[Intro: Will.I.Am (Nas)] Hip hop Hip hop (Ugh!) Is dead (Had to flip this track again, y'all!) Hip-hip hop Hip hop (Ugh!) Is dead Hip-hip hop (Ugh!) Hip-hip hop...is dead (NYC! Dirty South!) Hip-hip hop (West Coast!) Hip hop (Midwest!) Hip hop (Let's go!)
[Chorus: Nas] If hip hop should die before I wake I'll put an extended clip and body 'em all day! Roll to every station, wreck the DJ! Roll to every station, wreck the DJ! If hip hop should die before I wake I'll load an extended clip and body 'em all day! Roll to every station, wreck the DJ! Roll to every station, wreck the DJ!
[Will.I.Am:] Hip hop just died this mornin' And she's dead, she's dead
[Verse 1: Nas] Yeah, people smoke, chill, party, and die in the same corner Get cash, live fast, body their man's mama Quick fast, trigger fingers, on the llama Revenge in their eyes, Hennessy and the ganja Word to the wise with villain state of minds Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind (Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind) Whenever, if ever, I roll up, it's sown up Any ghetto will tell ya', Nas helped grow us up My face once graced promotional Sony trucks Hundred million and billin', I helped blow 'em up Gave my man my right, I could have went left So like my girl Foxy, the kid went Def/deaf So people, who's your top ten? Is it MC Shan? Is it MC Ren?
[Chorus]
[Bridge: Will.I.Am] Hip hop just died this mornin' And she's dead, she's dead
[Verse 2: Nas] The bigger the cap, the bigger the peelin' Come through, something ill, missin' the ceilin' What influenced my raps? Stick-ups and killings Kidnappings, project buildings, drug dealings Criticize that, why is that? 'Cuz Nas rap is compared to legitimized crap 'Cuz we love to talk on nasty chickens Most intellectuals will only half listen So you can't blame jazz musicians Or David Stern with his NBA fashion issues Oh, I they like me, in my white tee You can't ice me ? we here for life, B! On my second marriage, hip hop's my first wifey And for that, we not takin' it lightly If hip hop should die, we die together Bodies in the morgue lie together All together now!
[Chorus]
[Bridge: Will.I.Am] Hip hop just died this mornin' Hip hop just died this mornin' Hip hop just died this mornin' And she's dead, she's dead
[Beats stops]
[Crowd chants "Hip hop!" before and during all of Verse 3]
[Verse 3: Nas] Everybody sound the same, commercialize the game Reminiscin' when it wasn't all business It forgot where it started So we all gather here for the dearly departed Hip-hopper since a toddler One homeboy became a man, then a mobster If it dies, let me get my last swig of Vodka R.I.P., we'll donate your lungs to a rasta! [Beats starts up again] Went from turntables to MP3's From "Beat Street" to commercials on Mickey D's From gold cables to Jacobs From plain facials to Botox and face lifts I'm lookin' over my shoulder It's about eighty people from my hood that showed up And they came to show love Sold out concert and the doors are closed shut