Stillmatic (The Intro)

(album: Stillmatic - 2001)

Uh, y'know
I still run with that, that blood of a slave, boiling in my veins
It's just hot – until a nigga can't take it no more
Blood of a slave, heart of a king – turn my voice up

Ayo, the brother's Stillmatic
I crawled up out of that grave, wiping the dirt, cleaning my shirt
They thought I'd make another Illmatic
But it's always forward I'm moving
Never backwards stupid here's another classic
C-notes is falling from the sky, by now the credits roll
They're starring Nas, executive poet, produced directed by
The Kid slash Escobar; narration describes
The lives of lost tribes in the ghetto trying to survive
The feature opens with this young black child, fingers scratched
Cigarette burns on the sofa, turning the TV down
While Mary Jane Girls, 45's playing, soft in the background
Food from C-Town's, mornings was hash browns
Stepped over dope fiends, walking out the door, all of us poor
I learned the difference 'tween the snitches
The real ones, and who's soft, and the murderous, hungriest crews
People jumping from roofs
Shotguns pumping, made it through my youth
Walking very thin lines, ages seven and nine
That's the age I was on my album cover, this is the rebirth
I know the streets thirst water like Moses
Walking through the hot desert searching to be free
This is my ending and my new beginning – nostalgia
Alpha and Omega places, it's like a glitch in The Matrix
I seen it all, did it all, most of y'all will pop for a minute
Spit a sentence then the game'll get rid of y'all
Y'all got there but y'all ain't get it all, I want my style back
Hate to cease y'all plan it's the rap–repo man
To them double up hustlers, bidders, niggas who real
Professional stick-up kids dreaming for mils
Let my words guide you, get inside you
From Crips to Pirus, this is survival

Blood of a slave, heart of a king
Blood of a slave, heart of a king
Uh, uh, blood of a slave, heart of a king
Uh, yeah
Huh, Braveheart, uh