Dead Presidents II Lyrics

[Produced by Ski Beatz]

[Chorus: Nas]
Presidents to represent me (Get money!)
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Get money!)
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Get money!)
I'm out for dead fuckin' presidents to represent me (Whose-)


[Intro: Jay-Z]
Rock on, Roc-A-Fella y'all
The saga continues (What the fuck?)

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Ahh, who wanna bet us that we don't touch lettuce?
Stack cheddars forever, live treacherous, all the et ceteras
To the death of us, me and my confidants, we shine
You feel the ambiance, y'all niggas just rhyme

By the ounce, dough accumulates like snow
We don't just shine, we illuminate the whole show, you feel me?
Factions from the other side would love to kill me
Spill three quarts of my blood into the street, let alone the heat
Fuck 'em, they hate a nigga lovin' his life
In all possible ways, know the Feds is buggin' my life

Hospital days, reflectin' when my man laid up
On the Uptown hot block, he got his side sprayed up

I saw his life slippin', this is a minor setback
Yo, still in all we livin', just dream about the get-back
That made him smile, though his eyes said, "Pray for me"

I'll do you one better and slay these niggas faithfully
Murder is a tough thing to digest, it's a slow process (Mm)
And I ain't got nothin' but time

I had near brushes, not to mention
Three shots, close range, never touched me, divine intervention

Can't stop I, from drinkin' Mai-Tai's, with Ty-Ty
Down in Nevada, haha, poppa, word life
I dabbled in crazy weight without rap, I was crazy straight
Partner, I'm still spendin' money from '88, what?

[Bridge: Nas]
Dead fuckin' presidents to represent me (Whose-)
Dead fuckin' presidents to represent me (Whose-)

[Chorus: Nas]
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Get money!)
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Get money!)
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Get money!)
I'm out for dead fuckin' presidents to represent me (Whose-)


[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
Haha, yeah (Haha) yeah, so be it
The Soviet, the Unified steady flow
You already know, you light, I'm heavy, roll heavy dough
Mic-macheted your flow
Your paper falls slow like confetti, mine's a steady grow, perico
Pay 580 for blow, better believe I have 1160 to show
My dough flip like Tae-Kwon
Jay-Z the icon, baby, you like Dom?
Maybe this Cristals'll change your life, huh?
Roll with the winners
Heavy spinners like hit records, Roc-A-Fella
Don't get it corrected, this shit is perfected
From chips to chicks to strippin' in Lexus
Naked without your gun, we takin' everything you brung
We cakin', you niggas is fakin', we gettin' it done
Crime family, well-connected, Jay-Z
And you fake thugs is unplugged like MTV
I empty three, take your treasure, my pleasure
Dead presidentials, politics as usual—Blaow!

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About

Genius Annotation

“Dead Presidents II” is all about getting money that has drawings of dead presidents on it (and/or Benjamin Franklin & Alexander Hamilton, who were not ever President, but whatever…)

In an interview with Complex, Ski Beatz recalled putting this beat together:

Nas' Illmatic had just come out. And I was just listening to “The World Is Yours.” I just fell in love with the pianos. Once I felt that vibe, I just went searching for anything with a piano that made me feel like that. Soon as I heard the piano, I was gonna fall in love.
I was just digging and digging, and I found that Lonnie Liston Smith joint [‘A Garden of Peace’] and I thought it was fresh. And then I just threw that Nas sample in there just to see if it would work because I liked Nas' voice. I gave it to Jay and it fit right into the scheme of his album and what he was talking about.

Check out the single version of “Dead Presidents.”

Q&A

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

Translations
Genius Answer
Why are there two separate versions of this track?
Genius Answer

“Dead Presidents” is the single version, released prior to the album with completely different lyrics, but identical chorus. Producer Ski Beatz explained the reason:

The new verses on “Dead Presidents II” were to give people more of him. Back then, we didn’t really do remixes so for an emcee to give you an extra verse was just a bonus for you

Was this the song that sparked the Jay Z/Nas beef?
Genius Answer

Some point to Nas' refusal to rap on the hook as a source of animosity between the two rappers. It’s unclear just how much animosity existed because of this hook, but Jay certainly used it as fuel during their battle, referring to it on “Takeover:”

You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song

What did JAY-Z say about "Dead Presidents II"?
Credits
Produced By
Performance Rights
Distributor
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Mixing Engineer
Recording Engineer
Recorded At
D&D Studios (New York City)
Release Date
February 20, 1996
Dead Presidents II Is A Remix Of
Dead Presidents II Remixes
View Dead Presidents II samples
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