“This Life Forever” is one of Jay-Z’s greatest Jay-Z musical efforts, sadly not known by the general public. It was recorded pre-Reasonable Doubt in 1995, but was left off his classic debut.

The track intimately details Hov’s street-level plotting, breaking down how he used to get paper before he made it big in the rap game. While the entire track is full of supreme wordplay and a double entendres, Jigga is in his best form on the second verse as he employs mathematical humor and manoeuvres within an extended chess metaphor that would make even GZA jealous.

The track was produced by the dark and gritty Queens producer Ty Fyffe, who came up under fellow Hov collaborator and the inventor of New Jack Swing, Teddy Riley. The beat samples Congress Alley’s 1973 track “Are You Looking.” Dr. Dre’s classic West Coast banger “Nuthin' But a G-Thang” also sampled this track.

While portions of the track first appeared in 1997 on a Roc-A-Fella Records promotional tape, “This Life Forever” had its official release in July 1999 on the soundtrack to Black Gangster, an unreleased film that was based on Donald Goines‘ 1972 blaxploitation novel.