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[t]he Truth Is You Don't Need Some External Demon To Take Control Of You To Turn You Into A Raging, Money-obsessed Sociopath, You Only Need To Let Loose The Demons You Already Have Inside Of You.

-Jay-Z

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[t]he Truth Is You

Jay-Z

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[t]he Truth Is You Don't Need Some External Demon To Take Control Of You To Turn You Into A Raging, Money-obsessed Sociopath, You Only Need To Let Loose The Demons You Already Have Inside Of You.

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[t]he Truth Is You Don't Need Some External Demon To Take Control Of You To Turn You Into A Raging, Money-obsessed Sociopath, You Only Need To Let Loose The Demons You Already Have Inside Of You.

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I Was Forced To Be An Artist And A Ceo From The Beginning, So I Was Forced To Be Like A Businessman Because When I Was Trying To Get A Record Deal, It Was So Hard To Get A Record Deal On My Own That It Was Either Give Up Or Create My Own Company.

Shakespeare Was A Man Who Wrote Poetry. I'm A Man Who Writes Poetry. Why Not Compare Yourself To The Best?

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Your Future Is Ahead Of You. Imagine The Notion Of The Past Fifteen Years Of Your Life Being A Blip In Your Story.

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered From Record Sales To Sold Out Concerts.

Screamin' 'carpe Diem!' Until I'm A Dead Poet.

I Like A Girl Who Spend A Little Cash For Her Shoes.

Treat My First Like My Last And The Last Like My First And My Thirst Is The Same As- When I Came.

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It Was A Weird Mix Of Emotions. One Day, Your Best Friend Could Be Killed. The Day Before, You Could Be Celebrating Him Getting A Brand-new Bike.

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May The Best Of Your Today's Be The Worst Of Your Tomorrow's

I Believe You Can Speak Things Into Existence.

I Spring Train In The Winter, Around Early December...

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Hip-hop Is More About Attaining Wealth. People Respect Success. They Respect Big. They Don't Even Have To Like Your Music. If You're Big Enough, People Are Drawn To You.

No Matter Where You Go, You Are What You Are Playa.

My Thing Is Related To Who I Am As A Person. The Clothes Are An Extension Of Me. The Music Is An Extension Of Me. All My Businesses Are Part Of The Culture, So I Have To Stay True To Whatever I'm Feeling At The Time, Whatever Direction I'm Heading In. And Hopefully, Everyone Follows.

I Couldn't Even Think About Wanting To Be Something Else; I Wouldn't Let Myself Visualize Another Life. But I Wrote Because I Couldn't Stop. It Was A Release, A Mental Exercise, A Way Of Keeping Sane.

Can I Hit It In The Morning With Out Giving You Have Of My Dough?

In Trouble Waters I Had To Learn How To Float

Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Dont

Jealousy’s A Weak Emotion.

[banning Marriage Equality Is] Discrimination, Plain And Simple. It's Really Not About Votes. It's About People. I Think It's The Right Thing To Do As A Human Being.

I'm A Hustler, Baby; I Sell Water To A Well!

I'm Hungry For Knowledge. The Whole Thing Is To Learn Every Day, To Get Brighter And Brighter. That's What This World Is About. You Look At Someone Like Gandhi, And He Glowed. Martin Luther King Glowed. Muhammad Ali Glows. I Think That's From Being Bright All The Time, And Trying To Be Brighter.

Got Some, Dirt On My Shoulder, Could You Brush It Off For Me?

Rap Has Been A Path Between Cultures In The Best Tradition Of Popular Music.

I Smoked Some Weed, And That's How I Finished 'izzo.'

If The Beat Is Time, Flow Is What We Do With That Time, How We Live Through It. The Beat Is Everywhere, But Every Life Has To Find Its Own Flow.

I Grew Up In Marcy Projects In Brooklyn, And My Mom And Pop Had An Extensive Record Collection, So Michael Jackson And Stevie Wonder And All Of Those Sounds And Souls Of Motown Filled The House.

Hip-hop Gave A Generation A Common Ground That Didn't Require Either Race To Lose Anything; Everyone Gained.

You Put The Right Artist On The Right Track In The Studio And Leave The Door Open To Let God In.

If I Don't Show The World Growth, How Are We Going To Grow?

A Wise Man Told Me Don't Argue With Fools. Cause People From A Distance Can't Tell Who Is Who.

