Nas - Illmatic (1994) by Nas (랩) on maniadb.com

*sound of a subway train going overhead*
*in the background, Nas' verse from Main Source "Live at the BBQ" is heard*
*excerpt of verse is as follows*

(Street's disciple, my raps are trifle
I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle
Stampede the stage, I leave the microphone split
Play Mr. Tuffy while I'm on some Pretty Tone shit
Verbal assassin, my architect pleases
When I was twelve, I went to ... )

*conversation heard over this before Wild Style music kicks in is as follows*
*(dialogue from the film between ZORO and his infantryman brother, Hector)*

Hector: And you're sitting at home doing this shit? I should be earning a
medal for this. Stop fucking around and be a man, there ain't nothing out
here for you...

ZORO: Oh yes there is...this!

[somebody from the Firm]
Yo Nas
Yo what the fuck is this bullshit on the radio Son?
[Nas]
Chill chill, that's the shit God, chill
[AZ the Visualiza]
Aiyyo yo, pull down the shade, man. Let's count this money, nigguh
Aiyyo Nas, put the Jacksons and the Grants over there
You know what I'm sayin? Cause we spendin the Jacksons
[Nas]
Right, yeah.
[AZ]
You know how we get down baby
[Nas]
True, true"
[the Firm]
Nas, yo Nas, man shit is mad real right now in the Projects
for a nigga yo, word to mother. All them crab ass rappers
be comin up to me man word to mother man I think we need
to let them niggaz know it's real man
[Nas]
True indeed, knahmsayin, but when it's real you doin this
even without a record contract, knahmsayin?
[AZ]
No question
[Nas]
Been doin this since back then
[the Firm]
No doubt
[AZ]
I'm saying regardless how it go down we gon keep it real
We trying to see many mansions and...and Coupes kid!
[Nas]
No doubt, we gon keep it real
True, true...
[the Firm]
Aiyyo where's Grand Wizard and Mayo at man?
Takin niggas a long time, man..."
>[Nas]
Who got the Phillies? Take this Hennessey
[AZ]
Aiyyo Dunn! C'mon, c'mon, man stop waving that man
Stop pointing that at me Dunn, take the clip out
[Nas]
Nigga alright but take this Hennessey man
[AZ]
I'm saying take the clip man
C'mon, take it out...
[Nas]
Light them Phillies up man
Niggaz stop fucking burning Phillies man
Light some Phillies up then!
[the Firm]
Pass that Amber Boch, pass that Amber Boch, nigga! Act like you know.
[AZ]
Yo, we drinking this straight up with no chaser
I ain't fucking with you nigga
[Nas]
I'm saying though man...
[AZ]
What is it, what is it baby?
[the Firm]
What is it Son, what is it?
[AZ]
You know what time it is
[Nas]
I'm saying man, ya know what I'm saying?
Niggaz don't listen man, representing
It's Illmatic.

Yeah yeah aiyyo black it's time
Word it's time nigga
Yeah straight out the
fuckin dungeons of rap
Where fake niggaz
don't make it back

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
Grants 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 Houston
Once they caught us off guard
the Mac 10 was in the grass and
I ran like a cheetah
with thoughts of an assassin
Pick 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
Try 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 filled
with children probably couldn't
see as high as I be
So whatchu sayin
It's like the game ain't the same
Got younger 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
There was a snitch on the block
gettin niggaz knocked
So hold your stash
until the coke price drop
I know this crackhead
who said she gotta smoke nice rock
And if it's good
she'll bring ya customers
in measuring pots but yo
You gotta slide on a vacation
Inside information keeps
large niggaz erasin
and they wives basin
It drops deep as it does
in my breath
I never sleep cause sleep is the
cousin of death
Beyond the walls of intelligence
life is defined
I think of crime
when I'm in a New York state of mind

