HOVA

1. HOVA BY: Mike Cannon

2. “December 4th” • Shawn Corey Carter was born December 4th 1969 and was raised in Marcy Projects, Brooklyn, New York. • He has many nicknames such as: S.Dot, Young Hov, Jazzy, Hova, Jigga, J-Hova, Jiggaman, Iceberg Slim, Lucky Lefty, and Joe Camel.

3. Now all the teachers couldn't reach me And my momma couldn't beat me Hard enough to match the pain of my pop not seeing me, SO With that distain in my membrain Got on my pimp game Fuck the world my defense came Then da haven introuced me to the game Spanish José introduced me to cane I'm a hustler now My gear is in and i'm in the in crowd And all the wavey light skinned girls is lovin me now My self esteem went through the roof man i got my swag Got a vocal from this girl when her man got bagged Plus i hit my momma with cash from a show that i had

4. No two days are alike Except the first and fifteenth pretty much And "trust" is a word you seldom hear from us Hustlers we don't sleep we rest one eye up And a drought can define a man, when the well dries up You learn to work the water without workin, of thirst you'll die YUP And niggas get tied up for product And little brothers ring fingers get cut up To show mothers they really got em And this was the stress i live with til i decided To try this rap shit for a livin I Pray i'm forgiven For every bad decision i made Every sister i played Cause i'm still paranoid to this day And it's nobody fault i made the decisions i made This is the life i chose or rather the life that chose me If you can't respect that your whole perspective is wack Maybe you'll love me when i fade to black

5. “Hard Knock life” • He went to Eli Whitney High School with rapper AZ. • When Eli Whitney closed down, he transferred to George Westinghouse Information Technology High School with The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes. • He then went to Trenton Central High School, but never graduated.

6. “A Star is Born” • After his mother bought him a boom box for his birthday, he began free styling and writing lyrics. • He can briefly be heard on some of his mentor's, Jaz-O, recordings in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

7. Foes that wanna make sure my casket's closed Rap critics they say he's "Money Cash Hoes" I'm from the hood stupid, what type of facts are those If you grew up with holes in yazapatos You'd be celebrating the minute you was havin' dough Rap mags try and use my black ass So advertisers can give 'em more cash for ads, fuckers

8. Plus i got a few dollars i can fight the case So I...pull over to the side of the road I heard "Son do you know why I'm stoppin' you for?" Cause I'm young and I'm black and my hats real low? Do I look like a mind reader sir, I don't know Am I under arrest or should I guess some mo'? "Well you was doin fifty-five in a fifty-fo' " "Liscense and registration and step out of the car" "Are you carryin' a weapon on you I know a lot of you are" I ain'tsteppin out of shit all my paper's legit "Well, do you mind if I look round the car a little bit?" Well my glove compartment is locked so are the trunk in the back And I know my rights so you gon' need a warrant for that "Aren't you sharp as a tack, you some type of lawyer or something'?" "Or somebody important or somethin'?" Nah, I ain't pass the bar but i know a little bit Enough that you won't illegally search my shit "We'll see how smart you are when the K9 come" I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one

9. A nigga like myself had to strong arm a hoe This is not a hoe in the sense of havin a pussy But a pussy havin no God Damn sense, try and push me… You know the type loud as a motor bike But wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight… Back through the system with the riff raff again Fiends on the floor scratchinagain… Half-a-mil for bail cause I'm African All because this fool was harrasin' them Tryin to play the boy like hes saccharin But ain'tnothin sweet 'bout how I hold my gun