It Ain't Hard To Tell

(álbum: Illmatic - 1994)

It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele
My mic check is life or death, breathing a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of Buddha through righteous steps
Deep like The Shining, sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a Uzi on the island in my army jacket lining
Hit the Earth like a comet invasion!
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian: half-man, half-amazing
'Cause in my physical I can express through song
Delete stress like Motrin, then extend strong
I drink Moët with Medusa, give her shotguns in Hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale; it ain't hard to tell

The Buddha monk's in your trunk, turn the bass up
Not stories by Aesop
Place your loot up, parties I shoot up
Nas, I analyze, drop a jew-el, inhale from the L
School a fool well, you feel it like Braille
It ain't hard to tell, I kick a skill, like Shaquille holds a pill
Vocabulary spills, I'm Ill plus Matic
I freak beats, slam it, like Iron Sheik
Jam like a TEC with correct techniques
So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me
Scanning while you're planning ways to sabotage me
I leave 'em froze, like heroin in your nose
Nas will rock well; it ain't hard to tell

This rhythmatic explosion
Is what your frame of mind has chosen
I'll leave your brain stimulated, niggas is frozen
Speak with criminal slang, begin like a violin
End like Leviathan, it's deep? Well, let me try again
Wisdom be leaking out my grapefruit, troop
I dominate break loops, giving mics men-e-strual cycles
Street's disciple, I rock beats that's mega trifle
And groove even smoother than moves by Villanova
You're still a soldier, I'm like Sly Stone in Cobra
Packing like a Rasta in the weed spot
Vocals will squeeze Glocks
MCs eavesdrop, though they need not to sneak
My poetry's deep, I never fell
Nas' raps should be locked in a cell; it ain't hard to tell