Intro (American Gangster) Lyrics by Jay-z

Intro (American Gangster)

"Man I worked for one of the biggest companies in New York City.
He didn't own his own company. White man owned it, so they owned him. Nobody owns me though."

[Your gangster is not defined]
Your gangster is not defined by how low your jeans fall by your waist, but more how your genes stand over his expectations. Never forget where you came from.
[Your gangster]
Your gangster is not defined by how many rocks are in your watch, but rather how many rocks you move while on your watch.
[Gangsters, hustlers, republicans, democrats, pimps and hoes.]
Conservatives, labor, the seller, the buyer, the product, the producer.
[See you are what you are in this world.]
The gangster is absorbed and adored by those that don't understand the laws that govern gangsterment.
[Gangsterment]
Gangsterment allows you to make up your own laws and create brand new words.
Gangster mentality.
[Gangster mentality, an American way created by the white, mastered by the black, and absorbed by the fiends, taxed by the governmentality, charted by
forbes. If you believe in Jay-Z then you too can be a gangster.]
The you too can be a gangster by any means necessary. By any means necessary, by owning that dream. I mean it's a long walk to freedom but, while deep,
deep, deep inside the bush.
[The war on terror screams, damn it feels good]
Damn it feels good to be a gangster.
[To be a gangster swagger is not a must, it's a liability, a cliche, a bad suit, cut the bullshit. You know if it wasn't for this, there would be no that.]
Which we call, the American Gangster.