nas곡 가사좀 올려주세요 내공 70!!!

"Money Over Bullshit"

[Verse 1: Nas]
My niggaz got scarred grills
Skully hats and gats be fullys
Brrrat, cars peel, the East Coast cartel
Rats get their tails snapped and trapped
The snitches in the streets and the snitches who rap
Pure euphoria, a dose of death to all of ya
Coroner choruses sung from The Bridge to Astoria
Dreams of fallin' in the elevator, passin' floors
Suddenly stop, the doors open up to a brick wall
I can smell the haters, wishful thinkers, bad luck prayers
Picture your tarot cards and bodyguards gettin' sprayed up
Sabotagin' my makeup, my watches get laced up
Even if they indicted Jacob
Forensics, Paramedics carry cowards off
Defibrillators shock to your chest, try to cough
They die and hit Hell from an iron
I'm flyin', wire or cell, I'm paid from this shit
Got bitches high as hell, and they fuckin' like AIDS don't exist
They get sent to your hotel, a maid and shit
Put a barrel in a capo mouth, 'til his scalp come out
You a kid, you don't live what you rap about
King poetic, too many haters to count
Too much paper to count, QB BITCH!

[Hook: Nas]
Join me in war, many will live, many will mourn
(Money Over Bullshit), pistols over brawn
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength

(My own strength nigga, that's what I'm scared of, ha-ha)

Join me in war, many will live, many will mourn
(Money Over Bullshit), pistols over brawn
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength

[Verse 2: Nas]
Got seven candles lit, black wallpaper, black carpet
Thinkin' about which nigga to target
You kill a nigga today, he lives forever
So I plotted out smarter, there'll be no Martyrs
Black Tec on the table, Mag .44
Black negligee on my bitch, she's at the door
Black fish eggs, nigga, that's the caviar
You niggaz fish-made, y'all niggaz is fifth grade
Niggaz, it's fifty ways to disect the General
If I give ya the top five, you will not survive
Rule 1: cocksucker, keep my name from your tongue
Rule 2: thought ya knew don't fuck with God's Son
Rule 3: see, matter fact, I just wait
If y'all reach top five, then I'ma eat y'all alive
Each one of you guys that claim Hip-Hop is still alive
Like y'all ain't in agreement wit Nas
That shit is dead motha'fucka, it's dead bitch

[Hook: Nas]
Join me in war, many will live, many will mourn
(Money Over Bullshit), pistols over brawn
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength

(My own strength nigga, that's what I'm scared of, ha-ha)

Join me in war, many will live, many will mourn
(Money Over Bullshit), pistols over brawn
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength

[Verse 3: Nas]
From crack pushers to Lac' pushers and ambushers
And morticians to fortresses, case-dismisses
Laced in riches, cake ridiculous
From nickel and dimin; to trickin; them diamonds
Vegas, places in Switzerland
From non-blastin; to auto, I don't have to blast mine
They blast mine, black nine, you flatline
My cash climb, buy rare art
Antique pieces, Mona Lisa's, own no leases
Five-star restaurant eaters; don't forget who your peeps is
'Sposed to dine with you, sip that good wine with you
Only if they grind with you - or slang for ya
Seen niggaz live, laugh, party, and die in that very same corner
Pretty girls glance at us, status unconceivable
Private planes landed out in Teterboro, weed I twirl
Once even gave me a phobia
That I be in a spot trapped like Madame Zenobia's
With this kid eyein' my Rolly, y'all

[Hook: Nas]
Join me in war, many will live, many will mourn
(Money Over Bullshit), pistols over brawn
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength

(My own strength nigga, that's what I'm scared of, ha-ha)

Join me in war, many will live, many will mourn
(Money Over Bullshit), pistols over brawn
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength
Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength

[Outro: Nas]
There it is, QB bitch, yea, QB bitch, yea, yea, QB bitch

 

 

"You Can't Kill Me"

[Intro]
Yeah yeah yeah yeah y'all... New York City...
Tryna to see where I'ma go tonight...
The most famous town in the whole fuckin' world...
The other night, nigga was at Lotus...
I hit P and them I was Dom P'ed up in there, you know...
But I found this new spot we went to the other night, yo
Check it out check it out how it went

[Verse 1]
It was just cool like, smooth night wit' my jewels bright
Goons left goons right, coupe wit' blue lights
Bad girls in black pearls, gave us cat calls
Took 'em back to the crib to break they ass off
In the loft mixin' hash and 'dro
Honey spreaded that asshole like a wide mouth bass
Sippin' wine out the glass, Teddy Pendergrass blast
When the phone ring, the house lights flash
Turned down the sound, let's get down to bidness
Shit about to go down wit' some foul niggaz
What the voice said, "what up pop? Who want it?"
I put the guap up, get the boy popped
He say "son stop, it's dudes you feedin'
Who feedin' other dudes, but they really not eatin'"
Dog, why you callin' me? This our food
You, handle the mouths that it trickles down to
Niggaz want beef, I want some of that cow too
But I'm in my princely robe, simply rich
Don't bother me wit' silly shit, call Rico
He said "it IS Rico, of all people
Gave his moms furs, called up the mayor
To get his crime pardoned, his son's godfather"
Said the nigga shot up my cars
Last night he laid for me to come out my doors?

[Chorus]
Niggaz always on that bullshit
To make a nigga wanna open up a full clip
Niggaz always on that bullshit
Now ya funeral, the preacher's at the pulpit
Niggaz always on that bullshit
To make a nigga wanna open up a full clip
Niggaz always on that bullshit
Now ya funeral, the preacher's at the pulpit
You can't kill me

[Verse 2]
High, fly, send a fella loaf or glass?
Fold up cash, you ain't heard the soldier's half
You speakin' hogwash, silly shit, ??? to dash
I got the live sparked, Phillies lit, smoker's jacket on
The son of a Cap-ricorn, my dad's a don
What you think that he spawned? A slacker? Nah
Packed the nines, yo this nigga's asinine
Smack ya mom, relaxed and calm, then mack ya mom
In a casket, you'll get ya fashion on
You'll be in a suit and tie, you'll die
You'll make maggots turn to flies, fuckin' wit' Nas
Remember anyone can get it at anytime
Lames'll swear by ya name, when they lie
Get hit wit' the lone star, ripped where ya bones are
So tell me how yo' ass gon' run, from a C-Z-P-O-1?
In the midst of real steel movers, you a loser
Merk you wit'cha own shooters
All you want is a name, pissed and insane
My security system, my playspot a fireplace, listen
Then it goin' off, start spittin'
Niggaz try to bring it where I live in
Trustin' you, knew where all of the cribs at
So we waited wit' the cigs blat, blat, blat!

[Chorus]

"You can't kill me" [to fade]

 

 

 

"Carry On Tradition"

[Intro: Nas]
Yea, niggaz want to talk about this rap shit
Niggaz want to talk about this money
About these cars, these homes, these labels
Clothes, sneakers, big money shit
Now everybody tryin' to get rich
Now get rich niggaz, fuck it

[Verse 1: Nas]
Some rap pioneers, be them crackheads
When they speak, you see missin' teeth
Silver chain with a silver piece
Niggaz your grandfather's age
They pants still hangin' down they legs talkin' about they ain't paid
And they hate you, 'cause they say, you ain't pay dues
And ..... was stealin' and robbin' them
I feel it's a problem we gotta resolve
Hip-Hop been dead, we the reason it died
Wasn't Sylvia's fault or because MC's skills are lost
It's because we can't see ourselves as the boss
Deep-rooted through slavery, self-hatred
The Jewish stick together, friends in high places
We on some low level shit
We don't want niggaz to ever win
See, everybody got a label
Everybody's a rapper but few flow fatal
It's fucked up, it all started from two turntables

[Hook: Nas]
When they crown you - and you rise up to your position
(Carry On Tradition)
When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war, don't petition
(Carry On Tradition) - (Carry On Tradition)
Carry on, ca-carry on, (Carry On Tradition)
(Carry On Tradition), when you rep what we rep
Then (Carry On Tradition)

[Verse 2: Nas]
Now some of these new rappers got their caps flipped backwards
Wit their fingers intertwined in some gang-sign madness
I got an exam, let's see if y'all pass it
Let's see who can quote a Daddy Kane line the fastest
Some of you new rappers, I don't understand your code
You have your man shoot you, like in that Sopranos episode
Do anythin' to get in the game, mixtapes, you spit hate
Against bosses; hungry fucks are moraless
You should be tossed in a pit full of unfortunate vocalists
Niggaz, I coulda wrote your shit; I had off-time, was bored wit this
I coulda made my double-LP, just by samplin' different parts of Nautilus
Still came five on the charts with zero audience
The lane was open and y'all was droppin' that garbage shit
Y'all got awards for your bricks - it got good to ya
You started tellin' them bigger dogs to call it quits?! WHAT?

[Hook: Nas]
When they crown you - and you rise up to your position
(Carry On Tradition)
When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war, don't petition
(Carry On Tradition) - (Carry On Tradition)
Carry on, ca-carry on, (Carry On Tradition)
(Carry On Tradition), when you rep what we rep
Then (Carry On Tradition)

[Verse 3: Nas]
Now niggaz got the studio poppin', it's mad clearer
Engineers got his earplugs and still hear us
The live-in-the-park sound, versus the studio state of art sound
We on the charts now; from British Walkers and Argyles
Look at us rap stars now, wit our black cars now
Fortune 500 listed, brunches, sip Cipriani's
Sippin', blunted, with rich white guys around me
Thick white girls around me, Chinese lined up
Because I'm what?, every dime lust
We used to be a ghetto secret; can't make my mind up
If I want that or the whole world to peep it
Now (Carry On Tradition)
Fuck a bum wack rapper makin' his career out of dissin'
Peace to the strugglin' artists and dead one's gone, we miss 'em
I promise I (Carry On Tradition)

[Hook: Nas]
When they crown you - and you rise up to your position
(Carry On Tradition)
When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war, don't petition
(Carry On Tradition) - (Carry On Tradition)
Carry on, ca-carry on, (Carry On Tradition)
(Carry On Tradition), when you rep what we rep
Then (Carry On Tradition)

 

"Where Are They Now"

("HIT MEH!!")

[Sample of the late James Brown's "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" plays]

[Nas]
Redhead Kingpin, Tim Dog, have you seen 'em?
Kwame, King Tee or King Sun
Super Lover Cee, Casanova Rud
Antoinette, Rob Base never showin up
You see Black Sheep, Group Home, Busy Bee?
Ask Ill and Al Skratch, (Where My Homiiies?)
Leave it to y'all, these niggaz left for dead
Last week my man swore he saw Special Ed
Rap is like a ghost town, real mystic
Like these folks never existed
They the reason that rap became addictive
Play they CD or wax and get lifted
I recommend when your kid turn ten
Let him hear Spice 1, made plenty noise
.. Positive K, Father MC, the Skinny Boys
Where are they now?

(HEY!! Where are, where are they nooooooow, huuuhhhhhooohhhh HEY!)
Where are they now?
(HEY! Hit me! Where are they nooooooow?)
("HIT MEH!!")

[Nas]
See I remember them forever
The original Spinderella
Lakim Shabazz, 9 MM
Fu-Schnickens, Buckshot, Finesse, and Sequence
..Who was a (Rappin' Duke?) Da-ha!
Silk tie and leather was cute
Body and soul was Dee from Pump It Up's group
Oaktown 357, J.J. Fad too
had pop hits and gold ropes
Where my man Young MC and Tone Loc?
Kris Kross, the BO$$, Divine Styler
Def Jef of course let's break it down ta
Mic Geronimo, Pharcyde and Coolio
I heard Craig Mack back in the studio
Have you seen these lost MC's?
Funky Four Plus One, Force M.D.'s
Miss Melody, I hope she packin' a bankroll
As well as educated rap for ice and Kangol
Shante, she from around my way yo
EPMD, K-Solo, where are they now?

(HEY!! Where are, where are they nooooooow, huuuhhhhhooohhhh HEY!)
Where are they now?
(HEY! Hit me! Where are they nooooooow?)
("HIT MEH!!")

