A Week Ago by JAY-Z (Ft. Too $hort)
A Week Ago by JAY-Z (Ft. Too $hort)

A Week Ago

JAY-Z & Too $hort * Track #7 On Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life

Download "A Week Ago"

A Week Ago by JAY-Z (Ft. Too $hort)

Release Date
Tue Sep 29 1998
Performed by
JAY-ZToo $hort
Produced by
J-Runnah
Writed by
JAY-Z & Too $hort & J-Runnah & Ernie Isley & O’Kelly Isley & Rudolph Isley & Marvin Isley & Ronald Isley & Chris Jasper
About

On “A Week Ago,” Jay-Z and Too $hort reflect on the age-old situation of things changing between close friends. In this specific context, they describe how partnerships in the drug game can fall apart when someone is facing years of incarceration.

A Week Ago Lyrics

[Intro: Jay-Z & Too $hort]
Uh-huh
That's right
It was all good just a week ago
Uh-huh-uh, it was all good just a week ago
Last week I had everything
Uh, uh-huh-uh, had this all good just a week ago
I had the money.. had the cars, the bitches
Uh-huh, yeah, it was all good just a week ago
And the jewelry..
And then my motherfuckin' niggas started snitchin'
Uh-huh, uh uh, yo, yo
Beatch!

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Growin' up in the hood, just my dog and me
We used to hustle in the hood for all to see
Problems; I called on him, he called on me
We wasn't quite partners, I hit him off my P
Let him unlock doors off my keys
Yeah, we spoke, much more than cordially
Man, he broke bread with me, my business spread swiftly
The Feds came to get me, we both fled quickly
Wasn't quick enough to jump over the hedges with me
Got caught, and that's when our relationship strayed
Used to call me from the joint 'til he ran out of change
And when he called collect and I heard his name
I quickly accepted, but when I reached the phone
He's talkin' reckless, I can sense deceit in his tone
I said: "Damn, dog! What, nine weeks and you're home?"
He said: "Main man, you think shit's sweet 'cause you're home."
I just sat, spat no more speech in the phone
Them crackers up there bleachin' your dome, you're reachin'
I said: "The world don't stop, I got to keep, keep on."
From there I sensed the beef was on
I ran to the spy store to add some more features on my phone
To see if I had bugs and leeches on my phone
Can't be too safe, ‘cause niggas is two-faced
And they show the other side, when they catch a new case
It's on

[Chorus: Too $hort & Jay-Z]
It was cool when you had hella weed to smoke
And you bought a new home where you could keep the folks
I don't see how this side of you could be provoked
Uh-huh, uh-huh, it was all good just a week ago
Funny what seven days can change
A stand up nigga, now you sit down to aim
Used to have a firm grip, now you dropping names
It was all good just a week ago

[Verse 2: Jay-Z]
Like I put the toast to your head and made you sell
We both came in this game, blind as hell
I did a little better, had more clientele
Told you put away some cheddar, now you cryin' for bail
Seventeen and I'm holdin' on to around a mill'
I could bail out, blow trial and come around on appeal
Had niggas thinkin' I was from uptown for real
I had so much hustle, plus I was down to ill
Like a Brooklyn nigga, straight out of Brownsville
Down and dirty, down to fight to round 30
Freezin' on them corners, still holdin' my crack
Lookin' up and down the block, the fuck is the dough at?
Came from flat broke to lettin' the dough stack
You tell them Feds I said: "I'm never going back"
I'm from Marcy, and Marcy don't raise no rats
You know the consequences of your acts, you can't be serious

[Chorus: Too $hort & Jay-Z]
It was cool when you had hella weed to smoke
And you bought a new home where you could keep the folks
I don't see how this side of you could be provoked
Uh-huh, uh-huh, it was all good just a week ago
Funny what seven days can change
A stand up nigga, now you sit down to aim
Used to have a firm grip, now you dropping names
Shit was all good just a week ago

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
The lawyer I retained you said you leakin' some things
All this after a week in the bing
I'm mad at myself, 'cause I didn't spot the weakling
I would've bet the house you wouldn't speak a thing
Nigga, this was the oath, to the top or broke
Even pricked our finger, anything that got between us
We supposed to cock the ninas, what happened to that?
Instead you copped out to a misdemeanor
Fuck it, the same thing make you laugh make you cry (that's right)
The same game that make you math could make you die
(That's life) It's a dice game, and sometimes you crap
Who would've thought you'd get popped one time and rat?
Now you know that's bad when your sister is mad
And your son gotta grow up, like, "This is my dad?"
The labeling of a snitch is a lifetime scar
You'll always be in jail, nigga, just minus the bars

[Chorus: Too $hort & Jay-Z]
It was cool when you had hella weed to smoke
And you bought a new home where you could keep the folks
I don't see how this side of you could be provoked
Uh-huh, uh-huh, it was all good just a week ago
Funny what seven days can change
A stand up nigga, now you sit down to aim
Used to have a firm grip, now you dropping names
It was all good just a week ago

[Outro: Too $hort & Jay-Z]
Shit is crazy man
All these niggas out here snitchin'
We was one step away from takin' this crack money
And recyclin' it through the ghettos
And buildin' back up our own hoods
Now all you niggas start snitchin' on each other
I got partners doin' 15-20
Wouldn'ta been doin' SHIT
If you didn't snitch, beatch!
It's about time y'all check that shit out man
It ain't all good, shut your mouth
Just watch the game
And don't snitch
We'd sure go a lot whole further
Believe that baby
Jay-Z, Short Dawg's in the house mane
You know I got it
Got it goin' on
We got the money
Ain't got nuthin' to do with crime baby
But I'm recognizin'
You rat bastard!

A Week Ago Q&A

Who wrote A Week Ago's ?

A Week Ago was written by JAY-Z & Too $hort & J-Runnah & Ernie Isley & O’Kelly Isley & Rudolph Isley & Marvin Isley & Ronald Isley & Chris Jasper.

Who produced A Week Ago's ?

A Week Ago was produced by J-Runnah.

When did JAY-Z release A Week Ago?

JAY-Z released A Week Ago on Tue Sep 29 1998.

Who else had Hov wanted to feature on "A Week Ago"?

According to Bun B, Hov had wanted his UGK partner Pimp C to drop a verse on the reflective track:

“Pimp was supposed to be on ‘A Week Ago’ with Jay Z and Too Short. They couldn’t figure out exactly where to record the song because the East Coast beef was going on. Jay Z was like, ‘I’m not leaving...

Read more ⇣
Who is Jay-Z referring to in his verses?

This track is directed at DeHaven Irby, a childhood friend and former drug-dealing partner of Shawn.

In early-1988 Hov moved to East Trenton to live with DeHaven at his Aunt’s house. Hov had promised Gloria Carter he would attend Trenton Central High School; but he never graduated. Instead he and I...

Read more ⇣
Has Jay-Z ever referenced DeHaven Irby in any other tracks?

Yes, Hov has referenced his childhood friend and drug-dealing partner many times – sometimes by name, sometimes subliminally.

His 2002 collaboration with R. Kelly “It Ain’t Personal” was, like “A Week Ago,” subliminally directed at DeHaven.

In his 2003 autobiographical track “December 4th,” Jay re...

Read more ⇣
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