Trueschool Monday #34

"Last seen out of state where I drop my slang
I'm deep in the south kicking up top game
bouncing on the highway switching 4 lanes
screaming through the sun roof money ain't a thang
your worst fear confirmed,
me and my fam roll tight like the firm..."

Originally from Marcy Houses housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, Jay-Z was abandoned by his father and, at age 12, he shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Jay-Z attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, along with rapper AZ, until it was closed down. After that he attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Downtown Brooklyn, which fellow rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes also attended, and Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but did not graduate. In his music he refers to having been involved in selling crack cocaine.
Jay-Z can briefly be heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie". Jay-Z was also involved in and won several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 90's as part of a plan to get a sought-after record deal. He first became known to a wide audience by being featured on the posse cut "Show and Prove" on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddy's Home. Jay-Z has been referred to as Big Daddy Kane’s hype man during this period, though Kane explains that he didn’t fill the traditional hype man role, instead Jay-Z “basically made cameo appearances on stage. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage”. He made an appearance on a popular song by Big L, "Da Graveyard", and on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build", which also featured early appearances by DMX, and Ja Rule in 1995. His first official rap single was called "I Can't Get With That", for which he released a music video.
"Can't Knock the Hustle" marked Knobody's first foray into outside production after the rap group he was in disbanded. Knobody had been very pleased with the last track he had produced for the band and, together with Sean C, had taken it to the nearby home of Roc-A-Fella's Damon Dash. Dash then showed it to Jay-Z, who was suitably impressed and encouraged the young producer to contribute beats. Knobody then gave Jay-Z the backing track to what would become "Can't Knock The Hustle". The rapper then wrote to the track.
A space was left for the hook, which the Latin singer Veronica was originally supposed to sing, but for which Mary J. Blige stepped in after Roc-A-Fella had contacted her and she heard the track and immediately wanted to get involved. The appearance of Blige was considered a major coup because the label was an independent and Jay-Z was unknown at the time. Blige came up with the idea for the chorus, which is a vocal interpolation of a verse from "Fool's Paradise" by Meli'sa Morgan, with slightly modified lyrics.
Before the song begins, Pain in da Ass delivers a monologue from the 1983 gangster film Scarface. Jay-Z then proceeds to deliver mafioso lyrics about drug dealing and street life.