[Nas - Outro]
QB...
First off this ain't no diss record
This for some of my homies that were misrepresented...
Legends of the game, y'know?
What up to Moe Dee the legend? Rest in peace Cowboy!
Yeah, all the rappers...male, female, DJ's, e'rybody!
Rest in peace Jam-Master Jay, the whole crew, word up...
Juice Crew All-Stars, MC Shan, Tragedy, Craig G...
Yeah nigga, yeah nigga...
Shan whaddup baby?
Where are they now?

 

[*DJ samples*]
"Hip hop" "hip hop" "is dead"
"Hip--hip hop" "hip hop" "is dead"
"Hip--hip hop" "hip--hip hop" "is dead"
"Hip--hip hop" "hip hop" "hip hop"

[Hook]
If hip hop should die before I wake
I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
Roll to every station, murder the DJ

If hip hop should die before I wake
I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
Roll to every station, murder the DJ

[sample]
Hip hop just died this mornin'
And she's dead, she's dead

[Verse 1]
Yeah, niggaz smoke, laugh, party, and die in the same corner
Get cash, live fast, body their man's mama
Rich ass niggaz is ridin' with three llamas
Revenge in their eyes, Hennesy and the ganja
Word to the wise with villain state of minds
Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind
Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind
(Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind)
Whenever, if ever, I roll up, it's sown up
Any ghetto will tell ya Nas helped grow us up
My face once graced promotional Sony trucks
Hundred million in billin', I helped build 'em up
Gave my nigga my right, I could have gave left
So like my girl Foxy, a nigga went Def
So nigga, who's your top ten?
Is it MC Shan? Is it MC Ren?

[Hook]
If hip hop should die before I wake
I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
Roll to every station, murder the DJ

If hip hop should die before I wake
I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
[sample]
Hip hop just died this mornin'
And she's dead, she's dead

[Verse 2]
[ Hip Hop Is Dead lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
The bigger the cap, the bigger the peelin'
Come through, something ill, missin' the ceilin'
What influenced my raps? Stick ups and killings
Kidnappings, project buildings, drug dealings
Criticize that, why is that?
Cuz Nas rap is compared to legitimized crap
Cuz we love to talk on ass we gettin'
Most intellectuals will only half listen
So you can't blame jazz musicians
Or David Stern with his NBA fashion issues
Oh I they like me--in my white tee
You can't ice me, we here for life B
On my second marriage, hip hop's my first wifey
And for that we not takin' it lightly
If hip hop should die we die together
Bodies in the morgue lie together
All together now

[Hook]
If hip hop should die before I wake
I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
Roll to every station, murder the DJ

If hip hop should die before I wake
I'll put an extended clip inside of my AK
Roll to every station, murder the DJ
Roll to every station, murder the DJ

[sample]
Hip hop just died this mornin'
Hip hop just died this mornin'
Hip hop just died this mornin'
And she's dead, she's dead

{*crowd chanting "Hip hop!" becomes beat*}

[Verse 3]
Everybody sound the same, commercialize the game
Reminiscin' when it wasn't all business
If it got where it started
So we all gather here for the dearly departed
Hip hopper since a toddler
One homeboy became a man then a mobster
If the guys let me get my last swig of Vodka
R.I.P., we'll donate your lungs to a rasta
Went from turntables to mp3s
From "Beat Street" to commercials on Mickey D's
From gold cables to Jacobs
From plain facials to Botox and face lifts
I'm lookin' over my shoulder
It's about eighty niggaz from my hood that showed up
And they came to show love
Sold out concert and the doors are closed shut

 

 

 

"Who Killed It?"

[Nas]
Look here see
Pretty Mike shanked Two-Face Al over some gal
Found the body dead in the isles
Death by strangulation
Microphone cord, a dirty broad
Guess they'll never play it again Sam
Damn that was my jam
Now she's on the lamb
She made it out with 200 grand
What a scam
While these two compete on who's the star of the show
Golden legs there makes off with the dough
I read the paper there with Joe the Butcher
He said one glance is all it took ya
She's a real looker
They say her old mans a bootlegger
Transporting in any weather
And at this rate we'll never get her
Fellas, think it's time to call it a night
All this talk of this mystery dame's gettin' me tight
Thought I saw her in my eyesight, right
Hate to spoil the party
What are you guys havin', the same?
Waiter another round for the gang
It's strange how I always felt outta place
Joe The Butcher's my ace, but in comes Freckle Face
So I said see you later
'Fore I hurt him and his two ugly thumb breakers
He met them in Louisiana wrestling gators
An idiot can tell they're involved with the caper
So I pulled the revolver on my waist up
Between the patrol car and the gray truck
Behind the street lamp was a silouhette
White gloves and a real long cigarette
What do ya know all this time she's got me in her scope
She spoke says the devil got you guys by the throat
Your conspiracy theories won't work without evidence
That's the reason why Eric B is not president

Well what do ya say

Ya see? [3x]

Look here see
I know you got soul your trying to hide it
How did you kill a man out in cypress
One Eyed Charlie
He only hangs with the criminal minded
Says you guys did it doggy style is he lyin'
She says, (Walk This Way) I'll tell you a (Children's Story)
We hit the bodega got her a few 40's
We jumped in my ride we drove and she cried
Twisted off the cap there and opened her mouth wide
Swallowed it, whole bottle's half empty
Drinks like a fish now she's past tipsy
The truth came out as we got to her suave house
(Chopped and screwed) her mouth and sat me on the couch
I said it's gettin late c'mon give it to me straight
Who's ya sponsor lady? She says Bill Gates
What are ya born 77 or 78?
She says, Nah it goes way to an earlier date
Slave times, claims the slaves said rhymes
But she fell in love with some fella named Clive
Who? Clive Campbell from Sedgwick Ave, the Bronx
Now she shows me the cash
I said who's Clive, don't play with me skirt
She said Clive Campbell
He's Kool Herc

Ah ha! Ah ha!

Listen up sweetheart
Now we gettin somewhere
As she's talkin, she starts vanishing in thin air
But before she drops the money bag on the floor and died
She said if you really love me I'll come back alive

 

 

 

"Black Republican"
(feat. Jay-Z)

[Intro: Jay-Z & (Nas)]
I know you can feel the magic baby
Turn the motherfucking lights down
Esco what's up? (What's up homey)
I mean.. it's what you expected ain't it?
Let's go... uh, uh, uh, uh, uh
Turn the music up and the headphones
uh, Yea, that's perfect (Yea, right)
Uh, we got to take and make a nigga wait on this motherfucker
(ha ha!) Make niggas mad and shit like..
Niggas usually start rappin' after 4-bars, nigga go in
Start dancin' in this motherfucker
Yea, (Yea) niggas come outta nowhere

[Hook: Jay-Z]
I feel like a Black Republican, money I got comin' in
Can't turn my back on the hood, I got love for them
Can't clean my act up for good, too much thug in 'em
Probably in the back of the hood, I'm like "Fuck it then"

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Huddlin' over the oven, we was like brothers then (What?)
Though you was nothin' other than a son of my mother's friend
We had governin', who would of thought the love would end
Like ice cold album, all good things
Neva thought we sing the same song that all hood sang
Thought it was all wood-grain, all good brain
You wouldn't bicker like the other fools talk good game
Neva imagine all the disasters that one could reign
Could bring!, should bling, the game, and I could
It's kill or be killed, how could I refrain?
And forever be in debt, that's never a good thing
To the pressure for success can put a good strain
On a friend you call best, and yes it could bring
Out the worst in every person, even the good's insane
Though we rehearsed, it's just ain't the same
When you put in the game at age sixteen
Then you mix things: like cars, jewelry, and miss things
Jealousy, ego, and pride, and this brings
It all to a head like coin, cha-ching
The rule of evil strikes again, this could sting
Now the team got beef between the Post and the Point
This puts the ring in jeopardy - indefinitely

[Hook: Jay-Z]

[Hook: Nas]
I feel like a black militant takin' over the government
Can't turn my back on the hood, too much love for them
Can't clean my act up for good, too much thug in 'em
Probably in up back in the hood, I'm like, "fuck it then"

[Verse 2: Nas]
I'm back in the hood, they like, "Hey Nas" (Uh)
Blowin' on purp', reflectin' on they lives
Couple of fat cats, couple of A.I.'s
Dreamin' of fly shit instead of them gray skies
Gray 5's, hate guys wishin' our reign dies
Pitch, sling pies, and niggas they sing, "why"?
Guess they ain't strong enough to handle their jail time
Weak minds, keep tryin', follow the street signs
I'm standin' on the roof of my building
I'm feelin' - the whirlwind of beef, I inhale it
Just like an acrobat ready to hurl myself though the hoops of fire
Sippin' 80 proof, bulletproof under my attire
Could it be the forces of darkness, against hood angels of good
That forms street politics - makes a sweet honest kid
Turn illegal for commerce - to get his feet out of them Converse
That's my word

[Hook: Jay-Z]

[Hook: Nas]

 

 

 

"Not Going Back"
(feat. Kelis)

[Nas]
What nigga! What bitch-ass niggaz! What! Babe, babe, start the car!

[Kelis]
Nasir, come on let's go! Get in the car now, let's go! Throw it out, let's go!

[Nas]
Aight, aight, aight, yeah. But I got 'em. But I got 'em, though.

[Kelis]
This is crazy, why didn't you just throw it out of the car?
This is so stupid, what are you doing? Why are we even out here?
Why are we out here? What's going on? This is retarded, yo we gotta..
This is crazy. Never again. You'd throw everything away, for what?

[Nas: laughs]
Yeah, my man Kool G Rap told me son do not look back
Chill up in the mansion with a fat glutious max, relax
When people act schoolin' with facts, tell 'em
At this point in my life I'm all about chillin'
Ridin' around in something sick and the dress flies
And twist, homie's hermano just died I gotta let it ride
That's what I got the public thinkin' my nigga
Just cause I ain't in the hood don't mean shit my nigga
I know who died before the body dropped
I know the guns that were used how much money the shooter got
Cause on the private yacht I'm still within earshot of it all
The top ten list of the most grimiest guys of all time
Is all we talk when we talk of New York y'all
Who to call and who to stay away from
Whose mother's address to have just to play it safe son
Women they lust up so quick to give 'em up
What cars and what trucks they drive in what towns
They spend the most time in when they grindin'
I found out most of them are cowards they hidin'
Behind reputations that's sour
Not going back

[Kelis]
The streets keep tryin' to say
Come back around this way
I've already gone that way
I won't go back today

[Nas] I'm not goin' back

[Kelis]
The streets keep tryin' to say
Come back around this way
I've already gone that way
I won't go back today

[Nas] I'm not goin' back

[Nas]
First thing that happen when you make a little paper
You think the Marriot is livin' in a skyscraper
Till you come across some ever more flyer paper
Realize that five-star 'tellies are even greater
Terry-cloth robes, elegance, movie shit
Heated-up marble floors with jacuzzis in it
First-class flights, diamonds in your crucifixes
All those things you still ain't really doin' shit kid
Cause in reality I'll earn my salary
The way I flaunted it then would now embarrass me
It kinda make me wanna hate bling it's a race thing
How they sell blacks to bootleg shit infact
Real millionaires spend 60 mil on paintings
Whores charge niggaz with raping
Cause we come out doors of Maybach cars
Watch us make bets on race tracks smokin' cigars
So they counter the laws to take what's ours
Bout 500K on a lawyer to beat the charge
So you can't stop us from making a billion dollars
Instead of goin' back I'm buying the projects
But I'm not going back
The hood's in me forever y'all
But I'm not going back

[Kelis]
The streets keep tryin' to say
Come back around this way
I've already gone that way
I won't go back today

[Nas] I'm not goin' back

[Kelis]
The streets keep tryin' to say
Come back around this way
I've already gone that way
I won't go back today

[Nas]
And of course y'all know what I'm not going back to
Those no friends of mine..
(And I'm not going back to)
Ten carat gold it shine..
(And I'm never going back to)
Sony if they don't have dough to sign..
(Not going back to)
Y'all know that I'm not going back to
Those liars who would..
(Not going back to)
Not help you if they could..
(Not going back to)
Coke on the stove in the hood..
Y'all should know that I'm not going back
The hood's in me forever y'all
But I'm not going back

[Kelis]
The streets keep tryin' to say
Come back around this way
I've already gone that way
I won't go back today

