Nas - The World Is Yours Lyrics & Meanings

Cover art for The World Is Yours lyrics by Nas

by shegwin

16y ago

Aight ima break down the song meaning since i study this shit errday

so basically the song is just about nas reflectin on life, a ponder about the life "HE" has to watch, if you peep the other tracks off his debut "illmatic", a lotta the songs are about a black inner city youth in the projects but the thing is its extremely real and vivid, he expresses his thoughts and mind state basically the "new york state of mind" the life of a black new yorker, now.. you may see this as redundant well nas was very real in his rhymes, his structure of rhymes were much different, whether fast paced or slow his rhymes were veery well rhymed and his rhymes well placed, anyways enough of the background info i can explain nas' whole new york slang and his deep reflective and observational rhymes, btw the world is yours IMO is the standout track and captures the essence of ny circa early 90'sish. btw this song in particular is just very thought from thought, its like a great nas' viewing very fast very vivid, looking from one thing to another, lookin from his crew, to his home, from his income, to why hes sellin drugs, to gettin high, to fuckin up pussy bitches on the bloc, whether checkin out girls, or the problems that people go thru, lookin at money and everything he switches from topic to topic showing his goddamn view of the new york world around him, what matters to him, see the thing is, nas GLAMORIZES hoes, cash and clothes but at the same time he acknowledges what does it really mean, its kinda like sayin yenno i love havin sex, but since im havin too much sex, is it really too much? what if i catch an std? what about my auntie with stds? fuck it tho sex is great, or another example is like yenno sayin i love playin video games, but when is it too much? am i addicted? what about my buddy whose addicted to video games im worried bout him, see nas really he doesnt glamorize 100%, in fact he loves the shit he glamorizes about but never in fact encourages it, he gives insight as to what type of living hes in and why he does it, classic album

much like the way shakespeare plays are explained, ill try to explain each line

"I sip the Dom P, watchin Gandhi til I'm charged Then writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin"

nas is basically talkin about him drinkin some dom p which is a drink (dom perignon) and hes watchin gandhi til hes charged, that basically means that he takes inspiration from gandhi, the whole watchin gandhi til hes charged, think of charged like a battery, then he writes in his book of rhymes till all the words pass the margin. thats pretty straightforward

"To hold the mic im throbbin, mechanical movement understandable smooth shit that murderers move with"

basically to hold the mic im throbbin he talkin about wantin to yenno grab a mic, and the rest of the lines are him braggin about how smooth his shit is the type of shit he be writin"

"The thiefs theme, play me at night, they wont act right the fiend of hip hop has got me stuck like a crack pipe"

so hes just sayin how his music gets niggas buckwild, "the thiefs theme", the fiend of hip hop which is kinda like a metaphor that basically means hip hop has got him sucked into rappin, the way a crack pipe keeps a fiend(druggie) stuck on crack

"The mind activation, react like im facin time like pappy mason with pens im embracin"

the mind activation means his mind finally opens up the way pappy mason's(a new york drug lord and crime boss) mind would have opened up when he had to face his life sentence, if you dont understand what i just said, think of it like this, my mind opened up the way a criminal's mind realizes that hes facing 25 years. then the next part is with "pens im embracin" so that basically adds to the facin time part, like my mind opened up to write rhymes the same way a criminal's mind opened up after realization of how fucked he is.

"Wipe the sweat of the dome, spit the phlegm on the streets suede timbs on my feets make my cipher complete"

just talkin about walkin down a street and his swag wit the whole suede timbs on his feets makes his wardrobe complete

"Whether crusin in a six cab or montero jeep i cant call it the beats make me fallin asleep"

btw its defo six cab, its not sikh cab otherwise the i cant call it would make sense cuz obviously you dont want a sikh cab, you want a six cab or a montero jeep, i cant "call it" i cant decide so yeah hes sayin whether this car or this car, i cant choose; then the next lines are him sayin the beat makes me fall asleep so it could mean that hes writin rhymes so much til its time to sleep

"i keep fallin, but never fallin six feet deep im out for presidents to represent me " " im out for "DEAD" presidents to represent me

so yeah hes just sayin i keep fallin like i keep fallin down in life, but never falling down where ive fallin "six feet deep" which in case u didnt happen to know is being dead cuz burial is six feet deep, then he says im out for presidents to represent me, and this actually a pretty clever line cuz hes sayin like im out to find a president suitable to represent me, so like sayin im out to find a president who will represent what i want, he says it about two times then the next line he says im out for "DEAD" presidents to represent me, so in case u didnt know what dead presidents are, its slang for money, cuz on money there are dead presidents on the print, so yeah hes now implyin that hes ouut to get himself some money

