| Song | The Message |
| Artist | Nas |
| Album | The Essential Nas |
| [ti:] | |
| [ar:] | |
| [al:] | |
| [Verse 1] | |
| [Refrain] | |
| [Verse 2] | |
| [Hook] | |
| [Outro](AZ) | |
| [00:05.68] | |
| [00:10.93] | Fake thug, no love |
| [00:11.97] | You get the slug CB4 Gusto |
| [00:13.77] | Your luck low, I didn't know 'til I was drunk though |
| [00:16.08] | You freak niggas played out, get fucked and ate out |
| [00:18.68] | Prostitute turned bitch, I got the gauge out |
| [00:21.24] | |
| [00:23.93] | |
| [00:26.78] | Dipped attache, jump out the Range, empty out the ashtray |
| [00:29.66] | A glass of 'ze makin' mad Cassius Clay |
| [00:32.12] | Red dot plots, murder schemes, thirty-two shotguns |
| [00:34.72] | Regulate with my Dunns |
| [00:36.19] | Seventeen rocks gleam from one ring 17 |
| [00:37.89] | They let me let y'all niggas know one thing |
| [00:40.14] | There's one life, one love, so there can only be one King |
| [00:42.85] | The highlights of living, Vegas-style roll dice in linen |
| [00:45.64] | Antera spinning on Millenniums |
| [00:47.76] | Twenty G bets I'm winning 'em |
| [00:49.30] | Threats I'm sending em |
| [00:50.51] | Lex with TV sets the minimum Lexus |
| [00:52.21] | Ill sex adrenaline |
| [00:53.72] | Party with villains |
| [00:54.78] | A case of Demi-Sec to chase the Henny |
| [00:56.47] | Wet any clique, with the semi-tech who want it |
| [00:58.92] | Diamonds I flaunt it, chicken heads flock - I lace em |
| [01:01.57] | Fried broiled with basil, taste 'em, crack the legs |
| [01:04.28] | Way out of formation it's horizontal how I have em |
| [01:06.74] | Fuckin' me in the Benz wagon |
| [01:08.38] | Can it be Vanity from Last Dragon |
| [01:10.93] | Grab your gun, it's on though |
| [01:12.39] | Shit is grimy, real niggas buck in broad daylight |
| [01:15.48] | With the broke Mac it won't spray right |
| [01:17.43] | Don't give a fuck who they hit as long as the drama's lit |
| [01:20.28] | Yo, overnight thugs bug cause they ain't promised shit |
| [01:23.18] | Hungry-ass hooligans stay on that piranha-shit |
| [01:42.11][01:36.79][01:31.45][01:26.09] | I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death |
| [01:44.95][01:39.25][01:34.00][01:28.59] | I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin' |
| [01:48.02] | I peeped you frontin' |
| [01:49.13] | I was in the Jeep sunk in the seat |
| [01:50.93] | Tinted with heat, beats bumpin' |
| [01:52.47] | Across the street you was wilding |
| [01:54.12] | Talkin' bout how you ran the Island in '89 |
| [01:56.37] | Laying up, playin' the yard with crazy shine |
| [01:58.57] | I cocked a baby 9, that nigga gravy be mine |
| [02:00.92] | Clanked him |
| [02:01.77] | What was he thinkin' on my corner when it's pay me time? |
| [02:03.71] | Dug 'em, you owe me cousin something told me plug him |
| [02:06.46] | So dumb, felt my leg burn then it got numb |
| [02:09.20] | Spun around and shot one |
| [02:10.36] | Heard shots and dropped son |
| [02:11.91] | Caught a hot one, somebody take this biscuit 'fore the cops come |
| [02:14.67] | Then they came asking me my name, what the fuck |
| [02:17.52] | I got stitched up and went through |
| [02:19.28] | Left the hospital that same night, what |
| [02:21.07] | Got my gat back, time to backtrack |
| [02:23.02] | I had the drop so how the fuck I get clapped |
