Jay-Z “Lost One” Decoded Excerpt About Damon Dash
Jigga Man’s new paperback edition of Decoded (coming out November 1) includes Hova’s insights on several songs not previously included in the hardcover edition. Below, a sampling of his breakdown of “Lost One” in which he addressed the Dame Dash Hollywood divorce.
Says Jigga Man in Lost Ones:
It’s not a diss song, it’s just a real song / Feel me? // I heard motherfuckers saying they made Hov / Made Hov say, “Okay so, make another Hov”[1] / Niggaz wasn’t playing
they day role / So we parted ways like Ben and J-Lo / I shoulda been did it but I been
in a daze though / I put friends over business end of the day though / But when
friends, business interests is they glow / Ain’t nothing left to say though / I guess weforgot what we came for / Shoulda stayed in food and beverage / Too much flossing
/ Too much Sam Rothstein [2] / I ain’t a bitch but I gotta divorce them / Hov have to get the shallow shit up off him / And I ain’t even want to be famous / Niggaz is brainless to unnecessarily go through these changes / And I ain’t even know how it came to this / Except that fame is / The worst drug known to man / It’s stronger than, heroin/ When you could look in the mirror like, “There I am” / And still not see, what you’ve become / I know I’m guilty of it too but, not like them / You lost one
And now…Jigga Man speaks on the verse in Decoded:
“I recorded this song after a professional breakup, when a lot of things were being said about who was responsible for my success and how things would go in the future now that our initial team had broken up. I owe a lot of my success to a lot of people, but ultimately, no one made me. This is the kind of lie that people get told all the time, sometimes in romantic relationships, sometimes in their professional lives: that somehow who they are is a result of other people’s investment in them. It’s vital to resist that or you risk losing yourself; as I say in another song, Remind yourself / nobody built like you / you design yourself.”
And now…
This is EbenGregory.com…telling you Hov made another Dame though.
Yo, Hov broke it down. A lot of times people just mix business with friendship/family. If a group is going to become successful together then each has to understand their position, play it well and don’t let the distractions become fuel for your fire. It’s crazy how someone can tell you “I made you who you are” when everyone had a part to play in progress and for themselves. No one can do you like you do.
Fame is like cocaine…it intensifies the way you feel, hopefully you aren’t an asshole already.
Nice! That’s why I went solo on my art studio to prove to me as well as my old team that I’m a creator regardless! – http://www.UptownArtworks.org
I see what you did there.