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

now i may be wrong on this and correct me if i am, but my interpretation and bare with me he rhymes it so fluid you dont know where his statements end. so he says " i trip" there should be a comma, so he says that he trips like he is baffled in general, we box up crazy bitches aimin guns in all my baby pictures, so girls be beefin wit him so mad that they aim guns at all his baby pictures, kinda like when people throw darts at pictures of people when they hate them a lot yenno that type of thing. then beef with housin police so yenno beef wit his project building police who release scriptures thats maybe hitlers, so im thinkin that they release "scriptures" which are citations and are police reports, and these citations and charges against him are so like nas HATTES DEM, he thinks of em evil they could even be "hitler evil" yenno kinda like a simile goin there, for example like sayin my mom cooked breakfast and it was so terrible it coulda even been made by hitler!, pretty sure thats what hes talkin about, and the reason for the housin police to give him a citation is that hes beefin with his bitches that be aimin guns at all his baby pictures, so yenno domestic dispute, relationship argument where police have to handle it and maybe he slapped her and a cop had to go give him a citation for some sorta assault or some shit. i could be wrong, correct me or give your interpretation

"Yet I'm the mild, money gettin style, rollin foul The versatile, honey stickin wild, golden child"

so this is just some brag, dont think i have to really explain this

"Dwellin in the Rotten Apple, you get tackled Or caught by the devil's lasso, shit is a hassle"

livin in new york you encounter obstacles, you get tempted by the devil, shit is a hassle so thats somewhat straightforward, a good line nonetheless

"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"

alright this one of my all time fav lines, simple yet so right, so theres no days for broke days we sell it smoke pays, so hes sayin that there is no day u ever wanna be broke, we sell smoke and it pays, and thats true, when u be buyin a bag of weed, ur payin for that smoke, you want to inhale that smoke, the smoke is technically payin you, i mean the whole thing wit the no days broke days smoke pays rhyming there is so genius in my b ooks from the fact that it rhymes, its so true and it makes sense and makes me think, so then he adds the while all the old folks pray to je sus soakin they sins in trays, so hes sayin we be doin all this hustlin shit tryin to earn money while all these older generation people just be prayin to jesus tryna get rid of their sins by goin to church, now i was never a church fanatic but my parents rraised me that way and yenno u begin to question ur religion and how it makes sense and the fact that they think that by ogin to church ur gonna go straigh tto heaven just makes me wonder what type of reasons are they usin church for if they believe in it so much.

"of holy water, odds against Nas are slaughter Thinkin a word best describin my life, to name my daughter"

so the holy water is just an extension to that last part to couple its rhyming together wit the holy water and slaughter, so hes sayin odds against nas are slaughter, so the odds against me are like a million to nothing, going against my odds is like slaughter, th en he changes subject about thinkin a word best describin my life to name my daughter, so hes basically sayin yenno i wanna find a name for my daughter a great name, hard for me to explain this line but you people should understand it.

"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"

so hes sayin my son is my strength; a star, he will make up for all the wrong shit i did(my resurrection) he will be born in a good life( born in correction), hell lead the right direction

"How ya livin large, a broker charge, cards are mediocre You flippin coke or playin spit spades in strip poker"

now this IMO is a great fucking metaphor, very deep and many people pass its understanding now nas says how you livin large? so how are you earning MONEY? how are you ballin? youre just a broker, your cards are mediocre, so hes sayin like the hand you have been dealt in life is decent; how are you balling? you can either be flippin coke( selling coke) or playin spit spades in strip poker, so hes sayin you either be sellin coke or playin some shit spades and be stripped in strip poker. classic fucking great metaphor

"I'm the young city bandit, hold myself down singlehanded For murder raps, I kick my thoughts alone, get remanded"

so its pretty straight forward, uhh im a young city bandit i hold myself by myself, for my murder raps, i think hes sayin his either really ill killer raps hes alone to understand or his murder raps are actually like murder raps hes by himself and he gets remanded, wh ich means he goes to jail

"born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne im deep by sound alone, caved inside a thousand miles from home"

so yeah born alone die alone is a ref from the god father, it connects wit the very next part no crew to keep my crown or throne, so even though hes got his crew no matter what, youre born alone you die alone, nobody is entitled to what hes done in life, hes deep by osund alone is slightly braggy talkin about how hes deep just by sound, his voice is heard even "A thousand miles away from home in a cave"

"i need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow cuz while its over me its to dark to see tomorrow"

pretty quotable line, pretty straightforward, i need a new person for this terrible luck to go to, cuz while i have all this terrible luck, its too hard to see the next day, orr he could mean that he feels like killin himself cuz its too dark to even wanna see tomorrow.