[Nas] I'm not goin' back

[Kelis]
The streets keep tryin' to say
Come back around this way
I've already gone that way
I won't go back today

[Nas] I'm not goin' back

 

 

 

"Still Dreaming"
(feat. Kanye West)

[Sample + (Kanye West)]
Some people (Yeah)
Some people (unh-unh)
Some people really are
Still dreaming (And as the sun sets
and the night falls)
They are still dreaming (and them hoes call)

[Verse 1: Kane West]
He pulled up at 6:30 in his 745
As he wavin' his shorty hi, you know he showin' his bling out
She got in the car, he drove, he pulled his thing out
His girl call, feelin' she mad, she threw the ring out
How she found out, she dreamt the whole thing out
Y'all be goin' through problems you gotta work the kinks out
When you go to sleep, what do you think 'bout?
If y'all get a divorce she gon' take everything except the kitchen sink out
Make it so cold that you gotta pull ya mink out
Or grab ya roller skates and, turn a roller rink out
You now back up in the club, in the club, tryna min-gle
Meanwhile, she out, doin' the same thing now
Nightmares from your dream gal make ya scream out

[Chorus: sample + Kanye & Nas]
Some people really (still dreamin')
Some people really (make ya scream out)
Some people really are (still)
Still dreaming (st-still dreamin')
(O-o-o-o-one two one two
Some dreams stay dreams some dreams come true)
They are still dreaming
(O-o-o-o-one two one two
Some dreams stay dreams some dreams come true)

Some people really
Some people really
Some people really are

[Verse 2: Nas]
How you a man waitin' for the next man to get rich?
Yo' plan is to stick out yo' hand real quick
So if he feed ya family and he serve you shit
Then he need that head you get and he deserve your bitch
Since you wishin' cash fall from the sky all ya life
Dwellin' on the past when you was alright
When you was gettin' cash but wasn't too bright
Now ya luck down you feel like, bustin' them shells
Nobody owe you, can't do nothin' for self
Want niggaz to show you, how to come up wit' green
I scheme since I'm fourteens, what the fuck was your dream?
Rental cars, little broads, sayin' you was seen
Wit' little niggaz wit' a chain you was doin' ya thing
How high was I? You the thousandth guy
That came around thinkin' we can see, eye to eye
We on a different echelon, coulda got bread together
Now you gets deaded on

[Chorus: sample + Kanye & Nas]
Some people really (so keep dreamin')
Some people really
Some people really are (still dreamin')
Still dreaming
(O-o-o-o-one two one two
Some dreams stay dreams some dreams come true) (still dreamin')
They are still dreaming
(O-o-o-o-one two one two
Some dreams stay dreams some dreams come true) (still dreamin')

Some people really
Some people really
Some people really are

[Verse 3: Nas]
She had several cars, she had credit cards, a castle
Large master bathroom, gettin' a pedicure
Belaney by the glassful, said she been meanin' to ask who
Would need a cash rule, who could blast tools
And I'm eatin' cashews, knew she was bad news
But we mad cool, nothin' sexual 'cause I knew her since high school
Grew up wit' my dudes, like one of my crews
She worked for Fox News
One of her mans that she lent her drop to
Won't come back wit' it so she want him clapped in it
Says it's important that it looks like an accident
She was snortin' and her eyes had bags in it
Sheets was recordin had a wire, askin' shit
Four days before I came by she got bagged wit' bricks
Crossed the line from her world of news castin'
To a world of entrapment, a good girl gone backwards
Still dreamin'

[Chorus: sample + Kanye & Nas]

[Sample of "They are still dreaming" to end]

 

 

"Hold Down The Block"
(feat. Mark B. Mayfield)

[Chorus: Mark B. Mayfield]
I gotta lay down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

I gotta lay down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

[Verse 1: Nas]
Yea, Feds feast on street dons, look at their teeth showin'
Salivatin' at the mouth, South to East Orange
Keep pourin' that liquor, but nigga don't sleep on it
You'll be givin' up your Jesus piece to your peeps to pawn it
For legal fees in the penal dorm
Screamin' on the horn with 'bout thirty years on your conscience
I'm watchin' brothers disappear, it's appallin'
Some dudes had just only a year of ballin'
Counter-intelligence found a strange evidence (When the block is hot)
Still we behind the wheel with heat on us, hangin' with predicates
Position we placed in caves in, so they got us caged in
Ways spinnin' like Mike Bivens from New Edition aging (I gotta... When the block is hot)
I got families I'm feeding 'cause my mans is bleeding
Every five seconds look in all directions
I come through prepared; I give 'em a call
I'm close, bring them guns downstairs

[Chorus: Mark B. Mayfield]
I gotta lay down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

I gotta lay down the block, when the block is hot (hold it down)
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

[Verse 2: Nas]
Uh, uh, it's beef week, Monday, murder
Two niggaz dead, Tuesday
Wednesday and Thursday is hearse-day
Friday, somebody-gotta-die-day
Saturday, put the gat away
Chillin' wit your chick and a bag of haze
Wonderin' how it's all gon' end and what type of way
'Cause Sunday back to gunplay
Mo' shit start over nothin'
And get finished quick 'cause the art of repercussion
Yeah, I seen it, a G' going out indecent (When the block is hot)
Takin' a plea agreement, thinkin' he secret
Escape the crime scene, now you live straight like 9:15
Then one-time intervene (I gotta lay...)
My man ain't like me sayin' I don't care if I die
But the SIG Sauer on me now I'm scared to die
You thinkin' the one I send to clap you be a shorty
But he old school, holdin' a .38, he in his forties

[Chorus: Mark B. Mayfield]
I gotta lay down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

I gotta lay down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

[Verse 3: Nas]
(I gotta...) Anytime brothers can't get jobs, then they rob
(When the block is hot) A man rather die than live on his knees and starve
Cops steady askin' your man what happened
First he tell then he stop, like he not really rattin'
Guess he not really in that casket from a sawed-off (When the block is hot)
Listen, peep game from the brain of an all-star
The rain hurt niggaz bones who been shot
Metal pins in their leg, they walk with a limp-hop
The streets lie, (When the block is hot) so you better be cautious
Your man'll fry you plus, everybody talkin'
A vet, a General, don't step where I walked in
Make your own path, be a legend in your skin
(Hold down the block, when the block is hot)
Make your own cash, don't stress what I'm forcin'
Don't expect more when you put in less work than all them
Queensbridge projects has taught him, and that's for life
You heard me right, I got the block (When the block is hot)

[Outro: Mark B. Mayfield]
When the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation

 

 

"Blunt Ashes"

[Intro (Nas):]
Yo, I wonder if Langston Hughes and Alex Haley
got blazed before they told stories
I'm get blazed before I tell y'all stories
I saw on TV today, this man lost his son, his son died
So he had him cremated, took his ashes, and then made it to a Diamond ring
Now he watches his son shine everyday
I just thought about that, while I sit here ashing in this ash tray, yeah

[Verse 1 (Nas):]
The makin' of a mad band
Intricate stories of DeVante Swing
Ava Gardner, the crashin' of James Dean
Bobby Brown influenced by Rick James and it goes..
Prince wanted Alexander O'Neal to be Morris Day or Jerome
But Alex was puttin' coke in his nose, nigga whylin'
Could be a myth but I swear that the source was close, Phyllis Hyman
Killed herself, it was crazy, mommy was bad they say
Donny Hathaway freefall from a balcony, he swings

[Hook (Nas):]
As the blunt ash falls into the ash tray
I could see my whole life fly past me
Did I... did I keep it gangsta or keep it classy?
And will the money and fame out last me?
The blunt's ash falls down in the ash tray
Will I see my whole life fly past me?
I'm askin' did I keep it gangsta or keep it classy?
Did I?.. Anything else you wanna know, just wanna ask me?

[Verse 2 (Nas):]
Sam trusted Womack with his main lady
He tossin' in the grave, like, "This is how you repay me?"
A change gon' come, wish you didn't trust me so much
Marvin said "No mountain's high enough, fly stuff"
David Ruffin was punchin' Tammy Terrell, gave her concussions
While the Funk Brothers was layin' down the percussion
When Flo from the Surpremes died, Diana Ross cried
Many people said that she was laughin' inside

[Hook (Nas)]

[Verse 3 (Nas):]
John F. Kennedy's, enemies dealt with treachery
It interests me, Judy Campbell in Gucci sandals
She's what a temptress be
The death of Ennis Cosby, what a mystery
Or the Chicagoan Harold Washington
Someone is sabotaging them
Watch out for the traps
Larry Troutman killed his brother Roger Troutman
Then he killed himself, that's the end of Zapp
And I wouldn't change a thing, mistakes of the greats
This is what came from their pain
From their hurt we gain, an unfair exchange

[Hook (Nas)]

[Outro (Nas, over the hook):]
I could smell old bogey cigars
Long record perfumes, smellin' just as sweet, ha-ha
Me and my wife K, flyin' in a drop-top like Ruby and Ottis Davis baby
Knaw'mean? Yo, man. I get smoked out, and start thinkin' about
Patty McDaniels got a Oscar, for playin' Mami in 'Gone With The Wind'
And she didn't get allowed, wasn't even allowed to go to the premier
Could'ya'believe that? Couldn't go to premier to her joint
Tssk. Man, you know they were strong back then man
Blunt from my ash tray, nothin' gon' to live past me, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

 

 

 

"Let There Be Light"
(feat. Tre Williams)

Yeah, check check, testing
It's clear out there? Yeah
It's like I'm hang gliding over the hood, ha
Never worry (ohhh, no, no, no)

[Verse 1]
Check, let there be light
No gang banging in New York tonight
Just murals of Biggie Smalls, bigger then life
Turn up the kid mic cuz ya'll ain't listening right
What's all this talk that Nas got bought?
I'd rather outline my body in white chalk
Ain't nobody been where I been, they at a stand still
This is all overseen by my man Will

[Chorus: Tre Williams]
As I walk through the shadow of death
I know that I ain't got much time left
And they don't really wanna see the good in me
Ain't satisfied until they see the fool in me
(And I) I know my business, so my sins great
(And I) I thank the hood for all the love they gave
(And I) Forgive 'em all, they did they best to hate
Oh, let there be light

[Verse 2]
This ain't the glorified, just painting the street picture
There's no God in sir Bibles, just blunt and switches
Gillettes cut pain in kitchen
Now every rapper wanna claim he hang with Kenneth "Supreme" Griffith
It's like the same difference cept when niggaz get arraigned
They don't want the same sentence, niggaz get to snitchin
If I could reverse the monsters and turn forward the razas
And bring back the niggaz who was livest
Old hustlers, reminscing on better days
They home, doing nothing, might as well be in a cage
Hating on young brothers, one foot in the grave
They used to love us till we found our own way thru the maze
New York, set trippin and flaggin
Got the West Coast laughing, now Esco's asking
What happened? My homegirl from upper Manhattan
She remembers the quarters that's Latin, alotta rat-a-tat-tatting

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
The son of the audio cassette era, tech wearer
Bullets and begets, Binzbo's speaker terror
Till man I get mine till I'm dead, so I can drive sumpthin red
Like that horse standing on it's hind legs
Since Arnold and Willis in they bunk beds
I wanted bread like Wonder, not manned-a-wanno like the parent of Lionel
Nas is the Ghetto American Idol
No matter what you do you're never getting my title
I can't sound smart cuz ya'll'll run away
They say I ain't hungry no more and I don't talk about 'ye
Like there's no other way for a ex-hustler
Cake ya, the x-ray splitter to touch ya, I beg to differ
When you're four years into the game, we can have a conversation
Eight years in the game, I invite ya on vacation
Ten years in the game, after I've enjoyed my fame
Only then I let ya pick my brain, niggaz

[Bridge: Nas + (Tre Williams)]
(And I) Right about now (And I) (They don't really know)
(And I) (They don't really see) I don't even deal with all that garbage
(No, no, no) We getting real right, ya know?
(And I) (Though I walk through the valley) That is Tre Williams ladies and gentlemen
(And I) (They should fear no) (And I) (no, no-oh)
Focus on good things man, good times, Heh-heh, alright

[Chorus - 2X (with alterations)]

