One Mic

(album: Stillmatic - 2001)

One time, yeah, yeah

Yo, all I need is one mic, one beat, one stage
One nigga front, my face on the front page
Only if I had one gun, one girl and one crib
One God to show me how to do things his son did
Pure, like a cup of virgin blood
Mixed with 151, one sip'll make a nigga flip
Writing names on my hollow tips, plotting shit
Mad violence, who I'm gon' body? This hood politics
Acknowledge it, leave bodies chopped up in garbages
Seeds watch us, grow up and try to follow us
Police watch us, roll up and try knocking us
One knee I ducked, could it be my time is up?
But my luck, I got up, the cop shot again
Bus stop, glass burst, a fiend drops his Heineken
Ricocheting between the spots that I'm hiding in
Blacking out as I shoot back—fuck getting hit!
This is my hood, I'ma rep to the death of it
'Til everybody come home, little niggas is grown
Hood rats, don't abortion your womb
We need more warriors soon
Sent from the stars, sun and the moon
In this life of police chases, street sweepers and coppers
Stick-up kids with no conscience, leaving victims with doctors
If you really think you ready to die with 9s out
This is what Nas is 'bout, nigga, the time is now!

Yo, all I need is one mic
All I need is one mic (that's all I need)
All I need is one mic (all I need, niggas)
All I need is one mic (yeah)

All I need is one blunt, one page and one pen
One prayer, tell God forgive me for one sin
Matter of fact, maybe more than one
Look back at all the hatred against me—fuck all of them!
Jesus died at age 33, there's 33 shots
From twin Glocks, there's 16 apiece, that's 32
Which means one of my guns was holding 17
27 hit your crew, six went into you
Everybody gotta die sometime, hope your funeral
Never gets shot up, bullets tear through the innocent
Nothing is fair, niggas roll up, shooting from wheelchairs
My heart is racing, tasting revenge in the air
I let this shit slide for too many years, too many times
Now I'm strapped with a couple of MACs, too many 9s
If y'all niggas really with me, get busy, load up the semis
Do more than just hold it, explode the clip until you empty
There's nothing in our way: they bust, we bust, they rush, we rush
Lead flying, feel it? I feel it in my gut
That we take these bitches to war, lie 'em down
'Cause we stronger now, my nigga, the time is now!

All I need is one mic (that's all I need, niggas, that's all I need)
All I need is one mic (there's nothing else in the world)
All I need is one mic (that's all a nigga need to do his thing y'know)
All I need is one mic (this is all I need)

All I need is one life, one try, one breath, I'm one man
What I stand for speaks for itself, they don't understand
Don't wanna see me on top, too egotistical
Talking all that slick shit the same way these bitches do
Wonder what my secrets is
Niggas'll move on you only if they know what your weakness is
I have none, too late to grab guns
I'm blasting 'cause I'm a cool nigga
Thought I wouldn't have that ass done? Fooled you niggas
What you call an infinite brawl, eternal souls clashing
War gets deep, some beef is everlasting
Complete with thick scars
Brothers knifing each other up in prison yards
Drama, where does it start?
You know the block was ill as a youngster
Every night it was like a cop'll get killed
Body found in the dumpster
For real a hustler, purchased my Range
Niggas throwing dirt on my name
Jealous 'cause fiends got they work and complain
Bitches left me 'cause they thought I was finished
Shoulda knew she wasn't true
She came to me when her man caught a sentence
Diamonds are blinding, I never make the same mistakes
Moving with a change of pace
Lighter load, see now the king is straight
Swelling my melon 'cause none of these niggas real
Heard they were telling police, how can a kingpin squeal?
This is crazy, I'm on the right track, I'm finally found
You need some soul-searching, the time is now

All I need is one mic (yeah, yeah yeah yeah)
All I need is one mic (all I ever needed in this world, fuck cash)
All I need is one mic (fuck the cars, the jewelry)
All I need is one mic (to spread my voice to the whole world, baby)