"i try to maintain, i flip, fill the clip to the tip picturin my peeps now the income make my heartbeat skip"

so hes sayin tryin to maintain which alotta rappers use to say that they try to just live life and maintain some money and living conditions, so he flips, which in case u happen to not know, is flippin coke which is drug dealin, its called flippin because you buy the product and you sell it for a higher price typically, cuz when you buy a whole lot of coke and sell it by the gram you gain more profit, kinda like when you buy something in excess, term been used to flip houses and etc. so he says fill the clip to the tip, which is fillin the clip of a gun to the tip, so hes kinda puttin in the slight gangsta rhymes in there, see in any other album its pretty overdone but on illmatic; hes talkin about his situation his life, anybody else be like maaan i bust gats and all that but nas drops these lines efficiently and it coincides wit the whole vibe of the album, so then he says picturin my peeps now the income make my heartbeat skip which is just sayin that yenno picturin all my friends wit a lot of income(money) is makin my heart skip a beat like its gettin the nigga excited.

"and im amped up, they lock the champ up, even my brains in handcuffs headed for indiana stabbin women like the phantom"

hes sayin that hes excited hes amped up, hes locked up, even his thoughts, then he kinda drops a randomish kinda line that references the phantom killer, but i think it goes wit the whole albums vibe again, yenno about just not givin a fuck cuz ny state of mind goes into some now you see me now you dont type of shit, some jeffrey dahmer, son of sam, i think nas studied some serial killers thats why he name drops these dudes

the crew is lampin big willie style check the chip tooth smile, plus i profile wild"

so hes sayin that his crew is lampin big willie style, "lampin" means that youre kinda like shinign like a lamp, youre standing out, so like im "lampin" big willie style, big willie style is basically like sayin awesome or like great, so the crew is lampin big willie style is like sayin my crew is showin off their shit, then he says check the chip tooth smile, so idk my tooth is chipped, then i profile wild, like an outlaw, like im profiled hard cuz im a buckwild kid. basically these lines are just nas braggin a bit

"Stash through the flock wools, burnin dollars to light my stove Walk the blocks wit a bop, checkin Dames plus the games people play bust the problems of the world today

stash thru the flock wools, not too sure what that exactly means, then he says burnin dollars to light my stove, thats a bit straightforward, then the next line about him walkin the blocks wit a bop checkin dames(pretty sure he says dames cuz a dame like a girl, chekcin out the dames) so hes sayin that he walks the streets with a bop, like sh akin his head and shit, checkin out bitches, then he says that the games people play bust the problems of the world today, so hes sayin that the type of tricks people be using are worst than the world problems that we face today (an exaggeration but a somewhat relatable meaning)

well in summary, a great fuckin album, illmatic if u like hip hop this is jam packed with reallness, ill rhymes vocab intellectual type of metaphorical deep thoughts, an album u can smoke to drink to, sit at home relax to, take a pen and pad and try to understand to, listen very closely yet amazed by, i mean all his rhymes are just magnificent in every way, there are so many rhymes placed in places you havent looked, youd be surprised by all the tiny words that nas slipped in to make the album very cohesive and it flows so well, i mean like ive heard alotta rappers who will get the multi rhymes pretty good , but nas really varies with different sounds like he will have words that rhyme with bitter and at the same time in the lines he will have words that rhyme with crazy and baby and that anyways

if anybody wishes to contact me george281330@hotmail.com for any questions or any relation to hip hop or music in general

Aight ima break down the song meaning since i study this shit errday

so basically the song is just about nas reflectin on life, a ponder about the life "HE" has to watch,
if you peep the other tracks off his debut "illmatic", a lotta the songs are about a black inner city youth
in the projects but the thing is its extremely real and vivid, he expresses his thoughts and mind state
basically the "new york state of mind" the life of a black new yorker, now.. you may see this as redundant
well nas was very real in his rhymes, his structure of rhymes were much different, whether fast paced or slow
his rhymes were veery well rhymed and his rhymes well placed, anyways enough of the background info i can explain nas' whole new york slang and his deep reflective and observational rhymes, btw the world is yours IMO is
the standout track and captures the essence of ny circa early 90'sish. btw this song in particular is just very thought from thought, its like a great nas' viewing very fast very vivid, looking from one thing to another, lookin from his crew, to his home, from his income, to why hes sellin drugs, to gettin high, to fuckin up pussy bitches on the bloc, whether checkin out girls, or the problems that people go thru, lookin at money and everything he switches from topic to topic showing his goddamn view of the new york world around him, what matters to him, see the thing is, nas GLAMORIZES hoes, cash and clothes but at the same time he acknowledges what does it really mean, its kinda like sayin yenno i love havin sex, but since im havin too much sex, is it really too much? what if i catch an std? what about my auntie with stds? fuck it tho sex is great, or another example is like yenno sayin i love playin video games, but when is it too much? am i addicted? what about my buddy whose addicted to video games im worried bout him, see nas really he doesnt glamorize 100%, in fact he loves the shit he glamorizes about but never in fact encourages it, he gives insight as to what type of living hes in and why he does it, classic album

much like the way shakespeare plays are explained, ill try to explain each line

"I sip the Dom P, watchin Gandhi til I'm charged
Then writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin"

nas is basically talkin about him drinkin some dom p which is a drink (dom perignon) and hes watchin gandhi til hes charged, that basically means that he takes inspiration from gandhi, the whole watchin gandhi til hes charged, think of charged like a battery, then he writes in his book of rhymes till all the words pass the margin. thats pretty straightforward

