N.Y. State of Mind

Song N.Y. State of Mind
Artist Nas
Album Illmatic XX

Lyrics

[00:00.00] "N.Y. State of Mind"
[00:01.24] Yeah, yeah
[00:04.45] Ayo, black, it's time, word (Word, it's time, man)
[00:07.74] It's time, man (Aight, man, begin)
[00:12.01] Straight out the fucking dungeons of rap
[00:14.83] Where fake niggas don't make it back
[00:19.48] I don't know how to start this shit, yo now
[00:23.02] Rappers, I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm I be kickin'
[00:25.99] Musician, inflictin' composition of pain
[00:28.97] I'm like Scarface sniffin' cocaine
[00:30.88] Holding an M16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now
[00:34.44] Bullet holes left in my peepholes
[00:36.54] I'm suited up in street clothes
[00:37.78] hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes
[00:39.89] Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay
[00:42.49] I keep some E&J, sitting bent up in the stairway
[00:45.40] Or either on the corner betting Grants with the cee-lo champs
[00:48.51] Laughing at baseheads tryna sell some broken amps
[00:51.26] G-packs get off quick, forever niggas talk shit
[00:53.92] Reminiscing about the last time the Task Force flipped
[00:56.68] Niggas be running through the block shootin'
[00:59.44] Time to start the revolution, catch a body, head for Houston
[01:02.29] Once they caught us off-guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and
[01:05.16] I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
[01:08.20] Pick the Mac up, told brothers, "Back up," the Mac spit
[01:11.01] Lead was hittin' niggas, one ran – I made him backflip
[01:13.72] Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look
[01:16.73] Gave another squeeze, heard it click, "Yo, my shit is stuck"
[01:19.53] Try to cock it, it wouldn't shoot, now I'm in danger
[01:22.19] Finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber
[01:25.10] So now I'm jetting to the building lobby
[01:27.60] And it was full of children probably couldn't see as high as I be
[01:30.82] (So what you sayin'?) It's like the game ain't the same
[01:32.77] Got younger niggas pulling the triggers bringing fame to their name
[01:35.88] And claim some corners, crews without guns are goners
[01:38.84] In broad daylight, stickup kids – they run up on us
[01:42.36] 45's and gauges, Macs, in fact
[01:44.66] Same niggas will catch you back-to-back, snatching your cracks in black
[01:47.82] There was a snitch on the block getting niggas knocked
[01:50.72] So hold your stash 'til the coke price drop
[01:53.28] I know this crackhead who said she's got to smoke nice rock
[01:55.89] And if it's good, she'll bring you customers in measuring pots
[01:58.80] But yo, you gotta slide on a vacation, inside information
[02:02.41] Keeps large niggas erasin' and their wives basin'
[02:04.96] It drops deep as it does in my breath
[02:07.12] I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
[02:10.02] Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined
[02:13.19] I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind
[02:16.05] New York state of mind
[02:20.20] New York state of mind
[02:23.16] New York state of mind
[02:25.57] New York state of mind
[02:27.01] Be having dreams that I'm a gangsta, drinking Moets, holding Tecs
[02:30.08] Making sure the cash came correct, then I stepped
[02:33.15] Investments in stocks, sewing up the blocks to sell rocks
[02:36.55] Winning gunfights with mega-cops
[02:38.56] But just a nigga walking with his finger on the trigger
[02:41.31] Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger
[02:44.47] I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'
[02:47.23] Give me a Smith & Wesson, I have niggas undressin'
[02:50.04] Thinking of cash flow, buddha and shelter
[02:53.09] Whenever frustrated, I'm a hijack Delta
[02:55.50] In the PJ's, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays
[02:58.37] Young bitches is grazed, each block is like a maze
[03:01.36] Full of black rats trapped plus the Island is packed
[03:03.93] From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back, black
[03:06.83] I'm living where the nights is jet-black
[03:09.35] The fiends fight to get crack, I just max, I dream I can sit back
[03:12.35] And lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn
[03:15.16] Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, holmes
[03:18.51] I got so many rhymes, I don't think I'm too sane
[03:20.78] Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain
[03:22.88] And be prosperous, though we live dangerous
[03:25.99] Cops could just arrest me, blaming us, we're held like hostages
[03:29.40] It's only right that I was born to use mics
[03:32.26] And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes
[03:35.16] I've taken rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow
[03:37.97] My rhymin' is a vitamin held without a capsule
[03:40.79] The smooth criminal on beat breaks
[03:43.35] Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes
[03:46.15] The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps
[03:49.11] That's where I learned to do my hustle, had to scuffle with freaks
[03:52.01] I'm an addict for sneakers, 20's of buddha and bitches with beepers
[03:54.67] In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
[03:58.09] Inhale deep like the words of my breath
[04:00.24] I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
[04:03.09] I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
[04:06.16] Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind
[04:09.36] New York state of mind
[04:13.13] New York state of mind
[04:16.09] New York state of mind
[04:18.75] New York state of mind