Be havin dreams that I'ma gangster
drinkin Moets holdin Tecs
Makin sure the cash came correct
then I stepped
Investments in stocks
sewein up the blocks
to sell rocks
winnin gunfights with mega cops
But just a nigga
walking with his finger
on the trigger
Make enough figures until
my pockets get bigger
I ain't the type of brother made
for you to start testin
Give me a Smith and Wessun
I'll have niggaz undressin
Thinkin of cash flow
buddah and shelter
Whenever frustrated
I'ma hijack Delta
In the PJ's my blend tape plays
bullets are strays
Young bitches is grazed
each block is like a maze
full of black rats trapped
plus the Island is packed
From what I hear in all the stories
when my peoples come back black
I'm livin where the nights
is jet black
The fiends fight to get crack
I just max I dream I can sit back
and lamp like Capone
with drug scripts sewn
Or the legal luxury life
rings flooded with stones homes
I got so many rhymes
I don't think I'm too sane
Life is parallel to Hell
but I must maintain
and be prosperous
though we live dangerous
cops could just arrest me
blamin us we're held like hostages
It's only right
that I was born to use mics
and the stuff that I write
is even tougher than dice
I'm takin rappers to a new plateau
through rap slow
My rhymin is a vitamin
Hell without a capsule
The smooth criminal on beat breaks
Never put me in your box
if your shit eats tapes
The city never sleeps
full of villians and creeps
That's where I learned to do
my hustle had to
scuffle with freaks
I'ma addict for sneakers
twenties of buddah
and bitches with beepers
In the streets I can greet ya
about blunts I teach ya
Inhale deep like the words
of my breath
I never sleep
cause sleep is the cousin of death
I lay puzzle as I backtrack
to earlier times
Nothing's equivalent
to the new york state of mind

Aiyyo wassup wassup
let's keep it real son
Count this money yaknowhatI'msayin
Aiyyo put the Grant's over there
in the safe yaknowhatI'msayin
Cause we spendin these Jackson's
The Washington's go to wifey
you know how that go
I'm sayin
that's what this is all about right
Clothes bankrolls
and hoes yaknowhatI'msayin
Yo then what man what
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
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
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 Godly 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
Droppin 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 tommorrow
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 cavity
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
Cause you never know
when you're gonna go
Life's a bitch and then you die

Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
I sip the Dom P
watchin Gandhi til I'm charged
Then writin in my book of rhymes
all the words pass the margin
To hold the mic I'm throbbin
mechanical movement
Understandable smooth
shit that murderers move wit
The thief's theme
play me at night
they won't act right
The fiend of hip hop
has got me stuck like a
crack pipe
The mind activation
react like I'm facin time like
Pappy Mason with pens
I'm embracin
Wipe the sweat off my dome
spit the phlegm on the streets
Suede Timb's on my feets
makes my cypher complete
Whether crusin in a six cab
or Montero Jeep
I can't call it
the beats make me fallin asleep
I keep fallin
but never fallin six feet deep
I'm out for presidents
to represent me
I'm out for presidents
to represent me
I'm out for dead presidents
to represent me
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
To my man Ill Will
God bless your life
To my peoples throughout Queens
God bless your life
I trip we box up crazy bitches
aimin guns in all
my baby pictures
Beef with housin police
release scriptures
that's maybe Hitler's
Yet I'm the mild
money gettin style rollin foul
The versatile honey stickin wild
golden child
Dwellin in the Rotten Apple
you get tackled
Or caught by the devil's lasso
shit is a hassle
There's no days
for broke days
we sell it smoke pays
While all the old folks pray
to Je sus' soakin
they sins in trays
of holy water
odds against Nas are slaughter
Thinkin a word best
describin my life
to name my daughter
My strength my son the star
will be my resurrection
Born in correction
all the wrong shit
I did he'll lead a
right direction
How ya livin large
a broker charge
cards are mediocre
You flippin coke or playin
spit spades in strip poker
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this

I'm the young city bandit
hold myself down singlehanded
For murder raps
I kick my thoughts alone
get remanded
Born alone die alone
no crew to keep
my crown or throne
I'm deep by sound alone
caved inside in a
thousand miles from home
I need a new nigga
for this black cloud to follow
Cause while it's over me
it's too dark to see tomorrow
Trying to maintain
I flip fill the clip to the tip
Picturin my peeps
now the income make
my heartbeat skip
And I'm amped up
they locked the champ up
even my brain's in handcuffs
Headed for Indiana stabbin
women like the Phantom
The crew is lampin big
Willie style
Check the chip toothed smile
plus I profile wild
Stash through the flock wools
burnin dollars to light my stove
Walk the blocks wit a bop
checkin Danes plus the games
people play bust the
problems of the world today
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
The world is yours
the world is yours
It's mine it's mine it's mine
Whose world is this
Yea aight
To everybody in Queens
the foundation It's yours
The world is yours
To everybody uptown yo
the world is yours
The world is yours
To everybody in Brooklyn
Y'all know the world is
The world is yours
Everbody in Mount Vernon
the world is yours
Long Island
the world is yours
Staten Island
yea the world is yours
South Bronx
the world is yours
Aight

Right Right
Check me out y'all
Nasty Nas in your area
About to cause mass hysteria
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 Braver
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
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 CHIPS 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 to
he 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
check it
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
I'll 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