"To hold the mic im throbbin, mechanical movement
understandable smooth shit that murderers move with"

basically to hold the mic im throbbin he talkin about wantin to yenno grab a mic, and the rest of the lines are him braggin about how smooth his shit is the type of shit he be writin"

"The thiefs theme, play me at night, they wont act right
the fiend of hip hop has got me stuck like a crack pipe"

so hes just sayin how his music gets niggas buckwild, "the thiefs theme", the fiend of hip hop which is kinda like a metaphor that basically means hip hop has got him sucked into rappin, the way a crack pipe keeps a fiend(druggie) stuck on crack

"The mind activation, react like im facin time like pappy mason
with pens im embracin"

the mind activation means his mind finally opens up the way pappy mason's(a new york drug lord and crime boss) mind would have opened up when he had to face his life sentence, if you dont understand what i just said, think of it like this, my mind opened up the way a criminal's mind realizes that hes facing 25 years. then the next part is with "pens im embracin" so that basically adds to the facin time part, like my mind opened up to write rhymes the same way a criminal's mind opened up after realization of how fucked he is.

"Wipe the sweat of the dome, spit the phlegm on the streets
suede timbs on my feets make my cipher complete"

just talkin about walkin down a street and his swag wit the whole suede timbs on his feets makes his wardrobe complete

"Whether crusin in a six cab or montero jeep
i cant call it the beats make me fallin asleep"

btw its defo six cab, its not sikh cab otherwise the i cant call it would make sense cuz obviously
you dont want a sikh cab, you want a six cab or a montero jeep, i cant "call it" i cant decide
so yeah hes sayin whether this car or this car, i cant choose; then the next lines are him sayin the beat  makes me fall asleep so it could mean that hes writin rhymes so much til its time to sleep

"i keep fallin, but never fallin six feet deep
im out for presidents to represent me
"                                    "
im out for "DEAD" presidents to represent me

so yeah hes just sayin i keep fallin like i keep fallin down in life, but never falling down where ive fallin "six feet deep" which in case u didnt happen to know is being dead cuz burial is six feet deep, then he says im out for presidents to represent me, and this actually a pretty clever line cuz hes sayin like im out to find a president suitable to represent me, so like sayin im out to find a president who will represent what i want, he says it about two times then the next line he says im out for "DEAD" presidents to represent me, so in case u didnt know what dead presidents are, its slang for money, cuz on money there are dead presidents on the print, so yeah hes now implyin that hes ouut to get himself some money

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

now i may be wrong on this and correct me if i am, but my interpretation and bare with me he rhymes it so fluid you dont know where his statements end. so he says " i trip" there should be a comma, so he says that he trips like he is baffled in general, we box up crazy bitches aimin guns in all my baby pictures, so girls be beefin wit him so mad that they aim guns at all his baby pictures, kinda like when people throw darts at pictures of people when they hate them a lot yenno that type of thing. then beef with housin police so yenno beef wit his project building police who release scriptures thats maybe hitlers, so im thinkin that they release "scriptures" which are citations and are police reports, and these citations and charges against him are so like nas HATTES DEM, he thinks of em evil they could even be "hitler evil" yenno kinda like a simile goin there, for example like sayin my mom cooked breakfast and it was so terrible it coulda even been made by hitler!, pretty sure thats what hes talkin about, and the reason for the housin police to give him a citation is that hes beefin with his bitches that be aimin guns at all his baby pictures, so yenno domestic dispute, relationship argument where police have to handle it and maybe he slapped her and a cop had to go give him a citation for some sorta assault or some shit. i could be wrong, correct me or give your interpretation

"Yet I'm the mild, money gettin style, rollin foul
The versatile, honey stickin wild, golden child"

so this is just some brag, dont think i have to really explain this

"Dwellin in the Rotten Apple, you get tackled
Or caught by the devil's lasso, shit is a hassle"

livin in new york you encounter obstacles, you get tempted by the devil, shit is a hassle so thats somewhat straightforward, a good line nonetheless

