N.O.R.E.

Released: August 15, 1999

Featuring: Kelis

Songwriter: N.O.R.E. Kelis Chad Hugo Pharrell Williams

Producer: The Neptunes

[Noreaga - Verse 1]
Ay yo, we was chillin, on the low
Yo in Vegas, this was at the Magic Show
Had my PNB clothes and my West Coast hoes
Get me at the airport, I'm at the MGM
Smoke Swisher Sweets and Zigs and Zags
Drinkin Brandy straight, out a tall ass glass
They call em Maurice's, I'm wit E-40
Mack-10 yo and that nigga W.C
Yo in the lobby of the hotel, it's off the hook
They got no more rooms cause the shit all booked
But last night I'm wit Wesley Snipes
Gettin drunk in Cheetah's just feelin aiight
I had to bounce early though, gotta catch a flight
Told Wes, "peace" gave a pound to him and his peeps
I had to bounce in the limo, get somthin to eat
Ay yo, I'm bouncin in the limo gettin somthin to eat
It Go...

[Kelis - Hook]
Cocaine business controls America
Illegal business causin hysteria (4x)

[Noreaga - Verse 2]
On my way to the airport, the limo drive
And then this cat pulled up in a pure white five
He said he hate me and he wished that I'd die
I rolled the window down and I said what's up
I said fuck you, then I rolled the shit back up
I paid it no mind, just drove off tough
And then the driver said to me, yo they followin us
Now I'm a little scared
But I'm still prepared
I'm like one deep wit one gat, nigga I'm here
Then I thought to my self, yo I'm near LaGuardia
Let me cut through the hood and have my niggas just body it up
Have my niggas on the block playin the cut
Call em up, when you see the white five fire it up
At this point I'm poppin shit, knowin I got it
"Come On Motherfucker!!!", out the sunroof I yelled
Hopin these niggas still follow me and still don't bail
It go...

[Hook]

[Pharrell & (Noreaga)]
Ohh(what, wha-what, what) Ahh
Ohh, that shit is gangsta, Ahh
Ohh(what,wha-what, what) Ahh
Ohh, that shit is gangsta, Ahh

[Noreaga - Verse 3]
My niggas was on the block like I planned
They hit the passenger side up and killed his man
I hopped out the limo and just spinned around
Hit the ground, my niggas tried to hit the clown
I said chill, he say he wanna see me die
So let me hit the nigga up, blow him kiss good-bye
Adios!
Now I just gotta be ghost
I gave my niggas a pound, and then I just hand em the toast
The limo driver got scared and tried to bounce on me
And yo besides the heat, I had an ounce on me
Bullet proof vest feelin like an couch on me
I called the hood cab, oh-5, came real fast
I had to bounce real quick, get up off da ave
And yo motherfucker that's what I did
Ay yo, I still hit the airport and caught the flight kid
To all the haters, it don't even matter cause we still got doe

[Hook til fade]

Queens rapper Noreaga (also known as N.O.R.E.) was one of the most distinctive voices of the late ’90s hardcore hip-hop scene. He found critical and commercial success, both as a member of the duo Capone-N-Noreaga and as a solo artist, well into the 2000s.

Born Victor Santiago, Jr., to a Puerto Rican father and black mother, N.O.R.E. was raised in the Lefrak City housing projects in Queens, New York. In the early ’90s, while serving a sentence for attempted murder at the Green Haven Correctional Facility, he befriended Queensbridge native Capone. Once released, the two began rapping together under the mentorship of Juice Crew veteran Tragedy Khadafi, appearing in The Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype” column in 1995.

The duo attracted widespread attention in 1996 with the release of the single “L.A., L.A..” The song—a response to Tha Dogg Pound’s “New York, New York”—is considered a key record in the infamous East Coast/West Coast battle. Only 18 at the time, Noreaga’s unorthodox style of rapping immediately stood out. VIBE Magazine described his flow as “staggered, high-pitched parrot riffs.” The Source called it “word association-style poetics.” Capone-N-Noreaga’s debut The War Report was released by Penalty/Warner in June 1997 to critical acclaim.

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