And So Is Poetry

"Life's a Bitch" is a hit single by Nas with a feature from fellow Brooklyn rapper AZ. It was released on April 19, 1994 as a part Nas's debut album Illmatic. The song is very philosophical, with Nas and AZ using incredibly clever lyrics to invoke the sense of life being somewhat absurd, encouraging a realist "live in the now" attitude. They do this by employing poetic techniques.

The song surrounds AZ's hook in which the most notable lyric-"life's a bitch and then you die"- puts forth the realist essence. He is addressing the hardships of life, especially growing up in the hood. To Nas and AZ, death at a young age is all too real. To them, it is a miracle to have reached twenty- (Nas) "I'm twenty, it's a blessing". Seeing how lucky they are, and how close they may be to death at any moment, Nas and AZ embrace a celebration of life that can be compared to hedonism- (hook) "that's why we get high, cause you never know when you're gonna go".

In terms of poetic technique, there are numerous examples. AZ employs parallel structure with the line- "Keeping it real, packing steel, getting high, cause life's a bitch and then you die." Here AZ is saying that he is simply living life, carrying guns, and getting high, because it's the thing to do, life sucks, and someday he will die anyways, so it doesn't really matter. During Nas's verse explaining his tale of life in the hood, he employs a classic idiomatic expression- "Don't go against the grain, simple and plain"- this is meant to explain the fact that while living in the hood, you simply don't break the hood's rules. Do so and you are only endangering yourself. This can also be used as an example revealing the complexities of growing up in a racially isolated, impoverished neighborhood.

Nas and AZ have seen it all. Having been introduced to death at far too early of an age, they have sought outlets for their pain, thus developing a love of drugs, money, and sex. While they realize that there is likely more to life, they understand that the search of such a thing is a waste of time- it's a "bitch". Their borderline-hedonistic attitude is perfectly rational, and they express this with poetry.