What More Can I Say

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"What More Can I Say" is a song from The Black Album by Jay-Z. It was released as a street single simultaneously as the official, more commercial single "Change Clothes". It premiered on Hot 97 on October 22, 2003 and was the first track from The Black Album to be heard by the public. The song includes additional vocals from Vincent "Hum V" Bostic and was produced by The Buchannans. The intro has a sampled monolog by Russell Crowe from the movie Gladiator and the song samples "Something for Nothing" by MFSB from their self-titled album released in 1973. This is the same sample that was used on the Tracey Lee song "Keep Your Hands High" from his album Many Facez, which prompted Jay-Z to quote a line from it by The Notorious B.I.G. who was featured on that song.

“

The rings and things you sing about, bring 'em out. It's hard to yell when the bar-rel's in your mouth.

”

The quote comes directly after Jay-Z addresses the accusations of him stealing lyrics from The Notorious B.I.G., meaning he is merely quoting as an homage and a sign of respect. Rapper Busta Rhymes is mentioned in the song, where Jay-Z says he is not "animated, like say a, Busta Rhymes", meaning he relies more in his rhyming abilities and the reality spoken in his lyrics rather than being an animated performer and refers to Busta Rhymes as an example. It was rumored that Busta Rhymes started recording a diss song against Jay-Z after hearing the line about him, later realizing that he had been honored as a lively performer and not been disrespected. Another line in the song was seen by many as a subliminal reference to 50 Cent and by some as a diss against him. It was thought as referring to him infamously being the victim in a shooting and possible criticizing using the event as a gimmick to promote and market his street image.

“

And no I ain't get shot up a whole bunch of times.

”

The song was sampled by T.I. in his song "Bring Em Out".