"Life is but a dream to me
Gun shots sing to these other guys
But lullabies don't mean a thing to me
I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of not trying
Every day hit every wave like I'm Hawaiian
I don't surf the net, no, I never been on MySpace
Too busy letting my voice vibrate
Carving out my space in this world of fly girls
Cut-throats and diamond-cut ropes I twirls."
"In the projects, especially back in the 80s, things were so violent that you literally went to sleep to the sound of gunshots some nights. You grow up fast like that. The second meaning here is that Karma catches up to other guys – in the form of gunshots putting them to sleep – but not me, at least not so far. And I’m not going to let fear of death slow me down." - Jay Z
"Jay Z continues with the dream motif in this line, saying that gun shots like lullabies are singing “other guys” to sleep (Death?????), but he’s made sure to move past that place in his life where gun shots still fill the air."- Genius
“I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid not trying — everyday hit every wave like I’m Hawaiian.”
"Yet again Jay smacks us with a double entendre, using wave and WAV (a PC audio filename extension), interchangeably. While Jay doesn’t surf, he would be familiar with the WAV file format given that it lets artists record crystal clear audio without file compression. The master recording of Beach Chair, and most of his other tracks at the time, are likely in WAV format.
Hawaiians are often considered fearless, born surfers. Surfing is in their blood. Jay considers himself a fearless, born lyricist. Hip Hop is in his blood. A outstanding use of metaphor. But he doesn’t stop there. Although Hawaiians are born surfers, they’re always out in the water working on their craft. So too, Jay is always in the studio working on his craft, determined to stay on top.
Now that’s a killer line!" - Genius
Also, you should check out the Genius for the verse you quoted.