Oh let it be, let it be, yeah
Let it be, let it be

 

 

 

"Play On Playa"
(feat. Snoop Dogg)

[Nas - Verse 1]
Uh, light somethin',
stop frontin'
how much money's enough, think maybe like a trillion' figures
pray my daughter don't wild like them Hilton sisters,
that'd kill me yo, filthy rich, my daughter pass it onto the next generation,
throwin' carnations
at my tombstone,
in my new home,
meet mom's in my east st. laurent suit on,
then we do a dance like my man
luther dan,
but my verse came first,
i stole change out her purse,
now i wanna dig her up outta the earth,
two more but lean forward, toward a new paragraph,
blue carrots, D-class,
strictly that Kush in the weed bags,
tryna' figure out what Barry Gordie (?) had,
put in production,
studio's smokey now, hard like Davin Ruffin,
hit a spliff through a seance,
and I, play on playa

[Snoop Dogg - Chorus]
Finest females, i spit game on, i spray tha, gotta' get your papes on, playa on playa,
before it's all gone, sip don, tip weight up, do y'all thing when i swing, baby,
spend dub's on yeh rugs(?), gotta' live crazy,
finest females, i spit game on, i spray tha, get your papes on,
playa on playa, get your papes on, play on playa, get your papes on..uh

[Nas - Verse 2]
Ruby red grapefruit juice
with grey goose,
rubies in the Jesus
piece,
pimped out like Snoopy,
but a East Coast thing,
my girl's stocking,
tied up in a knot top a' my beanhead,
billion dollar dream head,
went from triple beams to digitals,
servin' fiends to minimal,
sixty g's no criminal,
no mo',
jus mo' doe,
my motions pouring,
Oprah's earrings,
on fingers while your girl performs cunning lingas,
cause' there's big money a rumour lingers,
barber cleans his blade,
then they give me a fade,
hot towel on the face,
hot models who vommit after they eat so they can stay lightweight,
swallowin' my protein like an ovaltine shake,
come thru' like mo green from Godfather,
so clean where i step i 'Clorox it',
keep twenty g's on both sides of the thighs,
that's four pockets, eighty thousand, browse for the nicest price,
but we ain't into buyin' conflict ice,
that's the shit they stole from the Congo,
and other block soil,
true mack foil,
nappy hair jus spinnin',
hunny gave me a massage with the happy ending,
finest females i jus came on,
and sprayed uh, gotta get yeh papes on, play on playa

[Snoop Dogg repeats chorus]

[Snoop Dogg]
It's kinda hard for a playa like you,
but let me show you how a nigga like me, get revenue,
what ya never do
is punk out whatchu better do,
never let the game get ahead of you,
get a better view,
better yet, a better clue,
praise God, imma marry you,
get your hoe to, carry you,
bury you,
slowly, roll me another blunt,
stuff it,
lick it,
puff it,
tuck it,
fuck it,
that man,
that game,
that thang
it busts,
in D.O Double G we trust!
yup, yup, young roll with the two steps,
he creepin' with tha two tec's,
they sleepin' with two chicks,
right before we blast all you heard was two clicks,
end of existence,
for instance,
rewind,
replay it,
re-chop it,
remix it,
we twist it,
goddamn D.O Double G, cuz we missed it,
travel slow,
im an indian, but not a navajo, i
smoke the big leaf
end all the big beefs,
my hair in two braid's, im the big chief,
ladda da' beep bah baddda!
yeah, break that down, how fresh yeh are,
the king from Queens, Mr.Escobar,
connect with the best from the west, yes yes, yah are,
oh my god, it's Snoop Dogg and Nas,
playa play on, play on, play on, [quiets] play on, play on, play on

 

 

"Can't Forget About You"

[Nas]
There comes a day in your life when you wanna kick back
Straw hat on the porch when you old perhaps
Wanna gather your thoughts, have a cold one
Brag, to your grandkids about how life is golden
So I will light a cigar in the corridor of the crib
Pictures on the wall of all the things that I did
All the money and fame, 8 by 10's
of the whole Rat Pack inside of a big frame
Collidin with big names that could've made your career stop
All that, and your man is still here and I'm still hot
Wow, I need a moment y'all
See I almost felt a tear drop

[Chorus]
When was the last time you heard a real anthem
Nas, the millionaire, the mansion
When was the last time you heard your boy Nas rhyme
Never on schedule, but always on time

[Hook]
These streets hold my deepest days
This hood taught me golden ways
Made me, truly this is what made me
Break me, not a thing's gonna break me [2x]

Ohh, I'm that history I'm that block
I'm that lifestyle I'm that spot
I'm that kid by the number spot
That's my past that made me hot
Here's my life long anthem
Can't forget about you
(Can't forget about, Can't forget about you) [2x]

[Nas]
Can't forget about the old school, Bam, Cas, Melle Mel, Flash
Rocksteady spinnin on they back
Can't forget when the first rap Grammy went to Jazzy, Fresh Prince
Fat Boys broke up, rap hasn't been the same since
So irregular, how it messed you up
when Mr. T became a wrestler
Can't forget about Jordan's retirement
The shot Robert Horry to win the game in the finals kid
Some things are forever, some things are not
It's the things we remember that gave the world shock
They stay in a place in your mind so snug
Like who the person was with whom you first make love

[Chorus]

[Hook]

[Nas]
Unforgettable, unsubmittable, I go by N now
Just one syllable, it's the end cause the game's tired
It's the same vibe, Good Times had right after James died
That's why the gangsta rhymers ain't inspired
Heinous crimes help record sales more than creative lines
And I don't wanna keep bringing up the greater times
But I'm a dreamer nostalgic with the state of mind
The past the past enough of it, aight then
But nothing gives me chills like Douglas and Tyson
Or Mike when his talk was live
Or when he first did the moon walk on Motown 25

[Chorus]

[Hook]

[Nat King Cole sample]
That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

 

 

"Hustlers"
(feat. The Game)

[Nas]
Dre, he a Compton-Compton O.G.
Nas, he a QB-QB true G
Do the history

Way before The Firm, like back in the day
Nas was the first New York nigga rappin' with Dre
So of course I got a track to bring it back to your face
The one kid that would've been Aftermath that got away
But we still get together like every several years
to sprinkle, a little bit of Heaven for your ears
Relax sippin' Calico in Rio, stupid fuckers
Low-key, know G's, but it's still Gucci luggage
I love Cape Cod, and watchin' fly bitches with grey eyes
wrestle in a tub of KY to get my day by
I like to celebrate, why? - 'cause I can vision
collages and images of my lies with no regret to hate
So every breath I take, is all about the rules
It's hard for you to breathe like you at high altitude
So crack the Patron, it's on heathens, The God's back
Hard body, Mr. Jones never leavin'

[Chorus #1]
Hustlers, dealers, drop-top riders
Make that cake, cop two five fivers
Pimps and players, platinum diamonds
East to West Coast we riders

[Chorus #2: Nas (The Game)]
He a Compton-Compton O.G.
(Mix that with a QB-QB true G)
(What you got's) A concoction of some different ghetto blocks
(West Coast kill the tracks) East Coast gunshots

[The Game]
1995, eleven years from the day
I'm in the record shop with choices to make
"Illmatic" on the top shelf, "The Chronic" on the left homie
Wanna cop both but only got a twenty on me
So fuck it, I stole both, spent the twenty on a dub sack
Ripped the package off "Illmatic" and bumped that
For my niggaz it was too complex when Nas rhymed
I was the only Compton nigga with a "New York State of Mind"
Inside the dope house bottlin' up sherm, bangin' The Firm
Dre was king then so I waited my turn
Fast forward, now I'm makin 'em burn
Ended my peers careers, hollered at Nas, a hard lesson was learned
So I reconciled my differences like he did with Jigga
I stopped beefin' with niggaz, 'cause I'm "Ether" to niggaz
Comb the earth 'til there's no one left
"If I Ruled the World" I summons all you weak rap niggaz to death

[Chorus: Nas (The Game)]
He a Compton-Compton O.G.
(Mix that with a QB-QB true G)
(What you got's) A concoction of some different ghetto blocks
(West Coast kill the tracks) East Coast gunshots

[Nas]
Yo, the Jordans sportin'
Come off the dice game with a fortune walkin', you a walkin' coffin'
The musket I tucked it, you bluff it I bust it
You're sideways talkin', so I lay often
I wait patient, to duct tape hatin'
Fuck ass niggaz, get bucked ass niggaz
Pluck ashes - of Cuban cigars, you foolin' with Nas
That's my name and I came with Rugers this time
And if I'm sane that "Soul Plane" movie's the bomb
Word to my mom's name tattooed to my arm
You can't revolve me, embalm me, calm me or harm me
Rob me or dodge these bullets I'm bustin'
See that's malarky you yappin'
I open up the tripod to put the gatling on, and I start clappin'
Nasty man, from baggin' grams and runnin' from cops
to a mill' on the hand, a mill' on the watch, I'm fuckin' with Doc

[Chorus #1]
Hustlers, dealers, drop-top riders
Make that cake, cop two five fivers
Pimps and players, platinum diamonds
East to West Coast we ridin'

[Chorus #2: Nas (The Game)]
He a Compton-Compton O.G.
(Mix that with a QB-QB true G)
(What you got's) A concoction of some different ghetto blocks
(West Coast kill the tracks) East Coast gunshots

 

 

"Hope"
(feat. Chrisette Michele)

[Intro: Chrisette Michele]
Hip-Hop - it will never die
Hip-Hop - Hip-Hop will never, never die

[Verse 1: Nas]
Ghetto niggaz struttin' with nothin' but dreams and Queens broke
Mack-10's, you can smell the PCP smoke
Mele Mel told it real in the music he wrote
Those were the days I remember
We used to be close, then I was nine, coldest winter I remember
Was slippin' in December, two feet of snow
Yeah, that's the East Coast, that black ice
Symbolized the rap life
It was slick and smooth
I understood I had to come from the hood
Doin' the Pee Wee Herman, the Smurf
Before them phones chirped
The block's drugs flowin', didn't have your own work
You had to have somebody else's, a small chrome on your pelvis
Starter Jacket, Blue Georgetown or Green Celtic
Your girl's too expensive, she wants shellfish
Red Lobster was poppin', standin' on that line forever
I wish somebody would step on my Bally leather's
Now it's whatever... hip-hop's forever
Kept my radio on 98 or BLS
Had a pre-pubescent lyric gift but niggaz never hear me spit
My little brother tried to warn 'em, I was a tornado comin'
He knew from inside, like the eye of a storm
And told my pops about it
He gave us tickets to that Wild Style flick
Double Trouble, retarded, we was the proudest
I never had a summer job
Sweepin' leaves, socks to my knees
Homemade shorts cutoff, Lee's
I ain't work a day in my life
Wipin' away eraser of the paper man
I'm just tryin' to say it right
Big radio, tape slowin' down
Lower the lights go, battery dead
I gotta freeze 'em 'til they ice cold
In the freezer later, I'm starin' at the speaker
Sunk in them 808's deeper, cleanin' my sneakers
Wit the bristles of a toothbrush, soap and water
I let the shoe strings soak in water...

