[Intro: AZ] Yea, yea, check it out I see today's mathematics as being understanding, you know? Understanding is having the ability to see things clearly For what they are not what they present theyself to be It completes the cipher, you know what I'm saying? It's also symbolic to the black child which is the best part Ayo, son, represent
[Verse 1: Nas] Now I'm the average nigga in the street life God I try to beat trife odds, ride my elite through the night fog and park It's Buddha to be sparked, it's consistent The beast smells the el because it travels long distance Cruising in his Chrysler, pursuing niggas in my cipher Start wildin' like insane asylum on Rikers Island Verbal assassin, I murder freestylin' One two for the gun crew, three drinking Cristal n I play the side cause the words of man kill Proverbs, buck out my grill, real as Ill Will, keep still Nobody move nobody die, why must I be high? Busting in trife bitches, touchin' mic switches It's like a hot spoon of heroin, a Don like Perignon Females love the guns I be wearing Plant my seeds to live infinite, indeed in my sentences I flow demandin', that's understandin'
[Verse 2: Nas] 850 Tempo but rugged like a Pinto Chop shop hip-hop, burn the block intro High priests release voodoo, déjà vu and this taboo Illmatic shit and what have you Chef cocaine cook, no brain got the proper diction My competition bleeds words and weed blurs my vision I'm freezing in time, stop the rhyme I'm sober in stolen Range Rover much crime I, stick up America, Nas in your area Disrupt the sound barrier, clowns get pounds of terror A full whip for more clips then Clint has in his era Dirty Harry, cold black the uncanny, of Kojak A Beretta sticking up trucks carrying amaretto Clever to entice 'em, herbs I'm micin' while I'm pricin' Niggas like they're slaves, best behave I'm the nice one Nas; broke it down for Nasir, please protect your Pop Dukes, resurrection international hoes, I'm sexin' Or you'll be fucking one section, question? Does a lonely mic give me an erection?, yes, son On a float like the Jetsons futuristic rappin' mysitic Bust it, try and diss while my finger is on the iron biscuit I rhyme terrific sparklin' like the diamond district It's understanding