Be True To Yourself- And Keep Things Simple. People Complicate Things

Be True To Yourself

Without The Work, The Magic Won’t Come.

Everything Evens Up, You Just Wait, Even A Garbage Can Gets A Steak, You Ain't Even A Garbage Can, You Have Faith!

We'll Have A Baby Who Stutters Repeatedly We'll Name Him History

Be Fluid. Treat Each Project Differently. Be Water, Man. The Best Style Is No Style. Because Styles Can Be Figured Out. And When You Have No Style They Can't Figure You Out.

Remind Yourself. Nobody Built Like You, You Design Yourself.

Personal Growth

I Seen The Worst Of The Worst. I Deserve Every Blessing I Receive I'm From The Dirt.

Only God Can Judge Me So I'm Gone, Either Love Me Or Leave Me Alone.

Successful People Have A Bigger Fear Of Failure Than People Who've Never Done Anything Because If You Haven't Been Successful, Then You Don't Know How It Feels To Lose It All.

I'm Hungry For Knowledge. The Whole Thing Is To Learn Every Day, To Get Brighter And Brighter.

Hungry For Success

Hungry For Knowledge

Don't Tell Me What Was Said About Me. Tell Me Why They Were So Comfortable To Say It To You.

How Could I Be Out There And Not Do Anything?

I Think Lil Wayne Is Extremely Talented. I Think He's One Of The Most Talented Ones Out There.

Only He Without Sin Can Tell Me If My Means Justify My Ends.

The Reason I've Been Groundedand Able To Make Albums, Is Because I've Allowed My Friends To Come With Me And Voice An Opinion. That's Who Keeps You Grounded, The People Who Have Known You Longest.

No One's Walking Around Here Perfect. Everyone's Gonna Make Mistakes. That's Part Of How You Learn.

Making Mistakes

I Think The Consumption Of Music Is At An All-time High. But I Think The Ways That Record Companies Are Trying To Monetize It Is Just All Over The Place. At The End Of The Day, Music Is In The Clouds. Before, You Could Hold It, Look At It, Turn It Around. Now, It's Just In The Air.

[t]he Truth Is That Drug Addicts Have A Disease. It Only Takes A Short Time In The Streets To Realize That Out-of-control Addiction Is A Medical Problem, Not A Form Of Recreational Or Criminal Behavior. And The More Society Treats Drug Addiction As A Crime, The More Money Drug Dealers Will Make "relieving" The Suffering Of The Addicts.

Medical Problems

They Say A Midget Standing On A Giant's Shoulders Can See Much Further Than The Giant. So I Got The Whole Rap World On My Shoulders, They Trying To See Further Than I Am.

If Your Dad Died Before You Were Born, Yeah, It Hurts — But It’s Not Like You Had A Connection With Something That Was Real. Not To Say It’s Any Better — But To Have That Connection And Then Have It Ripped Away Was, Like, The Worst. My Dad Was Such A Good Dad That When He Left, He Left A Huge Scar. He Was My Superhero.

I Am Not A Businessman. I Am A Business, Man.

You Not Feeling Me, Fine. It Costs You Nothing, Pay Me No Mind.

Rosa Parks Sat So Martin Luther King Could Walk. Martin Luther King Walked So Obama Could Run. Obama's Running So We All Can Fly.

You Shared One Of The Most Intimate Things That Ever Happened To You - Falling In Love With Someone Who Wasn't Brave Enough To Love You Back. Your Relieving Yourself Of Your 'secret' Is As Much About Wanting To Honestly Connect As It Is About Exhibition. We Are All Made Better By Your Decision To Share Publicly.

Falling In Love

I Had Success. I Had A Number One Record. I Had A Number One Album. I Have To Make This Kind Of Record Again Or Else I'm Going To Lose It All. That's How You End Up Making The Same Song Over And Over.

I Noticed That Difference Early On, Like If You Were Successful In Rock 'n' Roll, That Was A Really Bad Thing, You Almost Had To Hide It. You Had These Guys Selling 200 Million Records With Dirty T-shirts On. I Was Like, 'come On, Man. Come On. We Know You're Successful.' Hip-hop Is More About Attaining Wealth. People Respect Success. They Respect Big. They Don't Even Have To Like Your Music. If You're Big Enough, People Are Drawn To You.

I'm Not Afraid Of Dying I'm Afraid Of Not Trying

Young Entrepreneurs

Ain't Nothin' Wrong With The Aim, Just Gotta Change The Target.

