Released: March 9, 1999

Featuring: Carl Thomas Nas

Songwriter: Meeno Loon Nas Jim Croce

Producer: Kanye West

[Mase]
Let's get it on

[Chorus: Carl Thomas]
You made me
You made me
You made me the way I am today
You're the reason why
I live how I live
Cuz you made me the way I am

[Verse 1: Loon]
First of all, I was the worst of all
The first born, took my first breath, it was on
And thanks to my moms, and some help from Nicky Barnes
I was raised in ways of a Don
They gas me like Exxon
Had me dealin' with ex cons, frontin' with they Rolex on
Get sexed on a regular basis, grown women puttin' they faces
In all the wrong places, molesting me, now you see why my destiny
Was fucked up cuz my recipe
But I blame my mother cuz I can't blame no other
And that's how my game was discovered
My mom was a sucker, did that bullshit to my brother
But no matter what, I'mma love her
She gave me life, even though she got high undercover
If she die, I can't find me another
But look what you made me

[Chorus: Carl Thomas]
You made me
You made me
You made me the way I am today
You're the reason why
I live how I live
Cuz you made me the way I am

[Verse 2: Meeno]
Yeah, you made me this way, since the day I was born
When you slid on that crack shit, mom be strong
'Fore long, I realized the same old song
Another cat that done bounced on his kid and his spouse
At the beginning, I knew my pops just had to be kidding
He's coming back any day, he wouldn't leave us that way
But anyway, the time got longer, my anger got stronger
It's no time to wonder the money I hunger
Without a blunder, I vowed to be all I could be
Started running guns O.T., me and my code D
Leave from the backstreets of A-T-L to N-Y-C
When the gunspot got hot, I switched to the D
When the D spot got hot, I went low key
Now that Harlem World spot hot, and I'm on TV
I don't need no fake calls from yo' ass at all
Just leave me the way you left me and watch me ball

[Chorus: Carl Thomas]
You made me
You made me
You made me the way I am today
You're the reason why
I live how I live
Cuz you made me the way I am

[Bridge: Nas]
What, what, uh
You the reason
And I thank you, what
Check it out

[Verse 3: Nas]
Yo, yo, stormy night, September '73
Would you believe what my mom recieved from heaven was me?
Second from me, my younger brother desperate as me
We see the world alike, type of girls he likes, the girls I like
The shit that make him mad, it make me hype, bug like that
Share the same blood like that, grew up around thugs poppin' and shit
Cardboard boxes and shit, dirt bikes
But now we hoppin' whips and merc, right?
Money's my birthright, my righteous birth so I floss
It's up to you to look inside yourself, see what's yours
Consecutive times, New Year's Eve, light off nines in the skylines
Imaginary graves, poor the Henney on it
Share with my dogs who's here, cuz there's so many gone
Yeah, Meeno, Ill Will, all my people
Big Stretch, we'll never forget, Allah keeps you
Until we meet again, through my pen y'all can speak through, uh

[Chorus: Carl Thomas]
You made me
You made me
You made me the way I am today
You're the reason why
I live how I live
Cuz you made me the way I am

Harlem World

Harlem World was a hip-hop group assembled by rapper Ma$e who released their only album, The Movement, in 1999. The group included Ma$e’s twin sister Baby Stase and his brother Blinky Blink, plus Loon, Huddy Combs, Meeno, Suga J, and Cardan.

The Movement was the first and only album released by Ma$e’s record label All Out, which was distributed by Sony Music through Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def label. The album debuted at No. 11, and was certified gold.

Shortly before the album’s release, Cardan was replaced by new member Suga J for unknown reasons. While he still had vocals on five songs, the album’s cover was reshot without him and he was not listed as an official group member in publicity materials. His verse was edited out of the lead single “I Really Like It.”