| [02:25.22] | Black was in the jeep watching, all he seen speed by |
| [02:27.82] | was a brown Datsun, and yo nobody in my hood got one |
| [02:31.06] | That clown nigga's through, blazin' at his crew daily |
| [02:33.76] | The Bridge touched me up severely, hear me Queensbridge |
| [02:35.83] | So when I rhyme it's sincerely yours |
| [02:37.98] | Be lightin' L's sipping Coors on all floors in project halls |
| [02:41.43] | Contemplatin' war niggas I was cool with before |
| [02:44.19] | We used to score together, Uptown copping the raw |
| [02:46.89] | But a, a thug changes and love changes |
| [02:49.68] | And best friends become strangers, word up |
| [03:09.19][03:03.53][02:58.26][02:52.67] | Y'all know my steelo |
| [03:11.49][03:06.09][03:00.72][02:55.31] | There ain't an army that could strike back |
| [03:12.72] | Thug niggas |
| [03:15.17] | Yo, to them thug niggas getting it on in the world you know Yo， |
| [03:19.07] | To them niggas that's locked down |
| [03:21.12] | Doing they thing surviving yaknowmsaying |
| [03:23.91] | To my thorough niggas New York and World wide |
| [03:27.21] | Yo to the Queensbridge Militia |
| [03:29.86] | '96 shit, The Firm clique |
| [03:34.41] | Illmatic nigga It Was Written though |
| [03:37.76] | It's been a long time coming |
| [03:41.81] | Y'all fake niggas, trying to copy |
| [03:43.31] | Better come with the real though |
| [03:45.65] | Fake ass niggas yo |
| [03:47.70] | (They throw us slugs we throwing em back, what) |
| [03:50.05] | Bring the shit man, live man |
| [03:51.49] | (Fuck that son, word up) |
| [03:52.69] | Nine-six shit 1996 |
| [03:53.69][Produced by Trackmasters] | |
| [03:54.69] | sampled from Sting - Shape of My Heart |
| ti: | |
| ar: | |
| al: | |
| Verse 1 | |
| Refrain | |
| Verse 2 | |
| Hook | |
| Outro AZ | |
| [00:05.68] | |
| [00:10.93] | Fake thug, no love |
| [00:11.97] | You get the slug CB4 Gusto |
| [00:13.77] | Your luck low, I didn' t know ' til I was drunk though |
| [00:16.08] | You freak niggas played out, get fucked and ate out |
| [00:18.68] | Prostitute turned bitch, I got the gauge out |
| [00:21.24] | |
| [00:23.93] | |
| [00:26.78] | Dipped attache, jump out the Range, empty out the ashtray |
| [00:29.66] | A glass of ' ze makin' mad Cassius Clay |
| [00:32.12] | Red dot plots, murder schemes, thirtytwo shotguns |
| [00:34.72] | Regulate with my Dunns |
| [00:36.19] | Seventeen rocks gleam from one ring 17 |
| [00:37.89] | They let me let y' all niggas know one thing |
| [00:40.14] | There' s one life, one love, so there can only be one King |
| [00:42.85] | The highlights of living, Vegasstyle roll dice in linen |
| [00:45.64] | Antera spinning on Millenniums |
| [00:47.76] | Twenty G bets I' m winning ' em |
| [00:49.30] | Threats I' m sending em |
| [00:50.51] | Lex with TV sets the minimum Lexus |
| [00:52.21] | Ill sex adrenaline |
| [00:53.72] | Party with villains |
| [00:54.78] | A case of DemiSec to chase the Henny |
| [00:56.47] | Wet any clique, with the semitech who want it |
| [00:58.92] | Diamonds I flaunt it, chicken heads flock I lace em |
| [01:01.57] | Fried broiled with basil, taste ' em, crack the legs |
| [01:04.28] | Way out of formation it' s horizontal how I have em |
| [01:06.74] | Fuckin' me in the Benz wagon |
| [01:08.38] | Can it be Vanity from Last Dragon |
