also became famous.
Say what up to Ty Ty, still sipping mai tais
Sitting courtside Knicks and Nets give me high fives
Nigga I be Spiked out, I can trip a referee
Tell by my attitude that I’m most definitely from

New York
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothing you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New YorkPure love for New York. This is something taught by all spiritual teachers, that of truly loving your surroundings, every aspect of it.

(I made you hot, nigga)

[Jay-Z]
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game
Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can
You should know I bleed Blue, but I ain’t a Crip, though
The yankees are merely one aspect of New York Jay-Z truly loves, and these inspired lines show it. He performed Empire State Of Mind for 2009 World Series and brought the house down. Credit RapGenius.com
But I got a gang of niggas walking with my clique though
Welcome to the melting pot
Corners where we selling rocks
Afrika Bambaataa shit
Home of the hip-hop
Yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back
For foreigners it ain’t fair, they act like they forgot how to add
8 million stories out there in the naked
CityJay-Z pays homage to each individual in New York city, each with their own story., it’s a pity half of y’all won’t make it
Me I gotta plug Special Ed "I Got It Made"
If Jeezy’s paying LeBron, I’m paying Dwyane Wade
3 dice Cee-lo
3 card Marley
Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley
Statue of Liberty, long live the World trade
Long live the king yo
I’m from the Empire State, that’s

[Hook]

Welcome to the bright light

[Jay-Z]
Lights is blinding
Girls need blinders
Women are attracted to NY’s bright lights, and in Jay-Z’s eyes there are many of both.
So they can step out of bounds quick
The side lines is lined with casualties
Who sip the life casually, then gradually become worse
Living life without passion will gradually result in stronger and stronger misery until a person ’wakes up.’
Don’t bite the apple, Eve
Caught up in the in-crowd
Now you're in-style
And in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out
The city of sin is a pity on a whim
Good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them
Mommy took a bus trip and now she got her bust out
Everybody ride her, just like a bus route
Hail Mary to the city you're a Virgin
Jay-Z doesn't hide mask or cover up prostitutes and the underside of the city, in fact he celebrates it claiming New York views everyone as pure and unblemished in Godly fashion.
If Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the church ends
Came here for school, graduated to the high life
Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight
Jay sees New York as a success-machine, people who arrive there have much opportunity and an environment for quickly achieving high social status.
MDMA got you feeling like a champion
The city never sleeps, better slip you a Ambien

[Hook]

[Alicia Keys]
One hand in the air for the big city
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty
No place in the World that can compare
Put your lighters in the air, everybody say "yea!"

06. Real As It Gets

Summary of Principles:

This track is about being real, in rap and in life. It’s about being passionate about whatever you doing, putting your heart into things and suggests that hollow bragging, or lying manipulation are lesser, ineffective ways to succeed in life. Be authentic. Have integrity.

[Intro - Young Jeezy]
Yeah, see it’s that
It’s that Blueprint 3 shit right here
It's that TM 103 shit right here
Jay-Z’s upcoming album is called Thug-Motivation 103 - Credit RapGenius.com - After hearing Blueprint I could not be more excited for it.
You ready ? You ready Hov’? Let’s go! (Hands up!)

[Verse 1 - Young Jeezy]
Allow me to re-introduce myself
At the same time re-introduce my wealth
At the same time rejuvenate the game
It’s for my old dog niggas that’s used to ’caine
Now what B-dog said, I respect the game
GD’s, vice lords, the crips the same
Jeezy is suggesting that his rhymes and wisdom may unite the gang scene, vice lords, crips, etc.
And I know you’re ’bout to say this off the chain
Tell 'em fake trappin' ass niggas stay out my lane
See I ain’t dead or in jail, I can’t complain
And when these fake niggas gone, I shall remain
And if you just tunin' in, let me explain
You know I keep that 47, Uday Hussein
These niggas way too far, I played the game
And if you listen hard enough I say some things
And when that sack got low, I shave them things
And put 'em right back together, I made them thingsJeezy expresses strongly about his drug/ and gang ties, so much so that he is often criticized for shallow lyrics. He briefly claims to have more to say in this stanza, and that's very possible. For myself, this is the most challenging song on the album to interpret spiritually.

[Hook - Young Jeezy]
Now put your sets in the air if you represent your clique
Money in the air if you ever hear the lick, baby
Put your hands in the air, if you know that you that bitch
Say you looking for the real, hey well this is real as it getsJeezy pulls know punches and stays true to himself (and presumably ’the game’)

Hey! Hey! Ohh! Ohh!
This is real as it gets

[Verse 2 - Jay-Z]
Now where that South side at, wassup, wassup
Where the west coast at, put your W’s up
Where my east coast niggas that hustle to live
And all my niggas up north that’s doin’ a bid
Oh yeah I'm rare, I'm aware that I'm rare
I rap and I’m real, I’m one of the few here
These other boys lyin’, I wonder if y’all care
They stories out this world, I wonder if y’all hear
Jay-Z is very aware that he is one of the few rappers who self-express their true feelings and life experiences in their rhymes, the majority of rappers are simply b.s.’ing, and he questions whether the fans are even interested in feeling the difference.
But don’t really matter as long as they stay clear
Clear of the real shit we doin’ over here
It doesn’t really matter because Jay-Z doesn’t hang with or attract these fake rappers, and they generally stay clear of him as it’s in everyone’s best interests.
When my nigga get home, I’m gonna send him a Lear
For all the time he been down, get him right up in the air
With a couple of broads get him right up in the air
Mile high club get him right up in there
Send my nigga some gear like he never missed a year
By the time you hear this song, he’ll be standing right hereThis stanza is basically saying Jay-Z loves to lavish gifts on his friends and get them enjoying life.

[Hook]

[Verse 3 - Jay-Z]
A hundred million to the good and I’m still talkin’ yayo
Despite making a hundred-million through legal means, he still sings about his life experiences with dealing cocaine.
At a snails pace I won this race that y’all trail
Uh, uh, Blueprint's for sale
Followin' my footprints you can’t fail
Jay-Z refers to himself as the Blueprint other rappers can follow if they desire the heavenly successful life he leads (Jesus similarly referred to himself as ’The Way’)
Set sail, I used to duck shots but now I eat quail
I’ll probably never see jail
Each tale contains more of the truth
Of the statute allows me to go into detail
Uh, close your eyes you can smell
Hov’s the audio equivalent of braille
That’s why they feel me in the favelas in Brazil
And Waterhouse ’cause real recognize realAll the gangsta’s of the world, Jay-Z has been there, he understands you, and you can follow his Blueprint.

Rrraaahhh!

[Young Jeezy]
You know me, I don't need no introduction
Call me make a lil' somethin' out of nothin'
Anywhere you go, we're the topic of discussion
Damn, that's gotta be disgusting
Err, shit make me wanna throw up
It's big boy music, it should make me wanna grow up
Flows like syrup, it just make me wanna pour up
And is it just me or this makes you wanna roll up
A big fat one, then unpack one
Then unwrap one, peel back one
They use to call me Jizzle with the stamp in the middle
And you can tell the color when it's damp in the middleRelatively common hip-hop gang, drug, drinking and smoking talk