"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"

alright this one of my all time fav lines, simple yet so right, so theres no days for broke days we sell it smoke pays, so hes sayin that there is no day u ever wanna be broke, we sell smoke and it pays, and thats true, when u be buyin a bag of weed, ur payin for that smoke, you want to inhale that smoke, the smoke is technically payin you, i mean the whole thing wit the no days broke days smoke pays rhyming there is so genius in my b ooks from the fact that it rhymes, its so true and it makes sense and makes me think, so then he adds the while all the old folks pray to je sus soakin they sins in trays, so hes sayin we be doin all this hustlin shit tryin to earn money while all these older generation people just be prayin to jesus tryna get rid of their sins by goin to church, now i was never a church fanatic but my parents rraised me that way and yenno u begin to question ur religion and how it makes sense and the fact that they think that by ogin to church ur gonna go straigh tto heaven just makes me wonder what type of reasons are they usin church for if they believe in it so much.

"of holy water, odds against Nas are slaughter
Thinkin a word best describin my life, to name my daughter"

so the holy water is just an extension to that last part to couple its rhyming together wit the holy water and slaughter, so hes sayin odds against nas are slaughter, so the odds against me are like a million to nothing, going against my odds is like slaughter, th en he changes subject about thinkin a word best describin my life to name my daughter, so hes basically sayin yenno i wanna find a name for my daughter a great name, hard for me to explain this line but you people should understand it.

"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"

so hes sayin my son is my strength; a star, he will make up for all the wrong shit i did(my resurrection)
he will be born in a good life( born in correction), hell lead the right direction

"How ya livin large, a broker charge, cards are mediocre
You flippin coke or playin spit spades in strip poker"

now this IMO is a great fucking metaphor, very deep and many people pass its understanding 
now nas says how you livin large? so how are you earning MONEY? how are you ballin? youre just a broker, your cards are mediocre, so hes sayin like the hand you have been dealt in life is decent; how are you balling? you can either be flippin coke( selling coke) or playin spit spades in strip poker, so hes sayin you either be sellin coke or playin some shit spades and be stripped in strip poker.
classic fucking great metaphor

"I'm the young city bandit, hold myself down singlehanded
For murder raps, I kick my thoughts alone, get remanded"

so its pretty straight forward, uhh im a young city bandit i hold myself by myself, for my murder raps, i think hes sayin his either really ill killer raps hes alone to understand or his murder raps are actually like murder raps hes by himself and he gets remanded, wh ich means he goes to jail

"born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne
im deep by sound alone, caved inside a thousand miles from home"

so yeah born alone die alone is a ref from the god father, it connects wit the very next part no crew to keep my crown or throne, so even though hes got his crew no matter what, youre born alone you die alone, nobody is entitled to what hes done in life, hes deep by osund alone is slightly braggy talkin about how hes deep just by sound, his voice is heard even "A thousand miles away from home in a cave"

"i need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow
cuz while its over me its to dark to see tomorrow"

pretty quotable line, pretty straightforward, i need a new person for this terrible luck to go to, cuz while i have all this terrible luck, its too hard to see the next day, orr he could mean that he feels like killin himself cuz its too dark to even wanna see tomorrow.

"i try to maintain, i flip, fill the clip to the tip
picturin my peeps now the income make my heartbeat skip"

so hes sayin tryin to maintain which alotta rappers use to say that they try to just live life and maintain some money and living conditions, so he flips, which in case  u happen to not know, is flippin coke which is drug dealin, its called flippin because you buy the product and you sell it for a higher price typically, cuz when you buy a whole lot of coke and sell it by the gram you gain more profit, kinda like when you buy something in excess, term been used to flip houses and etc. so he says fill the clip to the tip, which is fillin the clip of a gun to the tip, so hes kinda puttin in the slight gangsta rhymes in there, see in any other album its pretty overdone but on illmatic; hes talkin about his situation his life, anybody else be like maaan i bust gats and all that but nas drops these lines efficiently and it coincides wit the whole vibe of the album, so then he says picturin my peeps now the income make my heartbeat skip which is just sayin that yenno picturin all my friends wit a lot of income(money) is makin my heart skip a beat like its gettin the nigga excited.