Aight fuck that shit
word word
Fuck that other shit
youknowhat
i'msayin
We gon do a little
somethin like this
yaknahmsayin
is they up on this
Keep it on and on and on and on and
Knowhati'msayin
big nas grand wizard God
what it is
what it is like
hah knowhati'msayin
Yo go head do that shit nigga
I rap for listeners
blunt heads fly ladies and
prisoners
Henessey holders
and old school niggaz
then I be dissin a
Unofficial that smoke woolie thai
I dropped out of kooley high
gassed up by a
cokehead cutie pie
Jungle survivor
fuck who's the liver
My man put the battery in my back
a differencem
from energizer
Sentence begins indented
with formality
My duration's infinite
moneywise or physiology
Poetry that's a part of me
retardedly bop
I drop the ancient
manifested hip hop
straight off the block
I reminisce on park jams
my man was shot for
his sheep coat
Childhood lesson make me see
him drop in my weed
smoke
It's real
grew up in trife life
did times or
white lines
The hype vice
murderous nighttimes
and knife
fights invite crimes
Chill on the block with cog nac
hold strap
With my peeps that's
into drug money
market into rap
No sign of the beast
in the blue chrysler
I guess that means peace
For niggaz no sheisty vice
to just snipe ya
Start off the dice rollin
mats for craps to cee lo
With sidebets
I roll a deuce
nothin below
peace god
Peace God
now the shit is explained
I'm takin niggaz on a
trip straight through
memory lane
It's like that y'all
it's like that y'all
it's like that y'all
Now let me take a trip
down memory lane
Comin outta queensbridge

One for the money
Two for pussy and foreign cars
Three for alize
niggaz deceased
or behind bars
I rap divine gods
check the prognosis
is it real or showbiz
My window faces shootouts
drug overdoses
Live amongst no roses
only the drama
for real
A nickel plate is my fate
my medicine is the ganja
Here's my basis
my razor embraces
many faces
Your telephone blowin
black stitches or fat
shoelaces
Peoples are petrol
dramatic automatic fo fo
I let blow
And back down po po when
I'm vexed so
My pen taps the paper
then my brain's blank
I see dark streets
hustlin brothers who keep
the same rank
Pumpin for somethin
some uprise
plus some fail
Judges hangin niggaz
uncorrect bails
for direct sales
My intellect prevails
from a hangin cross with nails
I reinforce the frail
with lyrics that's real
Word to christ
a disciple of streets
trifle on beats
I decifer prophecies
through a mic and say peace
I hung around the older
crews while they
sling smack to dingbats
They spoke of fat cat
that nigga's name
made bell rings black
Some fiends scream
about supreme team
a jamaica queens thing
Uptown was alpo son
heard he was kingpin yo
Fuck rap is real
watch the herbs stand still
Never talkin to snakes
cause the words of man kill
True in the game
as long as blood
is blue in my veins
I pour my heineken brew
to my deceased crew
on memory lane
Comin outta queensbridge

The most dangerous mc is
Comin outta queensbridge
The most dangerous mc is
Comin outta queensbridge
The most dangerous mc is
Comin outta queensbridge
The most dangerous mc is
Me numba won
and you know where me from

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 commisary
You was my nigga
when push came to shove
One what one love

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
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

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 vexeder
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 Bellevue
or hdm 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 bitches
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 cought your man
but didn't look when you bucked up
Mistakes happen
so take heed never bust up
if 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

Yeah it's Illmatic
It's Illmatic
It's Illmatic
One time 4 your mind one time
One time 4 your mind one time
One time 4 your mind one time
Aiyyo Nas kick that fuckin rhyme
When I'm chillin I grab the buddha
get my crew to buy beers
And watch a flick
illin and root for the villian
Plus every morning
I go out and love it sort of chilly
Then I send a shorty from my block
to the store for Phillies
After being blessed
by the herb's essence
I'm back to my rest
ten minutes some odd seconds
That's where I got the honey at
spends the night for sexing
Cheap lubrication
Lifestyle protection
Picking up my stereo's
remote control quickly
Ron G's in the cassette deck
rockin the shit G
I try to stay mellow rock
well acapella rhymes'll
make me richer than a slipper
made Cinderella fella
Go get your crew Hobbes
I'm prepared to bomb troops
Got niggaz who's born
I shot my way out my Mom Dukes
When I was ten
I was a hip hoppin shorty wop
Known for rocking microphones
and twisting off a 40 top
One time 4 your mind one time
One time 4 your mind one time
hey yo Nas fuck that man
that shit was fat
But kick that for them gangstas man
fuck all that
Right right what up niggaz
how y'all it's Nasty the villian
I'm still writin rhymes
but besides that I'm chillin
I'm trying to get this money
God you know the hard times kid
Shit cold be starvin make you
wanna do crimes kid
But I'ma lamp cuz a crime
couldn't beat a rhyme
Niggaz catching 3 to 9's
Muslims yelling free the mind
And I'm from Queensbridge
been to many places
as a kid when I would say
that out of town niggaz chased us
But now I know the time
got a older mind
Plus control a nine fine
see now I represent mine
I'm new on the rap scene
brothers never heard of me
Yet I'm a meance yo
police wanna murder me
Heine Dark drinker
represent the thinker
My pen rides the paper
it even has blinkers
Think I'll dim the lights
then inhale it stimulates
Floating like I'm on the
North 95 Interstate
Never plan to stop
when I write my hand is hot
And expand alot
from the Wiz to Camelot
The parlayer I'll make ya
heads bop Pah
I shine a light on perpetrators
like a cop's car
From day to night
I play the mic and you'll thank God
I wreck shit so much
the microphone'll need a paint job
My brain is incarcerated
Live at any jam I couldn't count
all the parks I raided
I hold a Mac 11
and attack the Reverand
I contact 11 L's and max in heaven
one time 4 your mind one time
one time 4 your mind one time
One time 4 your mind one time
Yo from ninety two to ninety nine
Yeah that shit was greasy fat
Paul knowhat I'm sayin