[Chorus is sung over Nas outro]

[Chorus: Chrisette Michele]
Live hip-hop live, live hip-hop live
Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give
Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay
I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays

[Outro: Nas]
Ain't got nothin' to do wit old school, new school
Dirty South, West Coast, East Coast
This about us, this our thing, 'knaw'sayin'?
This came from the gut, from the blood, from the soul
Right here man, this is our thing man
You know, so I say what I say
And I say what I say, and I mean it
Y'all take it how you wanna take it
Cause if you're askin' - Why is hip-hop dead?
It's a pretty good chance you're the reason it died, man
It's a pretty good chance your lame ass, corny ass, is the reason it died, man
You don't give a fuck about, you don't know nothin' about it
You want this paper, be a hustler
You a hustler, you ain't a rapper
Get your paper man
YouknowwhatI'msayin, but this rap shit is real
Bitch, this shit is real, bitch, ha-ha

[Chorus: Chrisette Michele]
Live hip-hop live, (Stay) live hip-hop live
Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give
Stay hip-hop stay, (Live) stay hip-hop stay (Live)
I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays

Live hip-hop live, (Stay) live hip-hop live
Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give
Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay
I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays

 

 

 

 

I was young, I was surviving the times
Waiting for my moment, I was destined to shine
Little Ray had an NSX, I was hoping I'm next
Wanting bracelets, never had a rope on my neck
Unless I was holding Taiyeh chain--Rest In Peace
Even though that night you flipped on us
You warned us If you came back and we still on the corners,
We goners, moving on to...
Move your arm in your watch To another time on the block
'Cause this 40 Side Where they say Shorty rhyme
Tragedy he used to come through all the time
I'm talking Juice Crew, not what the word define
He had a sister named Erin, for sure was fine
That was my first crush; I bought my first mic
I wrote my first verse, I was about nine
I was about mine, fantasize house-buying
Met Paul, he wore some big glasses
Him and Melquan took me where G Rap lived
I was happy, just getting some answers
I ain't even know what a record advance was
I'm seeing hoes sex in the studio bathroom
With rap dudes, thinking wow she moved me
Same girl then, right now's a groupie
Back then, she was like the star in the movie
Large jewelry and expensive Gucci
Next stop, Paid In Full posse recruits me
Knew they were some millionaires, their ropes were dookie
Eric B man looking like touch-it-he-shoot-me
You see, every time Ra didn't show
I get to record demos at attempts to blow
I wonder could they tell, how did they know
Sixteen years later, here I go

[Chorus]
...

[ Surviving The Times lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
I'm with Akinyele in the street, trying to get us a deal
G Rap tried to get us to sign to Cold Chill
But Fly Ty didn't have the contract we wanted
Clark Kent just signed Das, he didn't want us
Russell said I sounded like G, the nigga fronted
Reef and Matty C offered me a little money
Shit a little funny, feel a little laughter
Rebel of Hip-Hop coming through a white rapper
My boy MC Serch nevertheless
Took me to Columbia, back then CBS
Chris Schwartz, RuffHouse, he was the best man
Now bugging because the label had just dropped Def Jam
Could you picture Russell needing a check, man
But he smart, he plotted a plan for Polygram
Life is ill, again life's a movie
Then, the roster's: Cypress Hill, Nas, and Fugees
Before I sold records, no promotion
The rap world like, what's all this commotion
Went plat', mad bottles I'm toasting
20/20 hindsight, but how did they know then

[Chorus]
...

Invincible, lyrical, miracle man, huh
But back to the matter at hand
'Cause ten years ago we all strived to be twenty-five
Some cats didn't make it alive
Dated some stars but respect their privacy
Copped mad cars, laying back in the driver's seat
Held myself down, just steering the wheel
Here I am, completed my whole record deal

 

 

 

 

Artist: Nas f/ Cee-Lo
Album: Rush Hour 3 OST
Song: Less Than an Hour

Lyrics :

[Cee-Lo (Nas)]
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la..
(Uh-oh, yeah)

[Nas]
Mr. International
The man centerfold women loathe
Voice bump out the Bose in a tinted Rolls
Craftiness, take a stab at it
Don't ask if Nasty's back at it
I don't run out of magic
Popular, box-cutter flow
Time is money; the watch cost dough
Shaking the dice, fragrances from some beautiful ladies
The lights, the ambiance, yeah, this is the life
The money, hotties on each arm--It's on
I party like a rap star, baby the facts are
The third time's a charm
So meet me by the Eiffel Tour
Bring a bottle of Dom

[Cee-Lo]
I am here (I am here)
This is the place (This is the place)
The atmosphere of espionage at expensive tape
And each one that I see is an unfamiliar face
So I guess I'll just cut straight through the chase
And before I could say the name of whom I came to see
Someone suspicion then came to me
I'm so close and I've come so far
A glass of red wine sits from the women at the end of the bar
I love to talk to you - but I don't have the time
She looks like the prettiest part of a perfect crime
Ohh if I could I could I'd put a picket fence around a wild flower
But darling I have +Less Than an Hour+
(I.... have +Less Than an Hour+)
(I.... have +Less Than an Hour+)
Hmmmm... Ohhhh... Funny how time flies when you're having fun
(Nas: Yeah, let' em know) But I got to do what must be done

[Nas]
You on a winning streak
You survived the killer streets
Now you at the crap table, where the real villains meet
Number seven might get you to Heaven
You break the bank, just might make you a legend
It's after eleven, you playing against a poker face
Genie eyes, light green, sipping on Bellini's
You play your cards right, she'll let you touch
She'll be a devil in disguise, lady incubus
Better know who to trust
She might roll with thugs who roll bodies up in Asian rugs
I'ma rush up and move on 'em, put the uz' on 'em
The crews do something new, inform me

[Cee-Lo]
(I.... have +Less Than an Hour+)
Ohhh... time will wait baby
(I.... have +Less Than an Hour+)
Ew-ohhh.... ewwwwwwwww.... hmmmmm..
I'm in the pursuit of my own personal power
And I only have an hour

 

 

 

 

 

"It Ain't Hard To Tell"

It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele
My mic check is life or death, breathin a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps
Deep like The Shinin', sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a uzi on the island in my army jacket linin
Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazin
Cause in my physical, I can express through song
Delete stress like Motrin, then extend strong
I drank Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell

The buddha monk's in your trunk, turn the bass up
Not stories by Aesop, place your loot up, parties I shoot up
Nas, I analyze, drop a jew-el, inhale from the L
School a fool well, you feel it like braille
It ain't hard to tell, I kick a skill like Shaquille holds a pill
Vocabulary spills I'm +Ill+
plus +Matic+, I freak beats slam it like Iron Shiek
Jam like a tech with correct techniques
So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me
Scannin while you're plannin ways to sabotage me
I leave em froze like her-on in your nose
Nas'll rock well, it ain't hard to tell

This rhythmatic explosion, is what your frame of mind has chosen
I'll leave your brain stimulated, niggaz is frozen
Speak with criminal slang, begin like a violin
End like Leviathan, it's deep well let me try again
Wisdom be leakin out my grapefruit troop
I dominate break loops, givin mics men-e-straul cycles
Street's disciple, I rock beats that's mega trifle
And groovy but smoother than moves by Villanova
You're still a soldier, I'm like Sly Stone in Cobra
Packin like a rasta in the weed spot
Vocals'll squeeze glocks, MC's eavesdrop
Though they need not to sneak
My poetry's deep, I never fell
Nas's raps should be locked in a cell
It ain't hard to tell

 

 

"Life's A Bitch"
(feat. AZ the Visualiza)

[A] Aiyyo, wassup wassup let's keep it real son
Count this money, yaknowhatI'msayin?
[N] Yea yea
[A] Aiyyo, put the Grant's over there in the safe yaknowhatI'msayin?
[N] Yea yea
[A] Cause we spendin these Jackson's
The Washington's go to wifey, you know how that go
[N] I'm sayin, that's what this is all about right?
Clothes, bankrolls, and hoes yaknowhatI'msayin?
Yo then what man, what?? [echoes]

[Verse One: AZ the Visualiza]
Visualizin the realism of life and actuality
Fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary
And my mentality is, money orientated
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it
cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters
But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners
Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin
Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition
Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us
Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough
so, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors
me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers
Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
Cause life's a bitch and then you die

[Chorus: AZ the Visualiza]
Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we get high
Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we puff lye
Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we get high
Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we puff lye
[--> chorus #1 echoes at the end]

Cause you never know when you're gonna go
Life's a bitch and then you die
[--> chorus #2 includes these lines, echoes at the end]

[Verse Two: Nas]
I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing
The essence of adolescent leaves my body now I'm fresh in
My physical frame is celebrated cause I made it
One quarter through life some God-ly like thing created
Got rhymes 365 days annual plus some
Load up the mic and bust one, cuss while I puffs from
my skull cause it's pain in my brain vein money maintain
Don't go against the grain simple and plain
When I was young at this I used to do my thing hard
Robbin foreigners take they wallets they jewels and rip they green cards
Dipped to the projects flashin my quick cash
and got my first piece of ass smokin blunts with hash
Now it's all about cash in abundance, niggaz I used to run with
is rich or doin years in the hundreds
I switched my motto -- instead of sayin fuck tomorrow
That buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto
Once I stood on the block, loose cracks produce stacks
I cooked up and cut small pieces to get my loot back
Time is Illmatic keep static like wool fabric
Pack a four-matic that crack your whole cabbage

[Chorus]

[Olu Dara plays trumpet until fade]

 

 

 

Intro: Nas

Yeah yeah, aiyyo black it's time (word?)
(Word, it's time nigga?)
Yeah, it's time man (aight nigga, begin)
Yeah, straight out the fuckin dungeons of rap
Where fake niggaz don't make it back
I don't know how to start this shit, yo, now

Verse One: Nas

Rappers I monkey flip em with the funky rhythm I be kickin
Musician, inflictin composition
of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin cocaine
Holdin a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now
Bulletholes left in my peepholes
I'm suited up in street clothes
Hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes
Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay
I keep some E&J, sittin bent up in the stairway
Or either on the corner bettin grands with the celo champs
Laughin at baseheads, tryin to sell some broken amps
G-Packs get off quick, forever niggaz talk shit
Remeniscing about the last time the Task Force flipped
Niggaz be runnin through the block shootin
Time to start the revolution, catch a body head for hell
Once they caught us off guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and
I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
Picked the Mac up, told brothers, "Back up," the Mac spit
Lead was hittin niggaz one ran, I made him backflip
Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look
Gave another squeeze heard it click yo, my shit is stuck
Tried to cock it, it wouldn't shoot now I'm in danger
Finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber
So now I'm jetting to the building lobby
and it was full of children probably couldn't see as high as I be
(So whatchu sayin?) It's like the game ain't the same
Got youngin' niggaz pullin the triggers bringing fame to they name
and claim some corners, crews without guns are goners
In broad daylight, stickup kids, they run up on us
Fo'-fives and gauges, Macs in fact
Same niggaz'll catch a back to back, snatchin yo' cracks in black
Yo there's a snitch on the block gettin niggaz knocked
So hold your stash 'til the coke price drop
I know this crackhead, who said she gotta smoke nice rock
And if it's good she'll bring ya custom

 

 

 

"One Love"

[Verse One]
Whattup kid? I know shit is rough doing your bid
When the cops came you shoulda slid to my crib
Fuck it black, no time for looking back it's done
Plus congratulations you know you got a son
I heard he looks like you, why don't your lady write you?
Told her she should visit, that's when she got hyper
Flippin, talk about he acts too rough
He didn't listen he be riffin' while I'm telling him stuff
I was like yeah, shorty don't care, she a snake too
Fucking with the niggaz from that fake crew that hate you
But yo, guess who got shot in the dome-piece?
Jerome's niece, on her way home from Jones Beach - it's bugged
Plus little Rob is selling drugs on the dime
Hangin out with young thugs that all carry 9's
At night time there's more trife than ever
Whattup with Cormega, did you see 'em, are y'all together?
If so then hold the fort down, represent to the fullest
Say whassup to Herb, Ice and Bullet
I left a half a hundred in your commissary
You was my nigga when push came to shove
One what? one love

[Verse Two]
Dear Born, you'll be out soon, stay strong
Out in New York the same shit is goin on
The crack-heads stalking, loud-mouths is talking
Hold, check out the story yesterday when I was walking
The nigga you shot last year tried to appear like he hurtin' something
Word to mother, I heard him fronting
And he be pumping on your block
Your man gave him your glock
And now they run together, what up son, whatever
Since I'm on the streets I'ma put it to a cease
But I heard you blew a nigga with a ox for the phone piece
Whylin on the Island, but now with Elmira
Better chill cause them niggaz will put that ass on fire
Last time you wrote you said they tried you in the showers
But maintain when you come home the corner's ours
On the reels, all these crab niggaz know the deal
When we start the revolution all they probably do is squeal
But chill, see you on the next V-I
I gave your mom dukes loot for kicks, plus sent you flicks
Your brother's buck whylin' in four maine he wrote me
He might beat his case, 'til he come home I play it low key
So stay civilised, time flies
Though incarcerated your mind (dies)
I hate it when your mum cries
It kinda wants to make me murder, for real-a
I've even got a mask and gloves to bust slugs for one love

