Why Did Jay-Z Do Dead Presidents Over?

Kasper KArr

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1st version of dead presidents is my favourite jay joint ever.... that lonnie liston Smith sample

that second verse ..... Ive told this before but the one time in my life that I thought I might be going to jail I remember one night playing that song over and over again .... shyt is the truth
Elaborate my guy. The song was on repeat cause Preparing yourself mentally ? The song was getting you ready bro?
 

DaveyDave

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Im guessing this is the answer. they were playing Dead Presidents on the college stations in like 94. Jay prolly liked the beat too much to do away with the whole track

IMO It is the best song on the album if not the best beat on the album as well. he probably wanted to keep the beat but the first version had been out too long so he re did the lyrics.
 

Nemesis

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Elaborate my guy. The song was on repeat cause Preparing yourself mentally ? The song was getting you ready bro?


I was scamming HEAVY back in the day , anyway to cut a long story short i got caught up in a conspiracy type charge, they didnt catch me directly but they caught an associate and subsequently people around him got arrested .... he more or less snitched because till today a lot of shyt doesnt add up

anyway Im going to cut out a lot of details but at one point my lawyer tells me to put my affairs in order .... I was at the point where I had made enough money and I was just scamming because it was easy and because I had no plan B for what to do with my life

It wasnt even greed that kept me in that life, it wasnt even at that point I loved the buzz or lifestyle .... it was straight laziness to think of something else to do

And it was literally like day and night , one day I had a ton of money, range rover sport , the next I was on the verge of losing everything and facing jail

I was so pissed at myself because I had seen a lot of dudes smarter than me , who had been in the game longer than me, who had made more money than me go to jail ..... and I knew you cant be lucky forever and quite a few times I had asked myself why am I still involved with all this ... worst thing is I come from a well to do family and they had no idea what I was up to , apart from my mom who had suspicions

and i remember being home listening to music and the song came on and the second verse just mirrored how i was feeling

I'm here to tell nikkas it ain't all swell
There's heaven, then there's hell, nikkas

One day you're cruisin' in your 7
Next day you're sweatin', forgettin' your lies

Alibis ain't matchin' up, bullshyt catchin' up
Hit with the RICO, they repo your veh-i-cle

Everything was all good just a week ago



I remember the shyt like it was yesterday
 

re'up

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Anyone that really been through those experiences, that verse, and that entire song is hauntingly relatable.

"I forgive your weak ass....hustling just ain't you
besides the money and fast cars,
women that shake they ass in bars
you know you wouldn't be involved"

How many people have I known like that?


Both versions are two of my favorites of all time, but I prefer the first, slightly.
 

re'up

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That Dead Presidents 3 was so highly anticipated and hyped, when it premiered in, I want to say October 2007, when American Gangster dropped. I was always a little let down by it, but it was a fun moment in the game. It may have originally been for the Black Album, or AG.

I mean it was like 2/3 repeated lines in the first verse, and the second was from "Moment Of Clarity", he also dropped "Me so horny" in there somewhere.

It was for sure from the Black Album sessions.
 

Cladyclad

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1st version of dead presidents is my favourite jay joint ever.... that lonnie liston Smith sample

that second verse ..... Ive told this before but the one time in my life that I thought I might be going to jail I remember one night playing that song over and over again .... shyt is the truth
U was ready to snitch on your boys huh lol
 

Kasper KArr

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I was scamming HEAVY back in the day , anyway to cut a long story short i got caught up in a conspiracy type charge, they didnt catch me directly but they caught an associate and subsequently people around him got arrested .... he more or less snitched because till today a lot of shyt doesnt add up

anyway Im going to cut out a lot of details but at one point my lawyer tells me to put my affairs in order .... I was at the point where I had made enough money and I was just scamming because it was easy and because I had no plan B for what to do with my life

It wasnt even greed that kept me in that life, it wasnt even at that point I loved the buzz or lifestyle .... it was straight laziness to think of something else to do

And it was literally like day and night , one day I had a ton of money, range rover sport , the next I was on the verge of losing everything and facing jail

I was so pissed at myself because I had seen a lot of dudes smarter than me , who had been in the game longer than me, who had made more money than me go to jail ..... and I knew you cant be lucky forever and quite a few times I had asked myself why am I still involved with all this ... worst thing is I come from a well to do family and they had no idea what I was up to , apart from my mom who had suspicions

and i remember being home listening to music and the song came on and the second verse just mirrored how i was feeling

I'm here to tell nikkas it ain't all swell
There's heaven, then there's hell, nikkas

One day you're cruisin' in your 7
Next day you're sweatin', forgettin' your lies

Alibis ain't matchin' up, bullshyt catchin' up
Hit with the RICO, they repo your veh-i-cle

Everything was all good just a week ago



I remember the shyt like it was yesterday
Damn bro appreciate it you telling us. What ended up happening, i take it you didn't have to sit down so what ended up occurring.
 

Nemesis

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Damn bro appreciate it you telling us. What ended up happening, i take it you didn't have to sit down so what ended up occurring.


everyone else went to jail , they pleaded out ....dude who got caught initially never done a day in jail, he got hit with a deportation order to Nigeria , dont know how you can find 50 brand new Nokia phones , 30 brand new sony laptops and $35,000 in someones garage, they cant explain the shyt and they get bail and they dont do a day in jail....... but hey maybe thats me .......... with me they never found anything on me and they couldnt connect me with any crime but they could connect me with the dude that initially got arrested .... so they tried to lump everyone together as some kind of crime syndicate ....smh

got found not guilty on all charges and I never looked back
 
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