With the re-release of Jay-Z’s Decoded in paperback form approaching (November 1st to be exact), NY Mag got an exclusive excerpt which includes the breakdown for Kingdom Come‘s standout Lost One.
Your girlfriend’s pregnant, the Lord’s gift / Almost lost my faith, that restored it/
Just when you’re on the verge of giving up hope and losing faith, the universe reveals unexpected consolations. My nephew’s girlfriend was just a couple months pregnant when he died, which none of us knew, maybe not even him. But the son she gave birth to looked just like his father, like Colleek reborn. The last verse is the most powerful example of the paradox of the song’s chorus, that even the greatest loss holds the possibility of redemption.
For the full write up head over to Vulture and check it out.
well duh. song was good but not like it was hard to understand.
It’s not a diss song, it’s just a real song / Feel me? // I heard motherfuckers saying they made Hov / Made Hov say, “Okay so, make another Hov”[1] / Niggaz wasn’t playing
they day role / So we parted ways like Ben and J-Lo / I shoulda been did it but I been
in a daze though / I put friends over business end of the day though / But when
friends, business interests is they glow / Ain’t nothing left to say though / I guess weforgot what we came for / Shoulda stayed in food and beverage / Too much flossing
/ Too much Sam Rothstein [2] / I ain’t a bitch but I gotta divorce them / Hov have to get the shallow shit up off him / And I ain’t even want to be famous / Niggaz is brainless to unnecessarily go through these changes / And I ain’t even know how it came to this / Except that fame is / The worst drug known to man / It’s stronger than, heroin/ When you could look in the mirror like, “There I am” / And still not see, what you’ve become / I know I’m guilty of it too but, not like them / You lost one // Lose one, let go to get one / Left one, lose some to win some [You lost one] / Sorry I’m a champion, sorry I’m a champion / You lost one // I don’t think it’s meant to be, be / But she loves her work more than she does me / And honestly, at twenty-three / I would probably love my work more than I did she / So we, ain’t we / It’s me, and her / ’Cause what she prefers over me, is work / And that’s, where we, differ / So I have to give her / Free, time, even if it hurts [3] / So breathe, mami, it’s deserved / You’ve been put on this earth to be / All you can be, like the reserves/ And me? My timing in this army, it’s served / So I have to allow she, her, time to serve / The time’s now for her / In time she’ll mature / And maybe we, can be, we, again like we were / Finally, my time’s too short to share / And to ask her now, it ain’t fair / So yeah, she lost one // Lose one, let go to get one / Left one, lose some to win some [Oh yeah, she lost one] / Sorry I’m a champion, sorry I’m a champion / You lost one // My nephew died in the car I bought [4] / So I’m under the belief it’s partly my fault / Close my eyes and squeeze, try to block that thought / Place any burden on me, but please, not that lord / Time don’t go back, it go forward [5] / Can’t run from the pain, go towards it [6] / Some things can’t be explained, what caused it? / Such a beautiful soul, so pure, shit / Gonna see you again, I’m sure of it / Until that time, little man I’m nauseous / Your girlfriend’s pregnant, the lord’s gift / Almost lost my faith, that restored it [7] / It’s like having your life restarted / Can’t wait for your child’s life, to be a part of it / So now I’m childlike, waiting for a gift / To return, when I lost you, I lost it // Lose one, let go to get one / Left one, lose some to win some [Colleek, I lost one] / Sorry I’m a champion, Colleek, you’re a champion / I lost one /
So Jay only raps about Drugs and money right? NO.
GOAT. END OF STORY
lol i’m saying. these song breakdowns are mad stupid. its not like jay’s lyrics were ever that cryptic. no need to “decode” shit that is was never “coded” in the first place. this shit is already in plain english.
Lupe should do this for “Food and Liquor” and “The Cool” I would cop that in a heartbeat
one of my fav songs on that album..Jay hardly gets personal but there are time when u get a glimpse at his life..losing a family member is really tough..but when u bought the car that his nephew crashed and died in had to literally destroy Jay..one of my fav MC’s ever..
Jay is, without a doubt, the greatest rapper to ever touch a mic. What a genius. It’s unbelievable when ”Hip Hop Heads” don’t give him the credit, because he’s so fucking successful. The ”Grammy Family”-Freestyle shows how intelligent he really is. Greatest lyrical display of the last decade.
Lupe the only one who comes close.
grammy freestyle wasn’t a real freestyle homie. The real tracks are out there ha