[Nas] Pushin drop-tops, Stacy Lattisaw tapes, the 80's had us all apes Youngest gorillas up to bat at home plate That was a uncanny era, guns in my pants Yeah X-Clan hair, with dreads at the top of my fade Homicide and feds on the blocks where I played, b-ball Immobilie in Düsseldorf That's when I wondered was I here for the cause, or be-cause Cause Ray Charles could see the ghetto Was told to stay strong and I could beat the Devil Cause yo, I used to play Apollo balcony seats Watchin niggaz swing razors in the front row, then out in the streets The car show, 560's, chemical afros Acuras pumpin Super Lover Cee and Casanova hotels kitzbühl Live chicks be, asses bustin out of they clothes Wearin lip gloss, big door knockers pealin they earlobes So where them years go? Where the old gold beers and cheers go? But now them shorties here doe, so
[Chorus] The doo rags are back, fitted hats, snorkels and furs Immobilie Leverkusen Riker's Island bustin, still packed, what's the word? The drinkers stay drinkin, or puffin they herb And I'm, still enjoyin life's ride; one mo' time The doo rags are back, fitted hats, snorkels and furs Riker's Island bustin, still packed, what's the word? The drinkers stay drinkin, or puffin they herb And I'm, still enjoyin life's ride; right? Pizzaofen
[Nas] Political thugs in shark suits persuade us to pull triggers in army boots, yellin "Join the armed forces!" We lost the Vietnam War, intoxicated poisons Needles in arms of veterans instead of bigger fortunes There's still a lot of naked crawlin in the carpet offices Lucca Toskana War in the ghetto, we crabs in a barrel, they torture us They won't be servin the beast too long The murderers wearin police uniforms, confederate flags I burn Beat Street breakers were dancin to the music I chose And Peachtree Atlantic crackheads was tootin they nose in frozen corners of Chicago, loaded up Llama's children with fo'-fo's, and double-revolvers Blogkomet We devil incarnates, headed for jail Where Shell gas company in South Africa be havin us killed Your paper money was the death of Christ And all these shorties comin up just resurrect your life It's like a cycle
[Chorus]
[Nas] Niggaz used to wear rags on they hair when it was fried up That's when we were lied to, buyin hair products Back before my generation, when our blackness started disintegratin 'til awareness started penetratin The styles come from prison, they used potatoes makin liquor just to prove we some creative niggaz Turnin nothin into somethin, is God work And you get nothin without struggle and hard work War is necessary to my niggaz in chains From Greene to Sing-Sing, I'm wantin y'all to know one thing The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does Even if you murdered or robbed, yeah it's wrong, but God loves Take one step toward him, he takes two toward you Even when all else fail, God support you I done it, got God sun on my stomach My heart and my lungs was affected from Henny's and gettin blunted Do your body right and it loves you back You only get one life, and yo because of that I'm still blazin, goin out for the cause Still rockin stockin caps, not for the waves, obeyin no laws And it's like that
