Released: April 20, 2018

Featuring: The National Symphony Orchestra

Songwriter: Q-Tip Jimmy Heath Nas

Producer: The National Symphony Orchestra

[Intro: Nas]
Damn

[Verse 1: Nas]
What up, kid? I know shit is rough doin' your bid
When the cops came you shoulda slid to my crib
Fuck it, black, no time for lookin' back, it's done
Plus, congratulations, you know you got a son
I heard he looks like ya, why don't your lady write ya?
Told her she should visit, that's when she got hyper
Flippin', talkin' about he acts too rough
He didn't listen, he be riffin' while I'm tellin' him stuff
I was like, "Yeah," your girl don't care, she a snake too
Messin' with them niggas from that fake crew that hate you
But yo, guess who got shot in the dome-piece?
Jerome's niece, on her way home from Jones Beach
It's bugged, plus little Rob is sellin' drugs on the dime
Hangin' out with young thugs that all carry 9's
Is more trife than ever
What up with Cormega? Did you see him? Are y'all together?
If so, then hold the fort down, represent to the fullest
Say what's up to Herb, Ice and Bullet
I left a half a hundred in your commissary
You was my dawg when push came to shove
(One what?) One love!

[Chorus: Nas]
One love, one love, one love
We should write letters to one another
Now they email you from jail, right?
Yeah, one love, one love, one love, one love
Yeah, one love, one love, one love, one love

[Verse 2: Nas]
Dear Born, you'll be out soon, stay strong
Out in New York the same shit is goin' on
The crackheads stalkin'
Hold, check out the story yesterday when I was walkin'
That nigga you shot last year tried to appear
Like he hurtin' somethin'
Word to mother
And he be pumpin' on your block
Your man gave him your Glock
And now they run together — what up, son?
Since I'm on the streets I'ma put it to a
But I heard you blew a dude with a...for the phone piece
Wildin' on the Island, but now in Elmira
Better chill, ‘cause them niggas will put that ass on fire
Last time you wrote you said they tried you in the showers
But maintain, when you come home the corner's ours
On the reals, all these crab dudes know the deal
When we start the revolution all they probably do is squeal
But chill, see you on the next V-I
I gave your mom dukes loot for kicks, plus sent you flicks
Your brother's buckwildin' in 4-Main, he wrote me
He might beat his case, 'til he come home he'll play it lowkey
So stay civilized, time flies
Though incarcerated your mind dies
I hate it when your moms cries
It kinda makes me want to murder, for reala
I even got a mask and gloves to bust slugs

[Chorus: Nas]
One love, one love, one love, one love
We keep it 100
One love, one love, one love, one love
Yeah, one love, one love, one love, one love
Here's the summary, for the whole shit

[Verse 3: Nas]
Sometimes I sit back with a Buddha sack
Mind's in another world, thinkin'
"How can we exist through the facts?"
Written in school text books, bibles, et cetera
Fuck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er
So I be ghost from my projects
I take my pen and pad for the weekend
Hittin' L's while I'm sleepin'
A two-day stay, you may say I need the time alone
To relax my dome, no phone, left the 9 at home
You see the streets had me stressed somethin' terrible
Fuckin' with the corners have a nigga up in Bellevue
Or H..., hit with numbers from 8 to 10
A future in a maximum state pen is grim
So I comes back home, nobody's out but Shorty Doo-Wop
Rollin' two phillies together: in the Bridge we call 'em
He said: "Nas, niggas caught me bustin' off the roof
So I wear a bulletproof and pack a black tre-deuce."
He inhaled so deep, shut his eyes like he was sleep
Started coughin', one eye peeked to watch me speak
I sat back like The Mack, my army suit was black
I was chillin' on the corner
Where he pumped his loose cracks
I took the L when he passed it, this little bastard
Keeps me blasted and starts talkin' mad shit
Told him don't let niggas fool him
‘Cause when the pistol blows
The one that's murdered be the
Tough luck when niggas are..., families fucked up
Coulda caught your man, but didn't look when you bucked up
Mistakes happen, so take heed, never bust up
At the crowd, catch him solo
Shorty's laugh was cold-blooded as he spoke so foul
Only twelve, tryin' to tell me that he liked my style
Then I rose, wipin' the blunt's ash from my clothes
Then froze, only to blow the herb smoke through my nose
And told my little man I'ma ghost, I broze
Left some jewels, he can sell if he chose
Words of wisdom from Nas: try to rise up above
Keep an eye out for Jake, Shorty Wop, one love

[Chorus: Nas]
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
Real shit
"Represent"
"Represent"

[Outro: Nas]
Lot of dudes I wrote about on that album have passed on
And that's [?] specifically
Damn, my man George
Marty, Yammie
There so many of them

Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, known to one and all as Nas, is one of hip-hop’s best-known, most mercurial, and lyrically blessed figures ever to touch the microphone. Since his heart-stopping debut turn on Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque,” Nas has delivered countless beautifully structured, thought-provoking, keenly observed verses.

Growing up in Queens, NY, Nas never really performed in big crowds—he kept to himself. Nas used a different type of vernacular that others didn’t understand, which helped him to stand out from other rappers from his era.

With every ensuing album, Nas always reminds fans that he’s still the same Queensbridge MC who crafted one of the greatest albums of all time, and arguably the bible of Hip-Hop, Illmatic.