"and im amped up, they lock the champ up, even my brains in handcuffs
headed for indiana stabbin women like the phantom"

hes sayin that hes excited hes amped up, hes locked up, even his thoughts, then he kinda drops a randomish kinda line that references the phantom killer, but i think it goes wit the whole albums vibe again, yenno about just not givin a fuck cuz ny state of mind goes into some now you see me now you dont type of shit, some jeffrey dahmer, son of sam, i think nas studied some serial killers thats why he name drops these dudes

the crew is lampin big willie style
check the chip tooth smile, plus i profile wild"

so hes sayin that his crew is lampin big willie style, "lampin" means that youre kinda like shinign like a lamp, youre standing out, so like im "lampin" big willie style, big willie style is basically like sayin awesome or like great, so the crew is lampin big willie style is like sayin my crew is showin off their shit, then he says check the chip tooth smile, so idk my tooth is chipped, then i profile wild, like an outlaw, like im profiled hard cuz im a buckwild kid. basically these lines are just nas braggin a bit

"Stash through the flock wools, burnin dollars to light my stove
Walk the blocks wit a bop, checkin Dames plus the games people play
bust the problems of the world today

stash thru the flock wools, not too sure what that exactly means, then he says burnin dollars to light my stove, thats a bit straightforward, then the next line about him walkin the blocks wit a bop checkin dames(pretty sure he says dames cuz a dame like a girl, chekcin out the dames)
 so hes sayin that he walks the streets with a bop, like sh akin his head and shit, checkin out bitches, then he says that the games people play bust the problems of the world today, so hes sayin that the type of tricks people be using are worst than the world problems that we face today (an exaggeration but a somewhat relatable meaning)

well in summary, a great fuckin album, illmatic if u like hip hop this is jam packed with reallness, ill rhymes vocab intellectual type of metaphorical deep thoughts, an album u can smoke to drink to, sit at home relax to, take a pen and pad and try to understand to, listen very closely yet amazed by, i mean all his rhymes are just magnificent in every way, there are so many rhymes placed in places you havent looked, youd be surprised by all the tiny words that nas slipped in to make the album very cohesive and it flows so well, i mean like ive heard alotta rappers who will get the multi rhymes pretty good , but nas really varies with different sounds like he will have words that rhyme with bitter and at the same time in the lines he will have words that rhyme with crazy and baby and that anyways

if anybody wishes to contact me george281330@hotmail.com for any questions or any relation to hip hop or music in general

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by Jtoler 16y ago

Shegwin, youre so wrong on most of your meanings it isnt funny. Just wrong man, I can help you with some of the meanings if you want.

by shegwin 16y ago

go right ahead, in fact even better email me @ george281330@hotmail.com were all entitled to our own interpretations. ive even said in there to correct me if im wrong so you dont gotta act like a douche.

by matthewaio 8y ago

@shegwin this is way old but the stabbing women part is a slang for sex. He's joking saying hes having so much sex it's like a serial killer headed to prison, like some kind of spree.

by chrisMD 3y ago

@shegwin good analysis but it’s a little deeper I think.

This song is true master class to start and you could write a book about the breakdown of these bars so I’ll break a couple parts down for now and if you guys want me to do more let me know!

First one coming from the third verse:

“and I’m amped up, they locked the champ up, even my brains in handcuffs.

Headed for Indiana stabbing women like the phantom”

This line is a reference to Mike Tyson who is the “champ” who was convicted of rape...

The “rotten apple” is a reference to growing up in the Queens projects. The temptation to turn to gang life or drug dealing as a way to get out is the path of Satan referenced by the “devil’s lasso”. Though the path may seem alluring as “there’s no days for broke days, we sell it, smoke pays” referring to easy money from selling crack. It is ultimately a “hassle” and not the right path to take. The next bar talks about Jesus offering a different path that the wiser “old folks” have taken and are “soaking their sins in trays of holy water”. Here the “old folks” are they key figures as this verse starts with “To ill Will god bless your life” referring to his childhood friend who was killed due to choosing the wrong path. The “old folks” were able to live a long life and grow old unlike his young friend that unfortunately lost his life, the difference was the paths they took. Will caught by the devil, the old folks pray to Jesus. The next line “odds against Nas are slaughter” refers to his initial journey down the devil’s path and the astronomical odds he had to overcome to stay alive and be able to change. The next line references his daughter who was born in 1994 the same year the song came out. “Thinking a word best describing my life to name my daughter” and he named her Destiny. Hence, the only way Nas believes he overcame the odds against him was it being his destiny to survive until he could chose a different path which is the next line. “My strength, my son, the star, will be my resurrection” Nas’s son was not born until 2009 so the bar is not referencing his literal son. Instead Nas uses this line as if God was talking through him about Jesus. Saying his son(Jesus) is now what gives Nas strength and offers forgiveness of his past sins through the resurrection after the crucifixion where he died for the sins of the world. This leads into the next line “Born in correction” that Jesus was born to correct the sins of Gods people, also tying back to the old folks “soaking their sins in trays of holy water” as Jesus allows for them to be able to shed their sins and wash them away. The next lines “All the wrong shit I did, He’ll lead a right direction” is Nas referencing his initial decision to go down the wrong path but now has chosen the right path and follows Jesus away from the “devil’s lasso” as he leads the “right direction”.

