Only a Customer Lyrics

[Intro: Jay-Z]
Ha ha, ha ha, Roc-A-Fella y'all
9-6, futuristic shit, bee-atch
Uh
What the fuck? How we do
How we do, uh-huh, uh-huh

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
It's the eventual triple platinum nigga with the solid gold fade
All that nickle and dime shit, don't hold no weight
Fortune 5, top 5 in the Forbes (You'll see)
As you thumb through The Source, I read the Robb Report
Class C, cold me down with the plastic
That's all I ask of you, like Raphael Saadiq
At the Hotel Nikko, Robert Duvall suite
My people's eyes through the peep hole

I'm loving you down freak, as I
Shoot through the city like a rumor
Not soon enough, to stop 'em from spreading
The newspaper heading read "Jay-Z breathes, 80 degrees

Only thing to cool him off is a Malibu Bay Breeze"
Can't stop for the Feds, say cheese
You know they wanna take a nigga picture
Pray for the day to get ya but I'ma parlay, stay richer for now
Jigga haven't done dirt in a while
You know my stomach's getting weak from living life on these streets for real
Tryna oversee it from suites, ordering eats
At the top where the real criminal minds meet
That's where the cream is (Right?!)
That's where your dream is (Well ain't it?)
[Chorus: Jay-Z, LL Cool J & Mary J. Blige]
You're only a customer
When your walkin' in the presence (Uh-huh) of hustlers
(Uh-huh, Spend money all night)
(All night long) (Bee-otch
Roc-A-Fella y'all, ha ha)
You're only a customer (Uh)
When your walkin' (Uh) in the presence (Uh) of hustlers
(Uh, spend money all night)
(All night long)
(Roc-A-Fella)
(Yeah)

[Verse 2: Jay-Z & Irv Gotti]
Ayo my youth had a nigga too aggressive, I
I used to speed excessive, both eyes closed
No thought infested
Hitting pot holes, cop-o's'll snatch away what you deem most precious
Had to rethink things
Is pinky rings worth
Life on the run and time served in Sing Sing?

I don't know to tell the truth, if I'm pressed for dough
Gotta consult Irv Gotti y'all, (Heads got to roll)
I was raised to live, Lord I pray you forgive
If not, I just handle it like Jason Kidd
What you're facing is official (It's official)
Most cases when I'm blazing won't miss you (Won't miss you)
Case and point made bullshit a issue, I see it to the end
My writing so personal, my heart bleeding through the pen
Make no mistake about me
It's only one nigga living, I got half a cake about me
I got love, I can kill a friend over fam not drugs
And very, few people understand that love
To make a nigga die bleeding is nothing (Nothing)
You make a motherfucker die breathing then you saying something
Beeotch
[Chorus: Jay-Z, LL Cool J & Mary J. Blige]
You're only a customer
When (Uh) your walkin' (Uh) in the presence (Uh) of hustlers
(Uh-huh, spend money all night)
(All night long) (Roc-A-Fella y'all, ha ha)
You're only a customer
When (Ah ha) your walkin' in the presence (Ah ha) of hustlers
(Spend money all night)
(All night long) (Roc-A-Fella)
(Uh-huh)
You're only a customer (Yea)
When your walkin' (Huh) in the presence (Huh) of hustlers
(Huh, spend money all night)
(All night long)
(Roc-A-Fella)

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
More flavor than y'all can image having
Graphic like Sega Saturn
Traffic like the Bodega, just so happens, you caught me at the the tail end of my dirt
Brain ain't right from inhaling the work all my life, fuck it
Greasy I, had the whole D.C. high, pissy off Cristal, 3G high
Seasoned Bacardi, VVS's blesses my body
We be fresh at the party, play yourself go 'head if you don't know the ledge
It's like spitting to God
Get it in the face fucking with niggas over your head
Take your time with me, shifty
Used to make coke stretch like a sample in the 950
Shit with that, while I'm on a Kawasaki bike
At the light, doing a pike, with a bitch on the back
And take flight, my life like it was directed by Hype
In 35 slow-mo, with the Roc-A-Fella logo

Acapulco to Aruba
Bay Breezes and caviar beluga
Very little loot, eludes us
In the grayish blueish L-e-x coupe, it's the root of evil in these people, what the fuck?
[Chorus: Jay-Z, LL Cool J & Mary J. Blige]
You're only a customer
Walkin' in the presence of hustlers

(All night long) (Spend money all night)
(Roc-A-Fella, uh huh, uh huh, beeotch)
You're only a customer (Ah ha)
Walkin' in the presence (Ah ha) of hustlers
(Spend money all night)
(All night long) (Roc-A-Fella, uh-huh, uh-huh)

[Outro: Jay-Z]
Futuristic shit

[Skit]

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About

Genius Annotation

“Only A Customer” was first featured on Jay-Z’s Streets is Watching soundtrack, released in 1998. Hov obviously felt that the track didn’t get enough shine back then, so he included it on his 2003 mixtape The S. Carter Collection.

The Irv Gotti-produced track samples Mary J. Blige and LL Cool J’s ‘95 remix of her single “Mary Jane (All Night Long)” and Rick James’ 1985 track “Moonchild”.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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