Nas

Released: July 19, 2019

Featuring: David Ranier

Songwriter: David Ranier Nas Eric Hudson

Producer: Eric Hudson

[Intro]
Hudson

[Verse 1: Nas]
Heard you got your master's
Did college up, never looked back, now that's what's happening
And it's good to see you made it out the hood
With a degree, a true man with passion
Now you could enter the so-called "White Man's Society"
And go right past 'em
Looking in the Wall Street Journal for your face
But it's always absent
There he go, that's him
Eating flan and ambrosia, watch on his arm, golden, laughin'
Try to get his attention, but he's flinching
Guess my grimy clothes threw him off, so I mention
We were neighbors some time ago
He was kinda cold, in this restaurant, full of his kind and more
He sighed, tried to look surprised, I know
His side of the city where he resides, so
I had to go, I heard him laugh hard at some sad black jokes
Hate so-called "intellectuals"
No balls, he suggests we vote
He stand all proud, speaking to correct his folks
He want to lecture folks 'cause he professional
And he suggest that we don't sell dope
And I guess it's true, but who the fuck are you?

[Chorus: David Rainer]
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna tell me who I am?
Who are you, tryna tell me what I'm not?
Tryna tell me what I'm not
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna box me in, tryna find who I am

[Verse 2: Nas]
I'm Idi Amin, I'm Marcus Garvey
H. Rap Brown, I'm Muhammad Ali
I'm Reginald Lewis, George Washington Carver
I'm Nas with incredible music, let's do it
Thinking of a master plan
Sipping on disaster, smoking on gangster
Watching niggas argue, chillin' on my bar-stool
With my Hell Up in Harlem hat in hand
With a girl named Pat
She more than a waitress to order your drink with
She divorced a banker and bought the bar
She got an automobile, she give an order to kill
You get caught and robbed, we could see your walk is off
You could lose your rhythm when you outta the gutter for a while
You easily go to soft from hard
Now we all about hustlers, number runners, hoes and sharks
And we all know the code of the block
And you talking some gibberish, anti-nigga shit
'Cause you marched back with Rosa Parks?
Brother, don't start, go build your Noah's Ark
You could float to the end of the world, and pretend what you not
But I know what you are
While I roll in my car, and I'm spending my knot
While my enemies plot, you ain't out of the shot
Matter of fact, you're an easier target
And I respect everything you accomplished
But I hope I never get old and talk that nonsense
So who the fuck are you?

[Chorus: David Rainer]
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna tell me who I am?
Who are you, tryna tell me what I'm not?
Tryna tell me what I'm not
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna box me in, tryna find who I am

[Outro: Nas]
She Queen of Nzinga
Winnie Mandela, Ida B. Wells
Why can't you tell?
Why can't you tell?

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.

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