[Verse Three]
Sometimes I sit back with a Buddha sack
Mind's in another world thinking how can we exist through the facts
Written in school text books, bibles, et cetera
Fuck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er
So I be ghost from my projects
I take my pen and pad for the week
And hittin nails while I'm sleepin
A two day stay, you may say I need the time alone
To relax my dome, no phone, left the 9 at home
You see the streets have me stressed somethin terrible
Fuckin with the corners have a nigga up in Belleville
Or h.d.m., hit with numbers from 8 to 10
A future in a maximum state pen is grim
So I comes back home, nobody's helpin shorty doo-wop
Rollin two Phillies together in the Bridge we called 'em oowops
He said, "Nas, niggaz could be bustin' off the roof
So I wear a bullet proof and pack a black tres-deuce"
He inhaled so deep, shut his eyes like he was sleep
Started coughing when I peeked to watch me speak
I sat back like the mack, my army suit was black
We was chillin' on these benches where he pumped his loose cracks
I took an l when he passed it, this little bastard
Keeps me blasted he starts talkin mad shit
I had to school him, told him don't let niggaz fool him
'cos when the pistol blows that's when a murder be the cool one
Tough luck when niggaz are struck, families fucked up
Could've caught your man, but didn't look when you bucked up
Mistakes happen, so take heed never bust up
At the crowd catch him solo, make the right man bleed
Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul
Only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style
Then I rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes
Then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose
And told my little man that I'm a go cyprose
There's some jewels in the skull that he can sell if he chose
Words of wisdom from nas try to rise up above
Keep an eye out for jake shorty what
One love

 

 

 

"If I Ruled The World"
(feat. Lauryn Hill)

[Intro: Nas (Lauryn Hill singing in the background)]

Life..... I wonder....
Will it take me under.... I don't know

[Verse One: Nas]

Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassin
Imagine going to court with no trial
Lifestyle cruising blue behind my waters
No welfare supporters more conscious of the way we raise our daughters
Days are shorter, nights are colder
Feeling like life is over, these snakes strike like a cobra
The world's hot my son got not evidently
It's elementary, they want us all gone eventually
Trooping out of state for a plate knowledge
of coke was cooked without the garbage we'd all have the top dollars
Imagine everybody flashin, fashion
Designer clothes, lacing your click up with diamond vogues
Your people holdin dough, no parole
No rubbers, go in raw imagine law with no undercovers
Just some thoughts for the mind
I take a glimpse into time
watch the blimp read "The World Is Mine"

[Chorus: Lauryn Hill, Nas]

If I ruled the world
Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls
Could it be, if you could
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world
Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

[Verse Two: Nas]

The way to be, paradise like relaxin black, latino and anglo-saxon
Armani exchange the reins
Cash, Lost Tribe of Shabazz, free at last
Brand new whips to crash then we laugh in the iller path
The Villa house is for the crew, how we do
Trees for breakfast, dime sexes and Benz stretches
So many years of depression make me vision
The better livin, type of place to raise kids in
Open they eyes to the lies history's told foul
But I'm as wise as the old owl, plus the Gold Child
Seeing things like I was controlling, click rollin
Trickin six digits on kicks and still holdin
Trips to Paris, I civilized every savage
Gimme one shot I turn trife life to lavish
Political prisonner set free, stress free
No work release purple M3's and jet skis
Feel the wind breeze in West Indies
I make Coretta Scott-King mayor the cities and reverse themes to Willies
It sounds foul but every girl I meet to go downtown
I'd open every cell in Attica send em to Africa

[Chorus: Lauryn Hill, Nas]

If I ruled the world
Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls
Could it be, if you could
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world
Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

And then we'll walk right up to the sun
Hand in hand
We'll walk right up to the sun
We won't land
We'll walk right up to the sun
Hand in hand
We'll walk right up to the sun
We won't land

[Verse Three: Nas]

You'd love to hear the story how the thugs live in worry
Duck down in car seats, heat's mandatory
Runnin from Jake, gettin chased, hunger for papes
These are the breaks many mistakes go down out of state
Wait, I had to let it marinate we carry weight
Tryin to get laced, flip the ace stack the safe
Millionaire plan to keep the gat with the cop camera
Makin moves in Atlanta, back and forth scrambler
Cause you could have all the chips, be poor or rich
Still nobody want a nigga havin shit
If I ruled the world and everything in it, sky's the limit
I push a Q-45 Infinit
It wouldn't be no such thing as jealousies or B Felonies
Strictly living longevity to the destiny
I thought I'd never see but reality struck
Better find out before your time's out, what the fuck??

[Chorus: Lauryn Hill, Nas]

If I ruled the world
Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love em em baby
Black diamonds and pearls
Could it be, if you could
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world
Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

If I ruled the world, if I ruled, if I ruled
Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, if I ruled, if I ruled
I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls, black dimaonds
Could it be, if you could
black diamonds
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world
Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

If I ruled the world, if I ruled
if I ruled, I'd free all my sons
black diamonds, I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls, if I ruled
If I ruled the world

If I ruled the world
I love em love em baby!!

 

 

street dreams(remix)

(NAS)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Low profile, rap style
slick as new now
give the crew pounds
every time we cover them grounds
still surviving but there's a few down
back in the essence
I'm asking questions on the phone
with jail adolescence
crying confession, the system's supplying the pressure
my mind is guessing
Is living and dying a lesson
but not to be obliged with the mirage
of cars taking you off track
from with the gods focus on hard
Laid up smoking cigars
motioning maids to bring me toast and eggs
kosher, Ice chokers and wolves to smoke ya
my wisdom culture lives in ultra madness
devoted coach bag bitch
broke the average nigga's hopes to get mad rich
But what's the purpose
only the gods can watch the Earth twist
I'm physically trapped down on the surface
with all the crack merchants
snakes and serpents
foul jakes the searches
clowns with four pounds this ain't a circus.

Chorus (Trey Songz)

Street dreamer
Oh mercy mercy me
Ain't nothing I got for ya
Situations get heavy
Heavy, heavy
Trying to be a gangster.

(NAS)!!!!!!!!!!!!
black clouds over the hood
I'm on the corner with the thugs
late night under the moon
as they assume I'm slanging drugs
cause I'm hooded up
thought a G a night wasn't good enough
pushed my luck
yo they had a brother put in cuffs
Luckily, made it out of court comfortably
judge said I need a job ain't nothing coming free
could've got a one to three
I try to school these shorties under me
but they can't see
From life to death
so know we back to where we never left the ghetto
It's a damn shame
knowing it's a man's game
shorty thinks it's time to make ya plans change
all that running round trying to chase
what's already here - been there
it's going no where
pops told me knuckle up - no fear
I wish some of these killings
they could be prevented
whatever happens it was written
meaning God meant it
but during ya life you put ya heart in it
even though it seems we being targeted
let that brother R hit it

Chorus (extended)

(Trey Songz)

Sort of wild, since a child
hope was all we had
dreamt of plushed out pads
complaning the mental straining
how many in my crew is into gaining?
subtract the weak links up out the chaining
rise it start reigning
Blasphemy using Nas name in vain
some claim supreme being
yet they lied in his name
I tried to learn the game
and the only thing I found incredible
everything I tried to learn
see, I already knew
And it's embedded in my heart now
so I can sit back, count a stack
and play my part now
I saw my life flash in front of my eyes
he wore disguise
put a gun to me hungry he
went on to chastize
That's Nas ain't it
made it rich from entertainment
fresh wally's painted
as he told the kid he came with
my first thought was how the game flip
Yo perhaps it was somebody I smacked
drunk in a party on yak
or was I marked for a contract
for some foul act
i did a while back or either beyond that
he got me laying face flat
saying my grace black
woke up in a cold sweat
Yo, I hate that, nightmares
feeling real. word to will. My air like I lost in the battlefield
that's why I hit the mic with mad appeal
grab ya shield and meet ya maker
The Queens niggas die for paper
these the things the street dreams will take ya.

Chorus

 

 

 

"Hate Me Now"
(feat. Puff Daddy)

[Puff] Escobar season has returned...

[Nas]
It's been a long time, been a long time comin
Looks like the death of me now
But you know, there's no turning back now
This is what makes me - this is what I am

[Puff] Feel me? Let's go

[Base Chorus: Puff Daddy]
You can hate me now.. but I won't stop now..
Cause I can't stop now.. you can hate me now..
But I won't stop now.. cause I can't stop now..
You can hate me now.. you can hate me NOWWWW..

[1st Chorus: add Nas after each pause]
Q.B., real niggas, Bravehearts, c'mon

[1st Chorus: after Nas add Puff Daddy ad lib]
Well you hate me I'm gon' hate you too
It's as simple as that
Die motherfucker die motherfucker die
You don't give a fuck I don't give a fuck
Go down any way you want it to go down (do it now)
Weak, jealous motherfuckers (do it now, do it now)
Fuck y'all!

[Verse 1]
Don't hate me, hate the money I see, clothes that I buy
Ice that I wear, clothes that I try, close your eyes
Picture me rollin, sixes, money foldin
Bitches honies that swollen to riches, Nas get in ya
Most critically acclaimed Pulitzer, prize winner
Best storyteller thug narrator my style's greater
Model dater, big threat to a lot of you haters
Commentators ringside try watchin my paper
Almost a decade, quite impressive
Most of the best is in the essence
for this rap shit that I stand for
Expandin more to the big screen, Bill Gates dreams
But it seems you'd rather see me in jail with state greens
Want me off the scene fast, but good things last
like your favorite MC still makin some mean cash
First rapper to bring a platinum plaque, back to the projects
but you still wanna hate, be my guest, I suggest

[Puff Daddy]
Money is power motherfucker
I got millions of thugs on salary, bitch (do it now)

[Base Chorus]

[2nd Chorus: add Puff Daddy after each pause]
I won't stop
I can't stop
You can hate me
I hate you too
You can hate me now..
You can hate me now..

[Nas] Do it now, I told you do it now
[Puff] Let's go

[Verse 2]
You wanna hate me then hate me; what can I do
but keep gettin money, funny I was just like you
I had to hustle hard never give up, until I made it
Now y'all sayin that's a clever nigga, nuttin to play with
Hate on me, I blew but I'm the same ol G
People warn me, when you're on top there's envy
Took my niggas out the hood, but you doubt on us
Sayin we left the hood but can't get it out of us
My bad, should I step out my shoes, give 'em to you?
Here's my cars and my house, you can live in that too
Criticize when I flow for the streets, hate my dress code
Gucci this, Fendi that, what you expect hoe?
Nickname Esco', took this game to its threshold
Best flow I bet the whole U.S. know
Try to make it like you the realest, but who the illest?
Think we all know the answer to that, cause niggas feel this right

[Puff Daddy]
You think I'ma come this far, and let you niggas stop me now?
I hate you too!! (Do it now!)

[Base Chorus]

[3rd Chorus: add Puff Daddy after each pause]
I won't stop
I can't stop
You can hate me
I hate you too
You can hate me now..
You can hate me now..

[Puff] I like this.. I like the way this feels

[Verse 3]
It's a thin line between paper and hate
friends and snakes, nine millis and thirty-eights
Hell or the pearly gates; I was destined to come
Predicted, blame God, he blew breath in my lungs
Second to none, wicked turn wives to widows
Shoot through satin pillows, the desolate one
Took a little time to claim my spot
Chairman of the board until this game stop, and I side with the Lord
Ride for the cause while drivin niggas shot at my doors
Plottin I'm sure to catch me with they glocks to my jaws
Tried, stickin me up, but I flipped on these ducks (you tried)
Instead of me, ambulances were picking them up (that's what you get)
Niggas fear what they don't understand, hate what they can't conquer
Guess it's just the fury of man
Became a monster, on top of the world, never fallin
I'm as real as they come, from day one, forever ballin
C'mon

[Puff Daddy]
You ain't never seen a nigga like me, ever in your life
And that's what you can't understand!

[Base Chorus]

[4th Chorus: start w/ Puff Daddy, then after each pause]
You can hate me now
I won't stop
I can't stop
You can hate me
I hate you too
You can hate me now..
You can hate me now..

[Puff] You can hate me now
[Nas] C'mon niggas
[Puff] But I won't stop now
[Nas] Do it now! Get this shit over with
[Puff] But I won't stop now..
[Nas] It ain't gon' never stop niggas
[Puff] I can't stop..

