Life's a Bitch

About Life's a Bitch

"Life's a Bitch" is the third single from Nas' debut album Illmatic (1994). It was released as a 12" single on April 19, 1994 by Columbia Records. It features rapping from AZ and cornet playing by Nas' father Olu Dara. It is produced by L. E. S., who samples "Yearning for Your Love" by The Gap Band and "Black Frost" by Grover Washington, Jr. for the songs down-tempo jazzy beat. AZ's verse was the first recorded verse of his rap career and gave him much positive attention. Because of his verse on "Life's a Bitch", his debut album (Doe or Die) was anticipated much like how Nas' verse on "Live at the BBQ" raised expectations for Illmatic. "Life's a Bitch" was the first of several Nas/AZ collaborations such as "Mo Money, Mo Murder", "The Essence" and "The Flyest". The song was sampled numerous times in modern times, examples include "Keep It Real" by Miilkbone (1995), Carry On" by Statik Selektah featuring Joey Badass and Freddie Gibbs (2014), "Ugly" by Suicideboys (2015), and "YSIV" by Logic (2018), among many others. more »

Year:

2007

3:30

359 Views

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[AZ]	Aiyyo, wa**up wa**up let's keep it real son
	Count this money, yaknowhatI'msayin?
[Nas]	Yea yea
[AZ]	Aiyyo, put the Grant's over there in the safe yaknowhatI'msayin?
[Nas]	Yea yea
[AZ]	Cause we spendin these Jackson's
	The Washington's go to wifey, you know how that go
[Nas]	I'm sayin, that's what this is all about right?
	Clothes, bankrolls, and hoes yaknowhatI'msayin?
	Yo then what man, what?? *echoes*

Verse One: AZ the Visualiza
Visualizin the realism of life and actuality
F*** who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary
And my mentality is, money orientated
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it

'Cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters
But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners
Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin
Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition

Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us
'Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
But as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough

So, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors
me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers
Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
'Cause life's a b**** and then you die

[Chorus]
Life's a b**** and then you die; that's why we get high
Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a b**** and then you die; that's why we puff lye
Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a b**** and then you die; that's why we get high
Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a b**** and then you die; that's why we puff lye 
		--> chorus number one echoes at the end

Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a b**** and then you die
		--> chorus number two includes these lines, echoes at the end

I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing
The essence of adolescent leaves my body now I'm fresh in
My physical frame is celebrated cause I made it
One quarter through life some God-ly like thing created

Got rhymes 365 days annual plus some
Load up the mic and bust one, cuss while I puffs from
my skull cause it's pain in my brain vein money maintain
Don't go against the grain simple and plain

When I was young at this I used to do my thing hard
Droppin foreigners take they wallets they jewels and rip they green cards
Dipped to the projects flashin my quick cash
and got my first piece of a** smokin blunts with hash

Now it's all about cash in abundance, n****z I used to run with
is rich or doin years in the hundreds
I switched my motto -- instead of sayin f*** tomorrow
That buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto

Once I stood on the block, loose cracks produce stacks
I cooked up and cut small pieces to get my loot back
Time is Illmatic keep static like wool fabric
Pack a four-matic that crack your whole cavity

[Chorus]

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Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones ( /nɑːˈsɪər/; born September 14, 1973), better known mononymously as Nas ( /ˈnɑːz/), is an American rapper and actor. He is also the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums since 1994, four of which topped the Billboard charts upon release and has sold over thirteen-million records in the United States alone. Nas was also part of the hip hop supergroup The Firm, which released one album under Dr. Dre's record label Aftermath. Aside from rapping, Nas is also an occasional actor and has appeared in feature films such as Hype Williams' directorial debut Belly, Ticker and In Too Deep and the television show Hawaii Five-0. more »

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