HOVA BY: Mike Cannon

“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.

Now all the teachers couldn't reach meAnd my momma couldn't beat meHard enough to match the pain of my pop not seeing me, SOWith that distain in my membrainGot on my pimp gameFuck the world my defense cameThen da haven introuced me to the gameSpanish José introduced me to caneI'm a hustler nowMy gear is in and i'm in the in crowdAnd all the wavey light skinned girls is lovin me nowMy self esteem went through the roof man i got my swagGot a vocal from this girl when her man got baggedPlus i hit my momma with cash from a show that i had

No two days are alikeExcept the first and fifteenth pretty muchAnd "trust" is a word you seldom hear from usHustlers we don't sleep we rest one eye upAnd a drought can define a man, when the well dries upYou learn to work the water without workin, of thirst you'll die YUPAnd niggas get tied up for productAnd little brothers ring fingers get cut upTo show mothers they really got emAnd this was the stress i live with til i decidedTo try this rap shit for a livinI Pray i'm forgivenFor every bad decision i madeEvery sister i playedCause i'm still paranoid to this dayAnd it's nobody fault i made the decisions i madeThis is the life i chose or rather the life that chose me

If you can't respect that your whole perspective is wackMaybe you'll love me when i fade to black

“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.

“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.

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

Plus i got a few dollars i can fight the caseSo I...pull over to the side of the roadI 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 knowAm 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't steppin 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 backAnd 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 bitEnough 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

A nigga like myself had to strong arm a hoeThis is not a hoe in the sense of havin a pussyBut a pussy havin no God Damn sense, try and push me…You know the type loud as a motor bikeBut wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight…Back through the system with the riff raff againFiends on the floor scratchin again…Half-a-mil for bail cause I'm AfricanAll because this fool was harrasin' themTryin to play the boy like hes saccharinBut ain't nothin sweet 'bout how I hold my gun