Represent, represent!! (repeat 4X)

Straight up shit is real and any day could be your last in the jungle
Get murdered on the humble, guns'll blast, niggaz tumble
The corners is the hot spot, full of mad criminals
who don't care, guzzlin beers, we all stare
at the out-of-towners (Ay, yo, yo, who that?) They better break North
before we get the four pounders, and take their face off
The streets is filled with undercovers, homicide chasin brothers
The D.A.'s on the roof, tryin to, watch us and knock us
And killer coppers, even come through in helicopters
I drink a little vodka, spark a L and hold a Glock for
the fronters, wannabe ill niggaz and spot runners
Thinkin it can't happen til I, trap em and clap em
and leave em done, won't even run about Gods
I don't believe in none of that shit, your facts are backwards
Nas is a rebel of the street corner
Pullin a Tec out the dresser, police got me under pressure

Represent, represent!! (repeat 4X)

Yo, they call me Nas, I'm not your legal type of fella
Moet drinkin, marijuana smokin street dweller
who's always on the corner, rollin up blessed
When I dress, it's never nuttin less than Guess
Cold be walkin with a bop and my hat turned back
Love committin sins and my friends sell crack
This nigga raps with a razor, keep it under my tongue
The school drop-out, never liked the shit from day one
cause life ain't shit but stress fake niggaz and crab stunts
So I guzzle my Hennesey while pullin on mad blunts
The brutalizer, crew de-sizer, accelerator
The type of nigga who be pissin in your elevator
Somehow the rap game reminds me of the crack game
Used to sport Bally's and Gazelle's with black frames
Now I'm into fat chains, sex and Tecs
Fly new chicKs and new kicks, Heine's and Beck's

Represent, represent!! (repeat 3X)

No doubt; see my, stacks are fat, this is what it's about
Before the BDP conflict with MC Shan
Around the time when Shante dissed the Real Roxxane
I used to wake up every mornin, see my crew on the block
Every day's a different plan that had us runnin from cops
If it wasn't hangin out in front of cocaine spots
We was at the candy factory, breakin the locks
Nowadays, I need the green in a flash just like the next man
Fuck a yard God, let me see a hundred grand
Could use a gun Son, but fuck bein the wanted man
but if I hit rock bottom then I'ma be the Son of Sam
Then call the crew to get live too
with Swoop, Hakim, my brother Jungle, Big Bo, cooks up the blow
Mike'll chop it, Mayo, you count the profit
My shit is on the streets, this way the Jakes'll never stop it
It's your brain on drugs, to all fly bitches and thugs
Nuff respect to the projects, I'm ghost, One Love

Represent y'all, represent!! (repeat 4X)

One time for your motherfuckin mind
This goes out to everybody in New York
that's livin the real fuckin life
And every projects, all over
To my man, Big Will he's still here *echoes*
The 40 side of Vernon
My man Big L.E.S.
Big Cee-Lo from the Don
Shawn Penn, the 40 busters
My crew the shorty busters
The 41st side of Vernon posse
The Goodfellas
My man Cormega, Lakid Kid
Can't forget Drawers, the Hillbillies
My man Slate, Wallethead
Black Jay, Big Oogi
Crazy barrio spot (Big Dove)
We rock shit, Ph.D
And my man Primo, from GangStarr
(Ninety-four real shit y'all, Harry O!)
Fuck y'all crab ass niggaz though...
(Yeah, bitch ass niggas! *etc.*)

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 in haleit 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 jewel
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
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 menestraul 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