NAS – N.Y. STATE OF MIND

Lyrics

"Yeah yeah, aiyyo black it's time" (word?)
(Word, it's time nigga?)
"Yeah, it's time man" (aight nigga, begin)
"Yeah, straight out the fuckin dungeons of rap"
"Where fake niggaz don't make it back"
"I don't know how to start this shit, yo, now"
Rappers I monkey flip em with the funky rhythm I be kickin
Musician, inflictin composition
of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin cocaine
Holdin a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now
Bulletholes left in my peepholes
I'm suited up in street clothes
Hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes
Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay
I keep some E&J, sittin bent up in the stairway
Or either on the corner bettin Grants with the celo champs
Laughin at baseheads, tryin to sell some broken amps
G-Packs get off quick, forever niggaz talk shit
Remeniscing about the last time the Task Force flipped
Niggaz be runnin through the block shootin
Time to start the revolution, catch a body head for Houston
Once they caught us off guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and
I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
Pick the Mac up, told brothers, the Mac spit
Lead was hittin niggaz one ran, I made him backflip
Heard a few chicks scream my arm shook, couldn't look
Gave another squeeze heard it click yo, my shit is stuck
Try to cock it, it wouldn't shoot now I'm in danger
Finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber
So now I'm jetting to the building lobby
and it was filled with children probably couldn't see as high as I be
(So whatchu sayin?) It's like the game ain't the same
Got younger niggaz pullin the triggers bringing fame to they name
and claim some corners, crews without guns are goners
In broad daylight, stickup kids, they run up on us
Fo'-fives and gauges, Macs in fact
Same niggaz'll catch a back to back, snatchin yo' cracks in black
There was a snitch on the block gettin niggaz knocked
So hold your stash until the coke price drop
I know this crackhead, who said she gotta smoke nice rock
And if it's good she'll bring ya customers in measuring pots, but yo
You gotta slide on a vacation
Inside information keeps large niggaz erasin and they wives basin
It drops deep as it does in my breath
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined
I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind
"New York state of mind"
"New York state of mind"
"New York state of mind"
"New York state of mind"
Be havin dreams that I'ma gangster -- drinkin Moets, holdin Tecs
Makin sure the cash came correct then I stepped
Investments in stocks, sewing up the blocks
to sell rocks, winning gunfights with mega cops
But just a nigga, walking with his finger on the trigger
Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger
I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin
Give me a Smith and Wessun I'll have niggaz undressing
Thinkin of cash flow, buddah and shelter
Whenever frustrated I'ma hijack Delta
In the P.J.'s, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays
Young bitches is grazed each block is like a maze
full of black rats trapped, plus the Island is packed
From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back, black
I'm livin where the nights is jet black
The fiends fight to get crack I just max, I dream I can sit back
and lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn
Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, homes
I got so many rhymes I don't think I'm too sane
Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain
and be prosperous, though we live dangerous
cops could just arrest me, blamin us, we're held like hostages
It's only right that I was born to use mics
and the stuff that I write, is even tougher than dykes
I'm takin rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow
My rhymin is a vitamin, Hell without a capsule
The smooth criminal on beat breaks
Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes
The city never sleeps, full of villians and creeps
That's where I learned to do my hustle had to scuffle with freaks
I'ma addict for sneakers, twenties of buddah and bitches with beepers
In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
Inhale deep like the words of my breath
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
Nothing's equivalent, to the new york state of mind
"New York state of mind"
"New York state of mind"
"New York state of mind"
"New York state of mind"
(*scratched*) Nasty Nas

Paroles (Traduction)

"Yeah ouais, aiyyo mec c'est le moment" (quoi?)
(Quoi, c'est le moment mec?)
"Yeah, c'est le moment mec" (okay mec, commence)
"Yeah, directement des putains de donjons du rap"
"Où les faux mecs ne reviennent pas"
"Je ne sais pas comment commencer ce truc, yo, maintenant"
Les rappeurs, je les retourne avec le rythme funky que je balance
Musicien, infligeant une composition
de douleur, je suis comme Scarface sniffant de la cocaïne
Tenant un M-16, voyez avec le stylo je suis extrême, maintenant
Des trous de balles laissés dans mes yeux
Je suis en tenue de rue
Donne-moi un neuf et je vaincrai les ennemis
Vous connaissez mon style avec ou sans la diffusion radio
Je garde de l'E&J, assis penché dans l'escalier
Ou bien sur le coin à parier des Grants avec les champions du violoncelle
Riant des drogués, essayant de vendre des amplis cassés
Les sachets de G partent vite, les mecs parlent toujours
Se remémorant la dernière fois où la Force Spéciale a retourné la situation
Les mecs courent dans le bloc en tirant
Il est temps de commencer la révolution, attraper un corps en direction de Houston
Une fois qu'ils nous ont pris au dépourvu, le Mac-10 était dans l'herbe et
J'ai couru comme un guépard avec des pensées d'assassin
J'ai ramassé le Mac, dit aux frères, le Mac crache
Les balles touchaient les mecs, l'un a couru, je l'ai fait basculer en arrière
J'ai entendu quelques filles crier, mon bras tremblait, je ne pouvais pas regarder
J'ai appuyé à nouveau, j'ai entendu un clic, merde, mon arme est bloquée
J'ai essayé d'armer, ça n'a pas tiré, maintenant je suis en danger
J'ai finalement reculé et vu trois balles coincées dans la chambre

Thématique La vie dans le Queens

Style Rap US

Keywords Illmatic, Queens

Entités normées DJ Premier, Nas