Jay-Z admits to being disgusted after reading the lyrics of “Big Pimpin'” with The Wall Street Journal

“Take ’em out the hood, keep ’em lookin’ good, but I don’t ****** feed ’em,” taken from one of hip hop’s most-iconic songs. “Big Pimpin'” is of course the song being depicted and it still is regarded as one of the top single guy anthems. But, when the single guy settles down with a wife and a kid, the mind state changes.

Jay-Z released a major hit in 1999 with UGK’s Bun B and Pimp C, but fourteen years brings forth a lot of changes. Look at everything Jay-Z and Bun B have gone through, it’s nothing compared to what Pimp C has, as he died in 2007. Obviously, Jay-Z’s personality has evolved in the years since then.

Seeing how Jay-Z doesn’t write his lyrics, instead rapping off the top of his head, he often catches the lyrics later. Reading the “Big Pimpin'” lyrics as a husband and a father, Jay-Z had trouble believing he said that. When he talked to The Wall Street Journal, Jay-Z questioned the type of animal who would say that.

Read an excerpt from the interview below:

WSJ: You’re famous for not writing your lyrics down as you compose them. What changes about them when you see them on the page like this?

Jay-Z: Some [lyrics] become really profound when you see them in writing. Not “Big Pimpin.” That’s the exception. It was like, I can’t believe I said that. And kept saying it. What kind of animal would say this sort of thing? Reading it is really harsh.