The initial line here refers to the “thief’s theme” which is a cleverly disguised double entendre. The first meaning being that Nas is a true emcee and that listening to his music will cause people to go berserk “play me at night, they won’t act right”. The people are so infatuated with his talent that they can’t help but go nuts when he’s on the mic. However the “thief” is another reference to the devil and playing the “devil’s theme” is as if satan is talking you into committing crimes. Kind of like the devil on the shoulder cartoon. The next bar “the fiend of hip-hop has got me stuck like a crack pipe” is a reference to addiction. The fiend refers to Nas as an addict of hip-hop music, equating it to his “crack”. Much like a crack addict is “stuck” in the cycle of addiction from the high-withdrawal-relapse, and being unable to stop their downfall. The “fiend” is also yet another reference to Satan as the behind the scenes orchestrator of addiction, the party that causes addicts to be “stuck”. Therefore the “fiend” can refer to 3 separate characters in the single bar: Nas himself, a person caught in a pharmacologic addiction, or the Devil who imparts the illness upon the addict. The final line: “The mind activation, react like I'm facin' time like, Pappy Mason, with pens I'm embracin'” starts with another double entendre “the mind activation” first referencing the central nervous system stimulatory affects of the aforementioned “crack pipe” via its agonistic affects on the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward pathway and increased synaptic availability of norepinephrine. Essentially the “mind” becomes activated by inhalation of crack cocaine. Secondly, the “mind activation” also ties into the latter portion of the bar “react like I’m facing time like Pappy Mason with pens I’m embracin’”. Here Nas references a drug trafficker from Jamaica, Queens who killed/ordered the killing of a NYPD police officer and was sentenced to life in prison. The main defense during the trial was questions regarding Mason’s mental competency so when Nas raps “react like I’m facing time like Pappy Mason” he specifically is referencing the free flowing behavior and thoughts of a person facing Life without who is attempting to get a diminished sentence by acting insane or mentally unable to appreciate his actions. Acting without engaging the frontal lobes and not thinking things through. This ties back to the the “mind activation” reference of crack cocaine as a person under the influence of crack often acts free flowing and insane without thinking things through. So both Mason and the addict are not allotting any cognitive energy to modify their behavior resulting in psychotic behavior whether chemically induced or by the impending criminal sentence. Hence, the last part of the bar “with pens I’m embracin” is a flex to Nas’ ability to grab the pen and write his raps without having to exert any brain power to do so, it comes naturally

@[shegwin:44013] good analysis but it’s a little deeper I think.

This song is true master class to start and you could write a book about the breakdown of these bars so I’ll break a couple parts down for now and if you guys want me to do more let me know!

First one coming from the third verse:

“and I’m amped up, they locked the champ up, even my brains in handcuffs.

Headed for Indiana stabbing women like the phantom”

This line is a reference to Mike Tyson who is the “champ” who was convicted of rape in Indiana 1991. When he says “heading for Indiana stabbing women like the phantom” he’s essentially saying that Mike Tyson “the champ” was not guilty and using “stabbing” as a slang term for sexual penetration as opposed to literal stabbing with a knife. The “phantom” is a reference to a ghostly figure or something that is not apart of reality. Hence, if a ghost raped her and ghosts are not real the she wasn’t actually raped. Meaning that the victim’s story was fabricated. The line “even my brains in handcuffs” is eluding to the truth being restrained from the court proceedings, resulting in a wrongful conviction of Tyson and playing into the next line that I described above.

This entire song also has a religious overtone to it that is not made exceedingly obvious. Along with the initial meaning of his bars they also present subtle double entendres of recurring motifs of Jesus and the Devil appearing throughout by way of metaphor. For example the flow from verse 2:

“Dwelling 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 Jesus, soaking their sins in trays
Of holy water, odds against Nas are slaughter
Thinking a word best describing 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”

The “rotten apple” is a reference to growing up in the Queens projects. The temptation to turn to gang life or drug dealing as a way to get out is the path of Satan referenced by the “devil’s lasso”. Though the path may seem alluring as “there’s no days for broke days, we sell it, smoke pays” referring to easy money from selling crack. It is ultimately a “hassle” and not the right path to take. The next bar talks about Jesus offering a different path that the wiser “old folks” have taken and are “soaking their sins in trays of holy water”. Here the “old folks” are they key figures as this verse starts with “To ill Will god bless your life” referring to his childhood friend who was killed due to choosing the wrong path. The “old folks” were able to live a long life and grow old unlike his young friend that unfortunately lost his life, the difference was the paths they took. Will caught by the devil, the old folks pray to Jesus. The next line “odds against Nas are slaughter” refers to his initial journey down the devil’s path and the astronomical odds he had to overcome to stay alive and be able to change. The next line references his daughter who was born in 1994 the same year the song came out. “Thinking a word best describing my life to name my daughter” and he named her Destiny. Hence, the only way Nas believes he overcame the odds against him was it being his destiny to survive until he could chose a different path which is the next line. “My strength, my son, the star, will be my resurrection” Nas’s son was not born until 2009 so the bar is not referencing his literal son. Instead Nas uses this line as if God was talking through him about Jesus. Saying his son(Jesus) is now what gives Nas strength and offers forgiveness of his past sins through the resurrection after the crucifixion where he died for the sins of the world. This leads into the next line “Born in correction” that Jesus was born to correct the sins of Gods people, also tying back to the old folks “soaking their sins in trays of holy water” as Jesus allows for them to be able to shed their sins and wash them away. The next lines “All the wrong shit I did, He’ll lead a right direction” is Nas referencing his initial decision to go down the wrong path but now has chosen the right path and follows Jesus away from the “devil’s lasso” as he leads the “right direction”.

