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You're Da Man Lyrics
Uh uh, yo
They plan was to knock me out the top of the game
But I overstand they truth is all lame
I hold cannons that shoot balls of flames
Right in they fat mouth then I carve my name
Nas - too real, Nas - true king
It's however you feel, g'head, you swing
Your arms too short to box with god
I don't kill soloists only kill squads
Fame went to they head, so now it's "Fuck Nas"
Yesterday you begged for a deal, today you tough guys
I seen it comin
Soon as I popped my first bottle I spotted my enemies tryna' do what I do
Came in with my style, so I fathered you
I kept changin on the world since "...Barbeque"
Now you wanna hang with niggas I hung with
Fuck bitches I hit, it's funny I once said...
If I, ever make a record
I take a check and put something away for a rainy day to make my exit
But look at me now, ten years deep
Since the project, ??
I never asked to be top of rap's elite
Just a ghetto child tryna' learn the traps of the streets
But look at me now
[Chorus]
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
But wait a sec', give me time to explain, women and fast cars
And diamond rings can poison a rap star
It's suicidal, how I smoke in so much la'
I saw a dead bird flyin through a broken sky
Wish I could flap wings and fly away
To where black kings and Ghana stay
So I could get on my flesh right away
But that'll be the day when it's peace
When my gat don't need to spray
When these streets are safe to play
Sex with death, indulge in these women
Vision my own skeleton swimmin in eternal fire
Broads play with pentagrams in they vagina
Like the Exorcist, then they gave birth to my seeds
I beg for God's help, why they love hurtin me?
I'm your disciple, a thug certainly
I'm the N the A to the S-I-R
If I wasn't I must've been Escobar
Forty-five in my waist, starin at my reflection
In the mirror, sittin still in the chair like my conception
When everything around me got cloudy, the chair became a king's throne
My destiny found me
It was clear why the struggle was so painful
Metamorphosis, this is what I changed to
And God, I'm so thankful
[Chorus to fade]
They plan was to knock me out the top of the game
But I overstand they truth is all lame
I hold cannons that shoot balls of flames
Right in they fat mouth then I carve my name
Nas - too real, Nas - true king
It's however you feel, g'head, you swing
Your arms too short to box with god
I don't kill soloists only kill squads
Fame went to they head, so now it's "Fuck Nas"
Yesterday you begged for a deal, today you tough guys
I seen it comin
Soon as I popped my first bottle I spotted my enemies tryna' do what I do
Came in with my style, so I fathered you
I kept changin on the world since "...Barbeque"
Now you wanna hang with niggas I hung with
Fuck bitches I hit, it's funny I once said...
If I, ever make a record
I take a check and put something away for a rainy day to make my exit
But look at me now, ten years deep
Since the project, ??
I never asked to be top of rap's elite
Just a ghetto child tryna' learn the traps of the streets
But look at me now
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
"You're the man" "You're the man"
And diamond rings can poison a rap star
It's suicidal, how I smoke in so much la'
I saw a dead bird flyin through a broken sky
Wish I could flap wings and fly away
To where black kings and Ghana stay
So I could get on my flesh right away
But that'll be the day when it's peace
When my gat don't need to spray
When these streets are safe to play
Sex with death, indulge in these women
Vision my own skeleton swimmin in eternal fire
Broads play with pentagrams in they vagina
Like the Exorcist, then they gave birth to my seeds
I beg for God's help, why they love hurtin me?
I'm your disciple, a thug certainly
I'm the N the A to the S-I-R
If I wasn't I must've been Escobar
Forty-five in my waist, starin at my reflection
In the mirror, sittin still in the chair like my conception
When everything around me got cloudy, the chair became a king's throne
My destiny found me
It was clear why the struggle was so painful
Metamorphosis, this is what I changed to
And God, I'm so thankful
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Awesome lyrics and song. To me, it's Nas explaining all the pitfalls that are involved in the rap game which regular people never see because all they ever are privy to is the glitz and glamor (rims, cars, money, women, Cristal, etc.).
Nas is explaining almost in a warning tone to other potential young rappers to avoid these pitfalls at all cost, as if they become famous, they'll have someone telling them "You're the man" while they're hot. But when/if they fall off, all those "friends" will leave.
He's also talking about people who rap for the wrong reasons, aka to get money and fame. Nas says that he never really wanted fame, it just happened because he was a good rapper- "I never asked to be top of rap's elite Just a ghetto child tryna' learn the traps of the streets But look at me now"
My favorite line is "Your arms is too short to box with God"
Ha, I love that line, too.
'...Barbeque' refers to the song Live at the Barbeque, a song on Main Source's 1991 album, which was the first song that Nas was on.
this song's great, from the first time I heard it it struck me as classic Nas tone. a relatively young guy with a ton of wisdom, and like GrtOne41 said it's almost a cautionary tale to other young rappers. it sort of reminds me of Rise and Fall as he deals with personal struggles in both and shaking himself out of the funk he was in. some great imagery in this song, especially in the beginning and end of the second verse, he's letting us in to his personal space for a second and telling us what was going on in his head.
"I don't kill soloists, only kill squads" haha fucking badass
he is the best rapper alive
well him and outkast :)
"Your arms too short to box with God"? Erm Black Star(Kweli) used a smiliar line "your firearms are too short to box with God"? And Black Star came out in 98, Stillmatic in 01 if I'm not wrong. So I'm not sure if it originated from Nas. I remember Xzibit using something similar in a song with Kweli as well.
Not that I'm playa hating though, this is my favourite Nas song of all time, and one of my fav. hip hop songs. The line that killed it for me was "I beg for God's help, why they love hurtin' me. I'm your disciple, a thug certainly".
Lines about flying away to Ghana and the metamorphosis into a king from all his struggles were dope too. This is truly Nas on his throne, at the top of his game.
that whole first verse is about the jay-z and nas beef when this album was released. "Right in they fat mouth then I carve my name"= jay-z's big lips "I don't kill soloists only kill squads"= see Nas' "Ether" "Fame went to they head, so now it's "Fuck Nas"= see Jay-Z's "Takeover" "Yesterday you begged for a deal, today you tough guys"= When Jay-Z was making his first album he asked Nas to be on it, but he declined saying Jay should do it himself, like Nas did on his first album "Came in with my style, so I fathered you"= In "Ether," Nas states that Jay took his rhyme style on Reasonable Doubt "Now you wanna hang with niggas I hung with Fuck bitches I hit,"= On the Jay song "Superugly," a reply to "Ether," he states that he slept with Nas' ex
This song is so ill "Sex with death, indulge in these women picture my own skeleton swimmin in eternal fire Broads play with pentagrams in they vagina like the Exorcist instead they gave birth to my seed, I beg for God's help why the love hurtin me?..." thats like the hottest line in the song