 

 

 

"One Mic"

[speaking softly, gradually getting louder]
One time.. yeah.. yeah..

Yo, all I need is one mic, one beat, one stage
One nigga front, my face on the front page
Only if I had one gun, one girl and one crib
One God to show me how to do things his son did
Pure, like a cup of virgin blood; mixed with
151, one sip'll make a nigga flip
Writin names on my hollow tips, plottin shit
Mad violence who I'm gon' body, this hood politics
Ackowledge it, leave bodies chopped in garbages
Seeds watch us, grow up and try to follow us
Police watch us {*siren*} roll up and try knockin us
One knee I ducked, could it be my time is up
But my luck, I got up, the cop shot again
Bus stop glass bursts, a fiend drops his Heineken
Richochetin between the spots that I'm hidin in
Blackin out as I shoot back, fuck gettin hit! [more sirens]
This is my hood I'ma rep, to the death of it
'til everybody come home, little niggaz is grown
Hoodrats, don't abortion your womb, we need more warriors soon
Sip from the star sun and the moon
In this life of police chases street sweepers and coppers
Stick-up kids with no conscience, leavin victims with doctors
IF YOU REALLY THINK YOU READY TO DIE, WITH NINES OUT
THIS IS WHAT NAS IS BOUT, NIGGA THE TIME IS NOW!

[whispering again]
Yo, all I need is one mic..
All I need is one mic.. that's all I need
All I need is one mic.. all I need niggaz
All I need is one mic.. yeah

[gradually getting louder]
All I need is one blunt, one page, and one pen
One prayer - tell God forgive for one sin
Matter fact maybe more than one, look back
at all the hatred against me, fuck alla them
Jesus died at age 33, there's thirty-three shots
from twin glocks there's sixteen apiece, that's thirty-two
Which means, one of my guns was holdin 17
Twenty-seven hit your crew, six went into you
Everybody gotta die sometime; hope your funeral
never gets shot up, bullets tear through the innocent
Nothin is fair, niggaz roll up, shootin from wheelchairs
My heart is racin, tastin revenge in the air
I let the shit slide for too many years, too many times
Now I'm strapped with a couple of macs, too many nines
If y'all niggaz really wit me get busy load up the semis
Do more than just hold it explode the clip until you empty
There's nothin in our way - they bust, we bust, they rust, we rust
Led flyin, feel it? I feel it in my gut
THAT WE TAKE THESE BITCHES TO WAR, LIE 'EM DOWN
CAUSE WE STRONGER NOW MY NIGGA THE TIME IS NOW!!

[whispering again]
All I need is one mic.. that's all I need, that's all I need
All I need is one mic.. there's nuttin else in the world
All I need is one mic.. that's all a nigga need to do his thing y'know
All I need is one mic..

[starting loud this time, getting quieter]
ALL I NEED IS ONE LIFE, ONE TRY, ONE BREATH I'M ONE MAN
WHAT I STAND FOR SPEAKS FOR ITSELF, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND
Or wanna see me on top, too egotistical
Talkin all that slick shit, the same way these bitches do
Wonder what my secrets is, niggaz'll move on you
only if they know, what your weakness is I have none
Too late to grab guns I'm blastin cause I'm a cool nigga
Thought I wouldn't have that ass done? Fooled you niggaz
What you call a infinite brawl, eternal souls clashin
War gets deep, some beef is everlastin
Complete with thick scars, brothers knifin each other
up in prison yards, drama, where does it start?
You know the block was ill as a youngster
Every night it was like a, cop would get killed body found in the dumpster
For real a hustler, purchased my Range, niggaz throwin dirt on my name
Jealous cause fiends got they work and complain
Bitches left me cause they thought I was finished
Shoulda knew she wasn't true she came to me when her man caught a sentence
Diamonds are blindin, I never make the same mistakes
Movin with a change of pace, lighter load, see now the king is straight
Swellin my melon cause none of these niggaz real
Heard he was, tellin police, how can a kingpin squeal?
This is crazy, I'm on the right track I'm finally found
You need some soul searchin, the time is now

All I need is one mic.. yeah, yeah yeah yeah
All I need is one mic.. that's all I ever needed in this world, fuck cash
All I need is one mic.. fuck the cars, the jewelry
All I need is one mic.. to spread my voice to the whole world

 

 

 

 

                                                                     got ur self a...

 

[Intro]
Woke up this mornin', (yeah)
You got yo'self a gun (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Got yo'self a gun

[Nas]
Yo, I'm livin' in this time behind enemy lines
So...

[Chorus]
I got mine, I hope you (got yo'self a gun)
You from the hood I hope you (got yo'self a gun)
You want beef? I hope ya (got yo'self a gun)
And when I see you I'ma take what I want
So, you tried to front, hope ya (got yo'self a gun)
You ain't real, hope ya (got yo'self a gun)

[Verse 1]
My, first album had no famous guest appearances
The outcome: I'm crowned the best lyricist
Many years on this professional level
Why would you question who's better? The world is still mine
Tattoos real with "God's Son" across the belly
The boss of rap, you saw me in "Belly" with thoughts like that
To take it back to Africa, I did it with Biggie
Me and Tupac were soldiers of the same struggle
You lames should huddle, your team's shook
Y'all feel the wrath of a killer, 'cause this is my football field
Throwin' passes from a barrel, shoulder pads apparel
But the Q.B. don't stand for no quarterback
Every word is like a sawed-off blast, 'cause y'all all soft
And I'm the black hearse that came to haul y'all ass in
It's for the hood by the corner store
Many try, many die, come at Nas if you want a war, get it bloody, uh

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
Yo, I'm the N the A to the S-I-R
And If I wasn't, I must've been Escobar
You know the kid got his chipped tooth fixed
Hair parted with a barber's preciseness; Bravehearted for life
It's the return of the Golden Child, son of a blue's player
So who are you playa? Y'all awaited the true savior
Puffin' that tropical, cups of that Vodka too
Papi chu', tore up, wake up in a hospital
Throw up? Never, 'member I do this through righteous steps
You Judists thought I was gone, so in light of my death
Y'all been all happy-go-lucky, bunch of sambos
Call me "God's Son", with my pants low
I don't die slow, put them rags up like Petey Pablo
This is Nasdaq dough, in my Nascar with this Nas flow
Flip the beat back, now it's all reppin'
Hit the record sto', never let me go, get my whole collection, yo

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
It's, the, return of the Prince, the boss
This is real hardcore, Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit's soft
Sip Cris', get chips, wrist gliss, I floss
Stick shift, look sick up in that Boxter Porsche
With the top cut off, rich kids go and cop The Source
They don't know about the blocks I'm on
And everybody wanna know where the kid go? Where he rest at?
Where he shop at and dress at?
Know he got dough, where does he live? Is he still in the bridge?
Does he really know how ill that he is?
Got all of y'all watchin' my moves, my watch and my jewels
Hop in my coupe, dodge interviews like that
It's not only my jewels, ice anything, plenty chains
Look at my tennis shoes, I iced that
Who am I? The back-twister, lingerie-ripper
Automatic leg-spreader, quicker brain-getter
Keepin' it gangsta wit' ya, uh

[Chorus 2x]

 

 

 

 

 

"Made You Look"

[shotgun blast]
[old school break beat, thugs chant "Bravehearts!" 7X]

[Verse 1: Nas]
Uh, uh, uh, now let's get it all in perspective
For all y'all enjoyment, a song y'all can step wit'
Y'all appointed me to bring rap justice
But I ain't five-O, y'all know it's Nas yo
Grey goose and a whole lotta hydro
Only describe us as soldier survivors
Stay laced in the best, well dressed with finesse
In a white tee lookin for wifie
Thug girl who fly and talks so nicely
Put her in the coupe so she can feel the nice breeze
We can drive thru the city no doubt, but don't say my car's topless
Say the titties is out, newness here's the anthem
Put your hand up that you shoot with, count your loot wit'
Push the pool stick in your new crib, same hand that you hoop with
Swing around like you stu-pid, king'a the town, yeah I been that
You know I click-clack where you and yor men's at
Do the Smurf, do the Wop, Baseball Bat
Rooftop like we bringing '88 back

[Chorus: Nas]
They shootin'! -- Aw made you look
You a slave to a page in my rhyme book
Gettin' Big/"big" money, playboy your time's up
Where them gangstas? Where them dimes at?

They shootin'! -- Aw made you look
You a slave to a page in my rhyme book
Gettin' Big/"big" money, playboy your time's up
Where them gangstas at? Where them dimes at?

[Verse 2: Nas]
This ain't rappin, this is Street-Hop
Now get up off your ass like your seat's hot
My live niggaz lit up the reefer
Trunk'a the car we got the streetsweeper
Don't start none, won't be none
No reason for your mans to panic
You don't wanna see no ambulances
Knock a pimp's drink down in his pimp cup
That's the way you get Timberland'd up
Let the music diffuse all the tension
Ball or convention, free admission
Hustlers, dealers and killers'ca move swift
Girls get close, you'ca feel where the tool's kept
All my just-comin' homies, parolees
Get money, leave the beef alone slowly
Get out my face, you people so phoney
Pull out my waist, the eagle fo-forty

[Chorus]
[thugs chanting "Bravehearts!" 4X over DJ scratching gunshots]

[Verse 3: Nas]
I see niggaz runnin', yo my mood is real rude
I lay you out, show you what steel do
Mobsters don't box, my pump shot obliges
Every invitation to fight you punk hazas
Like Pun said, "You ain't even en mi clasa"
Maybach Benz, back seat, tv plasma
Ladies lookin for athletes or rappers
Whatever you choose, whatever you do
Make sure he a thug and intelligent too
Like a real thoroughbred is, show me love
Lemme feel how the head is
Females whose the sexiest is always the nastiest
[record scratched off, Nas rhymes acapella]
And I like a little sassiness, a lotta class
Mommy reach in your bag, pass the fifth
I'm a leader, at last this a don you wit'
My nines'll spit, niggaz loose consciousness

 

 

"I Can"

[Kids]
I know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I'll be where I wanna be (I'll be where I wanna be)

[Nas]
Be, B-Boys and girls, listen up
You can be anything in the world, in God we trust
An architect, doctor, maybe an actress
But nothing comes easy it takes much practice
Like, I met a woman who's becoming a star
She was very beautiful, leaving people in awe
Singing songs, Lina Horn, but the younger version
Hung with the wrong person
Got her strung on that
Heroin, cocaine, sniffin up drugs all in her nose...
Coulda died, so young, now looks ugly and old
No fun cause now when she reaches for hugs people hold they breath
Cause she smells of corrosion and death
Watch the company you keep and the crowd you bring
Cause they came to do drugs and you came to sing
So if you gonna be the best, I'ma tell you how,
Put your hands in the air, and take a vow

[Chorus - 2x (Nas and Kids)]
I know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I'll be where I wanna be (I'll be where I wanna be)

[Nas]
Be, B-Boys and girls, listen again
This is for grown looking girls who's only ten
The ones who watch videos and do what they see
As cute as can be, up in the club with fake ID
Careful, 'fore you meet a man with HIV
You can host the TV like Oprah Winfrey
Whatever you decide, be careful, some men be
Rapists, so act your age, don't pretend to be
Older than you are, give yourself time to grow
You thinking he can give you wealth, but so
Young boys, you can use a lot of help, you know
You thinkin life's all about smokin weed and ice
You don't wanna be my age and can't read and write
Begging different women for a place to sleep at night
Smart boys turn to men and do whatever they wish
If you believe you can achieve, then say it like this

[Chorus]

[Nas]
Be, be, 'fore we came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
To learn from black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian Arabs and gave them gold when
Gold was converted to money it all changed
Money then became empowerment for Europeans
The Persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings, and everything sacred
Africa was almost robbed naked
Slavery was money, so they began making slave ships
Egypt was the place that Alexander the Great went
He was so shocked at the mountains with black faces
Shot up they nose to impose what basically
Still goes on today, you see?
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe
Ghetto children, do your thing
Hold your head up, little man, you're a king
Young Princess when you get your wedding ring
Your man is saying "She's my queen"

[Chorus]

Save the music y'all, save the music y'all
Save the music y'all, save the music y'all
Save the music

 

"Bridging The Gap"

[Nas talking]
"The light is there."