Pinyin

[00:00.00] " N. Y. State of Mind"
[00:01.24] Yeah, yeah
[00:04.45] Ayo, black, it' s time, word Word, it' s time, man
[00:07.74] It' s time, man Aight, man, begin
[00:12.01] Straight out the fucking dungeons of rap
[00:14.83] Where fake niggas don' t make it back
[00:19.48] I don' t know how to start this shit, yo now
[00:23.02] Rappers, I monkey flip ' em with the funky rhythm I be kickin'
[00:25.99] Musician, inflictin' composition of pain
[00:28.97] I' m like Scarface sniffin' cocaine
[00:30.88] Holding an M16, see with the pen I' m extreme, now
[00:34.44] Bullet holes left in my peepholes
[00:36.54] I' m suited up in street clothes
[00:37.78] hand me a nine and I' ll defeat foes
[00:39.89] Y' all know my steelo with or without the airplay
[00:42.49] I keep some E J, sitting bent up in the stairway
[00:45.40] Or either on the corner betting Grants with the ceelo champs
[00:48.51] Laughing at baseheads tryna sell some broken amps
[00:51.26] Gpacks get off quick, forever niggas talk shit
[00:53.92] Reminiscing about the last time the Task Force flipped
[00:56.68] Niggas be running through the block shootin'
[00:59.44] Time to start the revolution, catch a body, head for Houston
[01:02.29] Once they caught us offguard, the Mac10 was in the grass and
[01:05.16] I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
[01:08.20] Pick the Mac up, told brothers, " Back up," the Mac spit
[01:11.01] Lead was hittin' niggas, one ran I made him backflip
[01:13.72] Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn' t look
[01:16.73] Gave another squeeze, heard it click, " Yo, my shit is stuck"
[01:19.53] Try to cock it, it wouldn' t shoot, now I' m in danger
[01:22.19] Finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber
[01:25.10] So now I' m jetting to the building lobby
[01:27.60] And it was full of children probably couldn' t see as high as I be
[01:30.82] So what you sayin'? It' s like the game ain' t the same
[01:32.77] Got younger niggas pulling the triggers bringing fame to their name
[01:35.88] And claim some corners, crews without guns are goners
[01:38.84] In broad daylight, stickup kids they run up on us
[01:42.36] 45' s and gauges, Macs, in fact
[01:44.66] Same niggas will catch you backtoback, snatching your cracks in black
[01:47.82] There was a snitch on the block getting niggas knocked
[01:50.72] So hold your stash ' til the coke price drop
[01:53.28] I know this crackhead who said she' s got to smoke nice rock
[01:55.89] And if it' s good, she' ll bring you customers in measuring pots
[01:58.80] But yo, you gotta slide on a vacation, inside information
[02:02.41] Keeps large niggas erasin' and their wives basin'
[02:04.96] It drops deep as it does in my breath
[02:07.12] I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
[02:10.02] Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined
[02:13.19] I think of crime when I' m in a New York state of mind
[02:16.05] New York state of mind
[02:20.20] New York state of mind
[02:23.16] New York state of mind
[02:25.57] New York state of mind
[02:27.01] Be having dreams that I' m a gangsta, drinking Moets, holding Tecs
[02:30.08] Making sure the cash came correct, then I stepped
[02:33.15] Investments in stocks, sewing up the blocks to sell rocks
[02:36.55] Winning gunfights with megacops
[02:38.56] But just a nigga walking with his finger on the trigger
[02:41.31] Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger
[02:44.47] I ain' t the type of brother made for you to start testin'
[02:47.23] Give me a Smith Wesson, I have niggas undressin'
[02:50.04] Thinking of cash flow, buddha and shelter
[02:53.09] Whenever frustrated, I' m a hijack Delta
[02:55.50] In the PJ' s, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays
[02:58.37] Young bitches is grazed, each block is like a maze
[03:01.36] Full of black rats trapped plus the Island is packed
[03:03.93] From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back, black
[03:06.83] I' m living where the nights is jetblack
[03:09.35] The fiends fight to get crack, I just max, I dream I can sit back
[03:12.35] And lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn
[03:15.16] Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, holmes
[03:18.51] I got so many rhymes, I don' t think I' m too sane
[03:20.78] Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain
[03:22.88] And be prosperous, though we live dangerous
[03:25.99] Cops could just arrest me, blaming us, we' re held like hostages
[03:29.40] It' s only right that I was born to use mics
[03:32.26] And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes
[03:35.16] I' ve taken rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow
[03:37.97] My rhymin' is a vitamin held without a capsule
[03:40.79] The smooth criminal on beat breaks
[03:43.35] Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes
[03:46.15] The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps
[03:49.11] That' s where I learned to do my hustle, had to scuffle with freaks
[03:52.01] I' m an addict for sneakers, 20' s of buddha and bitches with beepers
[03:54.67] In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
[03:58.09] Inhale deep like the words of my breath
[04:00.24] I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
[04:03.09] I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
[04:06.16] Nothing' s equivalent to the New York state of mind
[04:09.36] New York state of mind
[04:13.13] New York state of mind
[04:16.09] New York state of mind
[04:18.75] New York state of mind