The last one I’ll do is from the 1st verse:

“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'”

The initial line here refers to the “thief’s theme” which is a cleverly disguised double entendre. The first meaning being that Nas is a true emcee and that listening to his music will cause people to go berserk “play me at night, they won’t act right”. The people are so infatuated with his talent that they can’t help but go nuts when he’s on the mic. However the “thief” is another reference to the devil and playing the “devil’s theme” is as if satan is talking you into committing crimes. Kind of like the devil on the shoulder cartoon. The next bar “the fiend of hip-hop has got me stuck like a crack pipe” is a reference to addiction. The fiend refers to Nas as an addict of hip-hop music, equating it to his “crack”. Much like a crack addict is “stuck” in the cycle of addiction from the high-withdrawal-relapse, and being unable to stop their downfall. The “fiend” is also yet another reference to Satan as the behind the scenes orchestrator of addiction, the party that causes addicts to be “stuck”. Therefore the “fiend” can refer to 3 separate characters in the single bar: Nas himself, a person caught in a pharmacologic addiction, or the Devil who imparts the illness upon the addict. The final line: “The mind activation, react like I'm facin' time like, Pappy Mason, with pens I'm embracin'” starts with another double entendre “the mind activation” first referencing the central nervous system stimulatory affects of the aforementioned “crack pipe” via its agonistic affects on the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward pathway and increased synaptic availability of norepinephrine. Essentially the “mind” becomes activated by inhalation of crack cocaine. Secondly, the “mind activation” also ties into the latter portion of the bar “react like I’m facing time like Pappy Mason with pens I’m embracin’”. Here Nas references a drug trafficker from Jamaica, Queens who killed/ordered the killing of a NYPD police officer and was sentenced to life in prison. The main defense during the trial was questions regarding Mason’s mental competency so when Nas raps “react like I’m facing time like Pappy Mason” he specifically is referencing the free flowing behavior and thoughts of a person facing Life without who is attempting to get a diminished sentence by acting insane or mentally unable to appreciate his actions. Acting without engaging the frontal lobes and not thinking things through. This ties back to the the “mind activation” reference of crack cocaine as a person under the influence of crack often acts free flowing and insane without thinking things through. So both Mason and the addict are not allotting any cognitive energy to modify their behavior resulting in psychotic behavior whether chemically induced or by the impending criminal sentence. Hence, the last part of the bar “with pens I’m embracin” is a flex to Nas’ ability to grab the pen and write his raps without having to exert any brain power to do so, it comes naturally

Reason:

by akira_256

22y ago

this song is nas at his best.

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by frankie gino

21y ago

anthem

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by Shep420

20y ago

it should be "picturin' my peeps NOT EATIN' COULD MAKE my heartbeat skip"

This is classic, with chill jazz to contrast the dark lyrics. Hell yeah it's an anthem. Nas sounds like a motivator, a teacher, the fucking savior of rap on this track.

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by girls call me pogi

19y ago

It's "cruisin in a Sikh's cab".

Another great from the great.

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by HolyInfidel

19y ago

one of the best songs ever

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by ArtVandelay

19y ago

straight classic. i think ive been listening to this track at the very least every month since it came out...and then that's over 10 years ago.
Nas at his finest.

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by ArtVandelay

19y ago

straight classic. i think ive been listening to this track at the very least every month since it came out...and then that's over 10 years ago.
Nas at his finest.

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by k_val_is_so_hood

19y ago

i should let you guys know that nas is a lyrical genius

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by robinhobaby

18y ago

Who is Pappy Mason?

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by orgasticjoe 17y ago

Howard "Pappy" Mason was a drug dealer and criminal who was part of a small drug syndicate in the late 80's in Jamaica Queens. Mason was convicted of ordering a hit on a NYC police officer and was convicted of his murder. Hence facing time like Pappy Mason.