100 Interviews

Can I Live?: Interview with Jay-Z Expert and Author of “I Will Not Lose!”

by: Gaby Dunn

Duane Lawson is a Jay-Z super fan, but it wasn’t the rapper’s catchy hooks that hooked him; it was Jay’s deeper, cutting lyrical game.

Plenty of people draw inspiration from Shawn Carter’s life story — he came up a poor kid in the Marcy projects whose father abandoned him, got caught up in drug-dealing, and finally, redeemed himself through music. Duane was a year out of high school when Jay-Z released his debut album ‘Reasonable Doubt.’

“That album spoke to my ambition, my desire to hustle in life and succeed,” Duane says.

But at 19, Duane dropped out of college and spent the next few years “street and white collar hustling” until his late 20s when he “squared up,” got married, and had a son. This was during the dotcom boom of the 1990s and so Duane tried to turn his street hustle into a digital hustle. He made some money online before finally, going back and finishing college.

A long-time admirer of Jay-Z’s more serious tracks, Duane wrote a book, ‘I Will Not Lose!’, about how the rapper’s lyrics could be applied in real life. He was shopping it around when it was announced that Jay-Z was going to write his own book of lyrical analysis, which later became Jay’s autobiography ‘Decoded.’ I read ‘Decoded’ and it’s fantastic but there’s a difference between the man himself telling you what he meant when he wrote a song, and a lifelong fan telling you what he has interpreted from the lyrics for use in every day life. Both are interesting concepts, and useful if you take Jay-Z way too seriously (which I do).

Not to be discouraged, Duane released ‘I Will Not Lose!’ as an ebook on his Web site, Book of Hov. He reached out to me through this site to talk Jigga and the elevation of hip-hop to an intellectual level. I told him I’d run an interview, if he provided me with some examples from his book. Turns out, I loved them!

Here’s an edited excerpt from ‘I Will Not Lose!’ with five lyrics and Duane’s analysis, for you to enjoy:

Jay-Z Lyrics Analysis by Duane Lawson

1. “Dark Knight feeling: die and be a hero/Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain/I went from the favorite to the most hated/But would you rather be underpaid or overrated?/Moral victories is for minor league coaches/And ‘Ye already told you ‘We Major’, you cockroaches…” -From Kanye West’s “So Appalled”

When you become successful others are inspired but as your success grows, it’s more likely those around you may become distant and even critical as if your success is a bad thing. If you “live long” (in terms of being successful) you will go from being loved to hated. That’s the gift and curse of success.

Lastly, don’t play the game of life to get a moral victory. Play to win. Some people will let themselves off the hook, in terms of whether they’re successful, as long as they have convinced themselves that they “tried.” Life is all about results and nothing brings more clarity to your hustle than winning (eg: accomplishments).

2. “Lock my body, can’t trap my mind/Easily explain why we adapt to crime/I’d rather die enormous than live dormant/That’s how we on it!” -From “Can I Live”

If you want to understand the mindset of “enterprising” criminals, just check out this rhyme. An enterprising criminal, such as a drug dealer, can “adapt to crime” because even if he gets locked up, his mind is still free to think of ways to get paid upon his release. Though this lyric is about the criminal mindset, it can apply to the hustle of anybody that’s in a challenging situation. You may be in a tough environment but you can escape your condition if you utilize the power of your mind.

I think this rhyme applies best to people living in rough environments. There’s a tendency to attach toughness to physical prowess but Jay reveals that true toughness comes from the strength of your mental game. You can adapt to any situation when you rely on mind power. I can relate to the last line of the rhyme. I would rather have great achievements in life even if it meant to die before my time than to live a long life without meaning or purpose, to be a dead man walking.

3. “All I need is the love of my crew/The whole industry can hate me/I’ll though my way through” -From “All I Need”

I think love (both “unconditional” love and “tough” love) and support from those close to you such as your family, friends, and colleagues is important when overcoming struggle and finding success. Taking on a “me vs. the world” mentality may make you feel tough, but we all need support and guidance from those who truly have our best interests at heart.

The word “thug” is seen as negative, but we flip the script in hip-hop culture. Jay-Z uses the word “thug” in the context of this rhyme to mean aggression or persistence to achieve a goal. He’s stating that even if he’s hated, he can continue to be successful partly due to support from those he trusts. You can “thug” your way through in your industry or in any situation in your life. Embrace the love, support, concern and wisdom from others to help you get through challenges in your life.

4. “Got a strange way of seeing life like/I’m Stevie Wonder with beads under the du-rag/Intuition is there even when my vision’s impaired/Yeah!/Knowing I can go, just switching a spare/On the highway of life/N*gga, it sharpened my sight/Oh!/ Keen senses/Ever since I was a teen on the benches” -From the “Intro” off the “Dynasty” album

This is a very deep lyric. Jay rhymes of “having a strange way of seeing life” like the musical genius, Stevie Wonder, who, of course, is blind. I think the way we “see” life is based on our experiences, but, also, how we live our lives, and the choices we make are often driven by instincts. Jay states that his life is directed by intuition. Even when he can’t physically see where he’s going, in terms of life, he moves intuitively. Jay tells us that intuition sharpens sight. The lyric is about the importance in having good instincts in order navigate through the highway of life…even if you’re just a “teen on the benches.”

5. “This is the number one rule for your set/In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets/On the, rise to the top, many drop, don’t forget/In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets.” -From “Regrets”

These lyrics send a simple yet powerful message. In the lyric, Jay’s referring to the dangerous nature of the illegal drug trade, but the words apply to those of us living the “square” life. These lyrics hits home for me personally because I’ve struggled with dealing with my struggles, if that makes sense. I still find it very difficult to deal with things that have happened in my life in the past. I regret many of the things that I’ve said and done but the reality is I have to “learn to live” with those regrets and move on.

No one lives a perfect life. Some people are haunted by their past. I think it’s telling that Jay states that you have to learn to live with regrets “in order to survive.” You can become prisoner to your past and if you don’t break free, it can impact your present and your future. 

Keep in mind that the regrets that you have can be self-imposed or brought on by the words or actions of others. Regardless, you have to take ownership of regrets and keep moving forward. Regrets can keep you down or make you that much more determined to right the wrongs in your life.

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Gaby Dunn is the editor and founder of 100 INTERVIEWS and a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Photo courtesy of MTV.