"Dead Presidents" is a 1996 song by rapper Jay-Z. It was released as the first promotional single for Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt, although it did not directly appear on the album: a different version, with the same backing track and chorus but different lyrics, called "Dead Presidents II", appeared on Reasonable Doubt instead. The single was a commercial success, and was certified as an RIAA certification gold single in June 1996. Both versions of the song are regarded as some of the greatest hip-hop songs ever recorded, and "Dead Presidents II" was voted #16 in About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs.

"Dead Presidents II" also appears in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, as part of the Doomsday Heist update, in the blonded Los Santos radio station.

The title is slang for money because portraits of dead United States presidents appear on most Federal Reserve Notes.

The song was produced by Ski. The song samples Lonnie Liston Smith's "A Garden of Peace" for the track's melody and A Tribe Called Quest's "Oh My God (remix)" for its percussion; the chorus is a sample of Nas rapping "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me", from his 1994 song "The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)".

Nas was originally invited to re-rap the chorus for Jay-Z and appear in the track's music video, but he declined. Some view these two actions as the foundation of Jay-Z vs. Nas feud.

When Nas and Jay-Z feuded directly, both rappers discussed the merit of the sampling in the song in individual "diss" records. In Nas' track "Stillmatic Freestyle," he says:

...
Wikipedia