It's A Hard Knock Life...If You Want It To Be
On this day 22 years ago, Jay-Z became an American superstar with the release of his 3rd album Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life. It was a widely-celebrated project generating great critical acclaim and sold over 5 million copies. The album’s success was propelled by his hit single “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”, which would become Platinum-certified.
Sampling the 1982 movie Annie, the song finds Jay rapping about his past and his visions for the future.
“From nightmares of a lonely cell, my only hell/But since when y’all niggas know to me fail? Fuck naw”
Failure of any kind was not an option for a young Shawn Carter. Even when he found himself at his lowest point, he made no excuses. Nor did he point to societal anecdotes to exempt himself from his transgressions. He took accountability for ALL of his actions.
“I’m from the school of the hard knocks, you must not/Let outsiders violate our blocks and my plot/Let’s stick up the world and split it 50-50, uh-huh/Let’s take the dough and stay real jiggy, uh-huh”
He talks about not letting outside influencers invade his home turf, similar to how the President talks about closing the country’s borders to illegal immigrants. Jay also preaches to his listeners about going out into the world and “taking” money; not sitting back and waiting for a handout or a helping hand.
“I put my money on the longshots/All my ballers that’s born to clock/Know I’ma be on top whether I perform or not”
Long-term strategies over short-term successes. Two decades ago, Jay-Z saw the value in maneuvering more like a record executive than an artist. The executives over him were making multiple millions of dollars off of the work he was doing. He would eventually use that strategy to his own benefit as he continues to profit off of the backs of Kanye West and Rihanna. People with significant wealth understand the concept of passive income.
Hip-Hop over the decades has preached conservative values, which has seemingly fallen on deaf Black ears recently. As Candace Owens mentions in her New York Times bestseller Blackout, many Blacks are raised conservatively. Unfortunately, some of us get beat over the head with left-leaning ideologies, we forget our conservative upbringings.
In honor of the album that made Jay-Z a household name and an emblem of Black excellence, we should take a trip down memory lane and listen to Volume 2 again.
And maybe listen to Hip-Hop a little closer.
