I don't think any rapper can go back. You can be a car salesman, a bank teller - I mean, perfect jobs, and people are still gonna look at you and be like, 'You used to rap; what happened?'

— Jay-Z

If your dad died before you were born, yeah, it hurts - but it's not like you had a connection with something that was real. Not to say it's any better - but to have that connection and then have it ripped away was, like, the worst. My dad was such a good dad that when he left, he left a huge scar. He was my superhero.

— Jay-Z

I grew up in Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, and my mom and pop had an extensive record collection, so Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and all of those sounds and souls of Motown filled the house.

— Jay-Z

I learned to ride a ten-speed when I was 4 or 5. My uncle gave me the bike, hand-me-down, and everyone used to stare at me riding up and down this block. I was too short to reach the pedals, so I put my legs through the V of the frame. I was famous. The little kid who could ride the ten-speed.

— Jay-Z

I love what I do, and when you love what you do, you want to be the best at it.

— Jay-Z

I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.

— Jay-Z

I'm a hustler, baby; I sell water to a well!

— Jay-Z

I'm a mirror. If you're cool with me, I'm cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you don't like what you see, then you've done something. If I'm standoffish, that's because you are.

— Jay-Z

I'm here to tell niggas it ain't all swell. There's Heaven then there's Hell niggasOne day you're cruisin' in your seven, Next day you're sweatin', forgettin' your lies, Alibis ain't matchin' up, bullshit catchin' up Hit with the RICO, they reposed your vehicle Everything was all good just a week ago'Bout to start bitchin' ain't you? Ready to start snitchin' ain't you? I forgive you. Weak ass, hustlin' just ain't you Aside from the fast cars Honeys that shake they ass in bars You know you wouldn't be involved With the Underworld dealers, carriers of mac-millers East coast bodies, West coast cap-peelers Little monkey niggas turned gorillas.

— Jay-Z

I'm hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That's what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glows. I think that's from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.

— Jay-Z