[Intro: Olu Dara singing]
See I come from Mississippi
I was young and runnin' wild
Ended up in New York City, where I had my first child
I named the boy Nasir, all the boys call him Nas
I told him as a youngster, he'll be the greatest man alive

[Verse 1: Nas]
Let's go!... Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey --
Tribrary of these rap skits, styles I mastered
Many brothers snatched it up and tried to match it
But I'm still number one, everyday real
Speak what I want, I don't care what y'all feel
'Cause I'm my own master, my Pop told me be your own boss
Keep integrity at every cost, and his home was Natchez Mississippi
Did it like Miles and Dizzy, now we gettin' busy
Bridging The Gap from the blues, to jazz, to rap
The history of music on this track
Born in the game, discovered my father's music
Like Prince searchin' through boxes of Purple Rain
But my Minneapolis was The Bridge, home of the Superkids
Some are well-known, some doin' bids
I mighta ended up on the wrong side of the tracks
If Pops wouldn't've pulled me back an said yo
[Olu Dara singing]
Greatest man alive (Nas: Yeah, turn it up!)
Gre-Gre-Gre-Gre-Greatest man alive!

[Verse 2: Nas]
The blues came from gospel, gospel from blues
Slaves are harmonizin' them ah's and ooh's
Old school, new school, know school rules
All these years I been voicin' my blues
I'm a artist from the start, Hip-Hop guided my heart
Graffiti on the wall, coulda ended in Spoffard, juvenile delinquent
But Pops gave me the right type'a tools to think with
Books to read, like X and stuff
'Cause the schools said the kids had dyslexia
In art class I was a compulsive sketcher of
Teachers in my homeroom, I drew pix to mess them up
'Cause none'a them would like my style
Read more books than the curriculum profile
Said, "Mr. Jones please come get your child
'Cause he's writin' mad poems and his verses are wild"
[Olu Dara singing]
Greatest man ? The great-greatest man alive

[Verse 3: Nas]
Hey-Hey-Hey -- My Poppa was not a Rollin' Stone
He been around the world blowin' his horn, still he came home
Then he got grown, changed his name to Olu
Come on, tell 'em 'bout the places you gone to
[Olu Dara singing]
I been to Saudi Arabia, Mozambique
Madagascar, Paris, Greece
The Middle Africa is where we lived
Better known as Queenbridge
[Nas]
Nas, Nas you don't stop
Olu Dara in the house, you don't stop
Muddy Waters' Howling Wolf you don't stop
From the Blues to Street Hop you don't stop
Tell 'em Pop

[Outro: Olu Dara singing / Nas adlibbing]
See I come from Mississippi (Let 'em know)
I was young and runnin' wild (Runnin' wild)
Ended up in New York City (Yeah!)
Where I had my first child (That's me)
I named the boy Nasir (Yeah, Daddy!)
All the boys call him Nas (Luh ya, boy)
I told him as a youngster
He'll be the greatest man alive (You the greatest, Pop)
Greatest man alive (You the greatest, Pop)
Gre-Gre-Gre-Gre-Greatest man alive!
Rest In Peace Ray Charles

 

 

"Halftime"

(Right..) (Right..)
Check me out y'all, Nasty Nas in your area
About to cause mass hysteria

[Nas]
Before a blunt, I take out my fronts
Then I start to front, matter of fact, I be on a manhunt
You couldn't catch me in the streets without a ton of reefer
That's like Malcolm X, catchin the Jungle Fever
King poetic, too much flavor, I'm major
Atlanta ain't Brave-r, I'll pull a number like a pager
Cause I'm am ace when I face the bass
40-side is the place that is giving me grace
Now wait, another dose and you might be dead
And I'm a Nike head, I wear chains that excite the feds
And ain't a damn thing gonna change
I'ma performer (?) show the mic warmer was born to gain
Nas, why did you do it?
You know you got the mad fat fluid when you rhyme, it's halftime

(Right..) It's halftime
(Right..) Aiyyo it's halftime
(Right..) It's halftime
(Right..) Yeah, it's about halftime
This is how it feel, check it out, how it feel

[Nas]
It's like that, you know it's like that
I got it hemmed, now you never get the mic back
When I attack, there ain't an army that could strike back
So I react never calmly on a hype track
I set it off with my own rhyme
Cause I'm as ill as a convict who kills for phone time
I'm max like cassettes, I flex like sex
in your stereo sets, Nas will catch wreck
I used to hustle, now all I do is relax and strive
When I was young, I was a fan of the Jackson 5
I drop jewels, wear jewels, hope to never run it
With more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach
Nasty Nas has to rise cause I'm wise
This is exercise 'til the microphone dies
Back in eighty-three I was an MC sparking
But I was too scared to grab the mic's in the park and
kick my little raps cause I thought niggaz wouldn't understand
And now in every jam I'm the fuckin man
I rap in front of more niggaz than in the slave ships
I used to watch C.H.I.P.S., now I load glock clips
I got to have it, I miss Mr. Magic
Versatile, my style switches like a faggot
But not bisexual, I'm an intellectual
Of rap, I'm a professional and that's no question, yo
These are the lyrics of the man, you can't near it, understand
Cuz in the streets, I'm well known like the number man
In my place wit the bass and format
Explore rap, and tell me Nas ain't all that
And next time I rhyme, I be foul
Whenever I freestyle I see trial niggaz say I'm wow
I hate a rhymebiter's rhyme
Stay tuned, Nas, soon the real rap comes at halftime

(Right..) It's halftime
(Right..) Exhale, check it it's halftime
(Right..) It's halftime
(Right..) It's real in the field
Word life, check it

[Nas]
I got it goin on, even flip 'em on this song
Every afternoon, I kick half the tune
And in the darkness, I'm heartless like when the NARCs hit
Word to Marcus Garvey I hardly sparked it
Cause when I blast the herb, that's my word
I be slayin them fast, doing this that and the third
But chill, past to Andre, and let's slay
I bag bitches up at John Jay, and hit a matinee
Puttin hits on 5-0
Csudr when it's my time to go, I wait for God wit the fo'-fo'
And biters can't come near
And yo, go to hell to the foul cop who shot Garcia
I won't plant seeds, don't need an extra mouth I can't feed
That's extra Phillie change, more cash for that weed
This goes out to Manhattan, the island of Staten
Brooklyn and Queens is livin fat and
The Boogie Down, enough props, enough clout
Ill Will, rest in peace, yo, I'm out

(Right..) It's still halftime
(Right..) To the Queensbridge crew
To the Queensbridge crew, you know it's halftime
(Right..) Ninety-two, it's halftime
(Right..) Yo police, police man, yo let's get ghost
Halftime..

 

"Nas Is Like"

"Nas is . . ." - [Nas (7x)]

[Nas]
Freedom or jail, clips inserted, a baby's bein born
Same time my man is murdered, the beginning and end
As far as rap go, it's only natural, I explain
My plateau, and also, what defines my name
First it was Nasty, but times have changed
Ask me now, I'm the artist, but hardcore, my science for pain
I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame
Saw fiends shoot up, and do lines of cocaine
Saw my close friends shot, flatline am I sane?
That depends, carry Mac-10's to practice my aim
On rooftops, tape cd covers to trees
Line the barrel up with your weak picture then squeeze
Street scriptures for lost souls, in the crossroads
To the corner thugs hustlin for cars that cost dough
To the big dogs livin large, takin it light
Pushin big toys, gettin nice, enjoyin your life
is what you make it, suicide, few try to take it
Belt tied around they neck in jail cells naked
Heaven and hell, rap legend, presence is felt
And of course N - A - S are the letters that spell . . .
NAS, NAS

[Chorus: scratching by DJ Premier (2X)]

"Nas is like life or death.. I'm a rebel.. "
"My poetry's deep, I never fell.."
"Nas is like.. half man half amazing.."
"No doubt.."

[Nas]
"Nas is like.." Earth Wind & Fire, rims and tires
Bulletproof glass, inside is the realest driver
Planets in orbit, line em up with the stars
Tarot cards, you can see the pharaoh Nas
"Nas is like.." Iron Mike, messiah type
Before the Christ, after the death
The last one left, let my cash invest in stock
Came a along way from blastin, techs on blocks
Went from Seiko to Rolex, ownin acres
From the projects with no chips, to large cake dough
Dimes, givin fellatio, siete zeros
Bet my nine spit for the pesos
But what's it all worth, can't take it when you under this Earth
Rich men died and tried, but none of it worked
They just rob your grave, I'd rather be alive and paid
Before my number's called, history's made
Some'll fall, but I rise, thug or die
Makin choices, that determine my future under the sky
To rob steal or kill, I'm wondering why
It's a dirty game, is any man worthy of fame?
Much to success to ya, even if you wish me the opposite
Sooner or later we'll all see who the prophet is

[Chorus]

[Nas]
"Nas is like.." Sex to a nympho, but nothin sweet
I'm like beef, bustin heat through your windows
I'm like a street sweeper, greenleaf reaper
Like Greeks in Egypt, learnin somethin deep from they teachers
I'm like crime, like your nine, your man you would die for
Always got you, I'm like Pop Duke you would cry for
I'm like a whole lot of loot, I'm like crisp money
Corporate accounts from a rich company
I'm like ecstasy for ladies, I'm like all races
combined in one man; like the '99 summer jam
Bulletproof Hummer man
I'm like being locked down around new faces, and none of em fam'
I'm the feelin of a millionaire spendin a hundred grand
I'm a poor man's dream, a thug poet
Live it, and I write down and I watch it blow up
Y'all know what I'm like, y'all play it your system every night
Now..

[Chorus]

 

 

 

"Thief's Theme"

[Intro]
One, two
Check, one, two
One, two, who got more style, the son do
[rewind]
One, two
Check, one, two
One, two, who got more style, the son do
Check, one, two

[Verse 1]
Yo I'm hot like 95 Fahrenheit
On a summer night, tight spot where bodies rot
Rats drink from water drops, in the streets niggaz
Little kids scared cops, wit red dots
Philosophical gangsta, where violent priors
Goin back like black and white TV's wit pliers
Leanin on broke down cars, wit flat tires
Flash iron, or anybody tryin on the blocks I'm supplyin on
Mighty call, my peeps, tie ballons up
And swallow 'em and the penal got goons, lots of 'em
Cops see them and run, don't want no drama
Certain parts of the streets, the beast don't want a part of
Mortar, hood haunted like the Dakota
Where John Lennon was shot up, but he sang for peace
He begged for freedom, hanged wit wild Jamicians
From Kingston, who drink Irish Moss
Listenin to Peter Winston, Machintosh
Lightning hits the top of the church steeple
When I'm writin, semi-automatic no hyphen
It's frightening.... [scratches]

[Chorus]
The thief's theme, play me at night, they won't act right
Understandable smooth shit, that murderers move wit
The thief's theme, play me at night, they won't act right
Understandable smooth shit, that murderers move wit
The thief's theme, play me at night, they won't act right
Understandable smooth shit, that murderers move wit
The thief's theme, play me at night, they won't act right
Understandable smooth shit, that murderers move wit

[Verse 2]
I take summers off, cause I love winter beef
Started '87, wit the shotty in the sheet
Three-quarter length beige, dressed to kill
Bust a shell at the ground, pellets hit the crowd
Nobody like a snitch, everybody shut they mouth
Rule which car heart, gun powder stains
Smellin like trees, set some mill on the brain
Skeemin on ya girls, bamboozled on ya chain
Got ill up on the train, twistin off a cap
Of a English in my vain, might of pushed you on the tracks
Death crack fiends, who can't speak, scream noises
Cause you bought a drummer sooked, from one of my boys, it's
.... Just another day in the hood
And I'm, wit some wild brothers, up to no good
We saw the movies, like Tony Montana, and 'em
But our style was let them piled in, we robbin 'em
Money dudes, make 'em come up out they shoes
Run they jewels, word is bond, where my man Nino goin
And I had to make a song, speakin on my old life
For the thief's who come out at night

[Chorus]

[Outro]
One, two
Check, one, two [echoes]
One, two
Check, one, two
One, two, who got more style, the son do [echoes]
[explosion]