If you were around in 2003, you remember the "retirement." It felt like a funeral for hip-hop’s most dominant era. Jay-Z, the guy who made the Yankee hat more famous than the Yankees did, was hanging it up. He dropped The Black Album, and at the very end of the tracklist sat a song with a title that confused a lot of people: My 1st Song.
Wait, his first song? The dude had been out here since the late 80s. He’d survived the 90s beefs, outlasted his rivals, and built an empire. Why call the final track of your retirement album your "first"?
Honestly, it’s one of the most brilliant bits of branding in rap history. It wasn't about the literal chronology of his discography. It was about a mindset—the idea that to stay at the top, you have to work like you’re still trying to get there.
The Biggie Connection: "Treat Everything Like Your First Project"
The song kicks off with a snippet of an interview from the late Notorious B.I.G. Biggie's voice, raspy and confident, drops the thesis: "I try to treat everything like it's my first project, you know what I'm saying? Like I'm just now coming out."
That’s the secret sauce.
Jay-Z wasn't just reminiscing. He was explaining how he avoided the "lazy superstar" trap. You’ve seen it happen to your favorite artists. They get the money, they get the fame, and suddenly the hunger is gone. The rhymes get softer. The beats get generic. By titling this My 1st Song Jay Z was signaling that even as he walked away, he was doing so with the same intensity he had when he was selling tapes out of the trunk of his car.
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It’s a paradox. The last song is the first song. It’s about keeping that "rookie of the year" energy even when you're the MVP.
What Was Jay-Z’s Actual First Song?
If we’re talking literal history, "My 1st Song" isn't the answer. If you want to get technical—and rap nerds love getting technical—you have to go back to 1986.
Before the Roc-A-Fella chains and the billion-dollar deals, there was a group called High Potent MCs. Jay-Z, then just a kid from Marcy Projects with a fast flow, appeared on a record called "H.P. Gets Busy." It sounds nothing like the "Hov" we know today. It’s high-speed, 80s-style rhyming. Then came the collaborations with his mentor, Jaz-O. You might have heard of "The Originators" or "Hawaiian Sophie." In those tracks, Jay was basically a human metronome, rapping so fast it was hard to keep up.
But his first "official" solo single—the one that really started the legend—was "In My Lifetime" in 1994.
- 1986: H.P. Gets Busy (The "embryonic" Jay)
- 1990: The Originators (The "fast-rap" Jay)
- 1994: In My Lifetime (The "blueprint" Jay)
- 1996: Reasonable Doubt (The classic debut)
By the time he got to The Black Album, he’d come full circle. He wanted to capture the "In My Lifetime" spirit one last time.
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The Obama Connection: Staying Hungry
Here’s a fun fact that sounds like a fake PR story, but it’s 100% real. Back in 2012, President Barack Obama mentioned that My 1st Song was one of his favorite Jay-Z tracks.
Why? Because it’s a song about the grind.
Obama noted that the track reminds him to "always stay hungry." It’s basically the "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish" of hip-hop. When you listen to the lyrics, Jay talks about starting out "selling dimes and nicks" and graduating to "a brick." It’s the classic American Dream narrative, just told through the lens of a Brooklyn hustler.
The song’s beat, produced by Aqua and Joe "3H" Weinberger, has this slow-build, triumphant feeling. It’s not a club banger. It’s a "sitting on a private jet looking at the clouds" kind of song. It’s the sound of someone who won the game but hasn't forgotten the score.
The Outro: Saying Goodbye to Everyone
One of the most legendary parts of the song is the outro. It’s nearly three minutes of Jay-Z just talking.
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He’s shouting out everyone. Dame Dash, Biggs, Kareem Burke, the whole Roc-A-Fella staff, his family, the producers. It feels like the credits rolling at the end of a movie.
"I'm going somewhere nice where no mosquitoes at," he says. He sounded genuinely done. At the time, we all believed him. Of course, he came back with Kingdom Come a few years later, but that doesn't take away from the emotional weight of this "first" song.
Why "My 1st Song" Still Matters in 2026
We live in an era where everyone wants the "overnight success." Jay-Z’s career is the opposite. He was in the game for ten years before his debut album even dropped.
The lesson of My 1st Song Jay Z is simple: Complacency is the enemy. If you’re a creator, an entrepreneur, or just someone trying to level up, you have to treat every "win" as if it’s your first day on the job. The moment you think you’ve "made it," you’ve already started losing.
Actionable Insights from the "Hov" Philosophy:
- Audit Your Effort: Are you still putting in the same hours you did when you were "broke"? If not, why?
- Study the "Fast-Rap" Phase: Look back at your early work. What did you have then (passion, speed, fearlessness) that you might have lost now?
- The "Credits" Mindset: Acknowledge the people who helped you get there. Jay’s three-minute shout-out wasn't just filler; it was a masterclass in maintaining relationships.
- Stay Hungry: Use the "My 1st Song" mentality to approach your next project. Forget the accolades. Act like nobody knows your name yet.
If you want to understand the DNA of Jay-Z’s success, stop looking at the Forbes lists. Go back to the final track of his retirement album. Listen to that Biggie sample. Understand that for the greats, the finish line is just another starting blocks.
The best way to experience the weight of this track is to listen to it immediately after "December 4th," the album's opener. You’ll hear the evolution of a man who spent his whole life trying to prove he belonged, only to realize at the end that he was his only competition.