Rapper Jeezy told MTV that Jay-Z became emotional as he penned lyrics for his verse for the single “Seen It All.”
Jeezy, 36, revealed, “We got on the phone and [Jay-Z] was like, ‘Yo, Jeezy, when I was writing the verse I had tears in my eyes, man,’ because it took him so far back to Marcy.” Jay-Z, born Shawn Corey Carter, added, “Every bar in that song was real – I put my hand on the bible.”
Here is an excerpt Jay-Z’s “Seen It All” verse;
Uncle died on the spot
Pop killed the family with heroin shots
Gave my life to the block
Figured, I get shot ‘least I die on top
I came alive in the drop
Big body all white shit looked like a yacht
I got ‘em five grand a pop
I had a plug in Saint Thomas on a trillion watts
In his 2010 memoir Decoded, Jay-Z related the story of how his uncle Ray was stabbed to death when the rapper was nine, which made his father, Adnis Reeves, fall into darkness.
Jay-Z wrote, “My dad swore revenge and became obsessed with hunting down Uncle Ray’s killer. The tragedy – compounded by the injustice – drove him crazy, sent him to the bottle, and ultimately became a factor in the unraveling of my parents’ marriage.”
Here is the video for “Seen It All”:
Jay-Z grew up in the Marcy Houses housing project in Brooklyn, New York, and reportedly dealt crack cocaine before he got his start as a rapper. Carter, now one of the best-selling music artists of all time with 75 million units sold, recently achieved a net worth of roughly $500 million.
Jay-Z’s “99 problems”:
The rapper was recently in the news after wife Beyonce’s sister Solange Knowles was videotaped attacking him in an elevator.
Image via Wikimedia Commons