You Can Put A New Shirt On Your Back, Slide A Fresh Chain Around Your Neck, And Accumulate All The Money And Power In The World, But At The End Of The Day Those Are Just Layers. Money And Power Don't Change You, They Just Further Expose Your True Self.

The End Of The Day

As Fate Would Have It, Jay's Status Appears To Be At An All-time High, Perfect Time To Say Goodbye When I Come Back Like Jordan, Wearing The 4-5.

Never Prayed To God, I Prayed To Gotti, That's Right It's Wicked, That's Life I Live It. Ain't Askin' For Forgiveness For My Sins. I Gotta Get My Soul Right, I Gotta Get These Devils Out My Life. Lord Forgive Him, He Got Them Dark Forces In. Connected To The High Power. 666. I Can Introduce You To Evil.

That's Why This Generation Is The Least Racist Generation Ever. You See It All The Time. Go To Any Club. People Are Intermingling, Hanging Out, Having Fun, Enjoying The Same Music. Hip-hop Is Not Just In The Bronx Anymore. It's Worldwide. Everywhere You Go, People Are Listening To Hip-hop And Partying Together. Hip-hop Has Done That.

I Have Inherited Two Of The Most Important Brands In Hip-hop, Def Jam And Roc-a-fella. Reid And Universal Music Group Have Given Me The Opportunity To Manage The Companies I Have Contributed To My Whole Career. I Feel This Is A Giant Step For Me And The Entire Artist Community.

In The End, You Can't Censor The Truth, Especially When It Comes Packaged In Hot Music.

As Sure As This Earth Is Turnin, Souls Burnin / In Search Of Higher Learnin, Turnin In Every Direction Seeking Direction / My Moms Cryin Cause Her Insides Are Dyin / Her Son Tryin Her Patience, Keep Her Heart Racin / A Million Beats A Minute, I Know I Push You To Your Limit / But It's This Game, Love—i'm Caught Up All In It / They Make It So You Can't Prevent It, Never Give It / You Gotta Take It, Can't Fake It, I Keep It Authentic

You Know The Type: Loud As A Motorbike But Wouldn't Bust A Grape In A Fruit Fight.

Whoever Said That Artists Shouldn't Pay Attention To Their Business Was Probably Someone W/their Hand In Some Artist's Pocket.

The Most Amazing Feeling I Feel Words Can't Describe What I'm Feeling For Real Maybe I Paint The Sky Blue My Greatest Creation Was You.

We Create Music To Express Ourselves And When The World Relates, That's A Beautiful Thing. We're All Trading Off Each Other's Culture, So No Matter What Lines You Put--country Indie Rock, Rap, We're All Somehow Gonna Find A Way To Come Together.

The Average Rap Life Is Two Or Three Albums. You're Lucky To Get To Your Second Album In Rap!

Everybody Can Tell You How To Do It But They Never Done It

I Love You So, But Why I Love You, I'll Never Know.

I Never Ask For Nothin' I Don't Demand Of Myself. Honesty, Loyalty, Friends And Then Wealth

Hip-hop Is A Perfect Mix Between Poetry And Boxing.

Nine To Five Is How Ya Survive, I Ain't Trying To Survive I'm Trying To Live It To The Limit And Love It Alive

Males Shouldnt Be Jealous. Thats A Female Trait.

I'm Not A Businessman, I'm A Business, Man!

I Will Not Lose, For Even In Defeat/there's A Valuable Lesson Learned, So It Evens Up For Me

It Was A Very Intense And Stressful Situation. There Was Playing In The Johnny-pump (an Opened Fire Hydrant) And The Ice-cream Man Coming Around And All Of These Games That We'd Play, And Suddenly It Would Turn Just Violent And There Would Be Shootings At 12 In The Afternoon On Any Given Day.

Electing A Black Man Named Barack Obama President In The Same Country That Elected George W. Bush - Twice! - Is As Far-fetched As A Hustler From Marcy Performing At That President's Inauguration. But It Happened.

On The Night He Died - He Was Twenty-seven - Basquiat Had Been Planning To See A Run-dmc Show. When People Asked Him What His Art Was About, He'd Hit Them With The Same Three Words: "royalty, Heroism, And The Streets.

All These Ways We Classify Things As R&b And Hip-hop And Rock... It's Bullshit. It's All Music. If You Put Yourself In That Box, Then You Won't Be Able To Hear That It's All Music At Its Soul.

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