"Life's a Bitch" is the third single from

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

' debut album ''

Illmatic ''Illmatic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Re ...

'' (1994). It was released as a 12" single on April 19, 1994 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. It features rapping from AZ and

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

playing by Nas' father

Olu Dara Olu Dara Jones (born Charles Jones III, January 12, 1941) is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas. Early life Olu Dara was born Charles Jones III on January 12, 1941 in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother, El ...

. The beat is produced by L.E.S., who samples "

Yearning for Your Love "Yearning for Your Love" is a 1980 ballad recorded and released by The Gap Band on Mercury Records. The single was the third release off the band's fifth album, ''The Gap Band III'' (1980). Four different singles, each with a different B-side, wer ...

" by

The Gap Band The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, an ...

and "Black Frost" by

Grover Washington, Jr. Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He wr ...

for the songs down-tempo jazzy beat. AZ's verse was the first recorded verse of his rap career. The song was sampled numerous times in modern times, examples include " Keep It Real" by Miilkbone (1995), "Carry On" by

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featuring

Joey Bada$$ Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pro ...

Music

Olu Dara's cornet work was the first on-wax collaboration with his son. "Jungle Jay" and "Dance" eventually followed, as did the 2004 single " Bridging the Gap". According to Nas:

Lyricism

Nas's verse discusses how he is happy to be alive at 20 years old, his rough childhood, consisting of "robbing foreigners" of their

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

s, and selling crack. However, the tone of his words suggest that he is reflecting rather than glorifying his deeds, and now has a more positive outlook on life.

Thematic continuation

The song's title and concept was later mentioned in Nas' verse on the collaboration track "Affirmative Action" off his 1996 album ''

It Was Written ''It Was Written'' is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album ''Illmatic'' (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for ''It ...

'' in which Nas raps "Life's a bitch but god-forbid the bitch divorce me". This track also featured AZ along with fellow Queensbridge rapper

Cormega Cory McKay (born December 3, 1970), better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper who attained notice when he was shouted out by Nas on his song "One Love", from the critically acclaimed 1994 album ''Illmatic''. The album was re ...

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Aven ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

rapper Foxy Brown.

In popular culture

In the 2009 film ''

Fish Tank An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

'' by

Andrea Arnold Andrea Arnold, OBE (born 5 April 1961) is an English filmmaker and former actor. She won an Academy Award for her short film ''Wasp'' in 2005. Her feature films include ''Red Road'' (2006), ''Fish Tank'' (2009), and ''American Honey'' (2016), ...

, the song is played in one of the final scenes, bringing thematic closure to the narrative. It is also played as the closing credits roll. The song is quoted in the final scene of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Bojack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black Comedy drama, comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F ...

.''https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11028176/characters/nm1555340

Track listing

A-side

# "Life's a Bitch (Radio)" (3:37) # "Life's a Bitch (Dirty)" (3:29) # "Life's a Bitch (Instrumental)" (3:29)

B-side

# "Life's a Bitch (Arsenal Radio Mix)" (3:31) # "Life's a Bitch (Arsenal Dirty Mix)" (3:31) # "Life's a Bitch (Arsenal Instrumental Mix)" (3:35)

References

{{authority control 1993 songs 1994 singles Nas songs Song recordings produced by L.E.S. (record producer) Songs written by Nas Jazz rap songs