| [01:10.93] | Grab your gun, it' s on though |
| [01:12.39] | Shit is grimy, real niggas buck in broad daylight |
| [01:15.48] | With the broke Mac it won' t spray right |
| [01:17.43] | Don' t give a fuck who they hit as long as the drama' s lit |
| [01:20.28] | Yo, overnight thugs bug cause they ain' t promised shit |
| [01:23.18] | Hungryass hooligans stay on that piranhashit |
| [01:42.11][01:36.79][01:31.45][01:26.09] | I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death |
| [01:44.95][01:39.25][01:34.00][01:28.59] | I ain' t the type of brother made for you to start testin' |
| [01:48.02] | I peeped you frontin' |
| [01:49.13] | I was in the Jeep sunk in the seat |
| [01:50.93] | Tinted with heat, beats bumpin' |
| [01:52.47] | Across the street you was wilding |
| [01:54.12] | Talkin' bout how you ran the Island in ' 89 |
| [01:56.37] | Laying up, playin' the yard with crazy shine |
| [01:58.57] | I cocked a baby 9, that nigga gravy be mine |
| [02:00.92] | Clanked him |
| [02:01.77] | What was he thinkin' on my corner when it' s pay me time? |
| [02:03.71] | Dug ' em, you owe me cousin something told me plug him |
| [02:06.46] | So dumb, felt my leg burn then it got numb |
| [02:09.20] | Spun around and shot one |
| [02:10.36] | Heard shots and dropped son |
| [02:11.91] | Caught a hot one, somebody take this biscuit ' fore the cops come |
| [02:14.67] | Then they came asking me my name, what the fuck |
| [02:17.52] | I got stitched up and went through |
| [02:19.28] | Left the hospital that same night, what |
| [02:21.07] | Got my gat back, time to backtrack |
| [02:23.02] | I had the drop so how the fuck I get clapped |
| [02:25.22] | Black was in the jeep watching, all he seen speed by |
| [02:27.82] | was a brown Datsun, and yo nobody in my hood got one |
| [02:31.06] | That clown nigga' s through, blazin' at his crew daily |
| [02:33.76] | The Bridge touched me up severely, hear me Queensbridge |
| [02:35.83] | So when I rhyme it' s sincerely yours |
| [02:37.98] | Be lightin' L' s sipping Coors on all floors in project halls |
| [02:41.43] | Contemplatin' war niggas I was cool with before |
| [02:44.19] | We used to score together, Uptown copping the raw |
| [02:46.89] | But a, a thug changes and love changes |
| [02:49.68] | And best friends become strangers, word up |
| [03:09.19][03:03.53][02:58.26][02:52.67] | Y' all know my steelo |
| [03:11.49][03:06.09][03:00.72][02:55.31] | There ain' t an army that could strike back |
| [03:12.72] | Thug niggas |
| [03:15.17] | Yo, to them thug niggas getting it on in the world you know Yo, |
| [03:19.07] | To them niggas that' s locked down |
| [03:21.12] | Doing they thing surviving yaknowmsaying |
| [03:23.91] | To my thorough niggas New York and World wide |
| [03:27.21] | Yo to the Queensbridge Militia |
| [03:29.86] | ' 96 shit, The Firm clique |
| [03:34.41] | Illmatic nigga It Was Written though |
| [03:37.76] | It' s been a long time coming |
| [03:41.81] | Y' all fake niggas, trying to copy |
| [03:43.31] | Better come with the real though |
| [03:45.65] | Fake ass niggas yo |
| [03:47.70] | They throw us slugs we throwing em back, what |
| [03:50.05] | Bring the shit man, live man |
| [03:51.49] | Fuck that son, word up |
| [03:52.69] | Ninesix shit 1996 |
| [03:53.69][Produced by Trackmasters] | |
| [03:54.69] | sampled from Sting Shape of My Heart |