Jay-Z talks "Lost One" in "Decoded" paperback edition

One of Jay-Z's most introspective songs was "Lost One." The song deals with a number of issues, including the death of his nephew, Coleek.

Jay-Z decodes the verse below:

[7]/ It’s like having your life restarted / Can’t wait for your child’s life, to be a part of it / So now I’m childlike, waiting for a gift / To return, when I lost you, I lost it // Lose one, let go to get one / Left one, lose some to win some [Colleek, I lost one] / Sorry I’m a champion, Colleek, you’re a champion / I lost one /


7 Just when you’re on the verge of giving up hope and losing faith, the universe reveals unexpected consolations. My nephew’s girlfriend was just a couple months pregnant when he died, which none of us knew, maybe not even him. But the son she gave birth to looked just like his father, like Colleek reborn. The last verse is the most powerful example of the paradox of the song’s chorus, that even the greatest loss holds the possibility of redemption.