Released: June 29, 2004

Featuring: Nas Prodigy of Mobb Deep

Songwriter: The Alchemist Nas Prodigy of Mobb Deep

Producer: The Alchemist

[Hook: Nas]
It goes Tick Tock
This is for my niggas in the Bridge blocks
Comin' through, better hide your wrist-watch
'Cause niggas will let they shits pop...hey hey
Tick Tock
This is for my hoes, make your hips rock
Light a L baby, let the Cris' pop
Get your tits hot from this hip-hop...e'yday

[Verse 1: Nas]
5-8 with XXL pants saggin'
Blunts draggin'
But never lived well, imagine
A felon on a two-way street
One way is where blood money, coke, and homicide meet
The other street, opportunity, the chance to live sweet
Think positive can knowledge make a cipher complete
So you can be an architect design apartments and shit
Or you can wind up on a jail bus, 30 to Clint'
Soon as I'm on the set, I'm never on a chick, I play it cool
But still they pussy muscles get wet, it's just the rules
Check my niggas, what's the gossip, what's the word
Puff some herb
All I see is niggas runnin', ten shots all I heard
Dip behind the car, see somebody on the ground
Ambulance came and got 'em, they start calmin' down
Now it's back to the same old shit
You know, the Tarzan and Jane-o shit
In the jungle swingin' on vines
Yo, the gat with the same old clip
Another nigga layin' the hit, bloodied up screaming "I'm dying"
I be in Queens where the famous hoodrats and ghetto stars are
Pimps do the shuffle at night with slutty broads, pa

[Hook]
It goes Tick Tock
This is for my niggas in the Bridge blocks
Comin' through, better hide your wrist-watch
'Cause niggas will let they shits pop...hey hey
Tick Tock
This is for my hoes, make your hips rock
Light a L baby, let the Cris' pop
Get your tits hot from this hip-hop...e'yday

[Verse 2: Prodigy]
Hey shorty, twirl it up for me, roll that shit big
While I reveal the story of a wild street kid
Cock your seat back, relax while I spit
The spittin' image of how I live
Well first, I was highly influenced by them old timer cliques
I was like twelve, they was like, "Blood, listen
Keep your mouth closed and your eyes and your ears wide open"
Gangsta, I soaked it all in
My first hammer was a one-shot deuce-deuce
Had my pockets full of bullets, I was real loose
Thug parties out in Wavecrest always got shot up
Thug parties out in Queensbridge always got shot up
No wonder we bugged out and schizophrenic
Niggas ain't wanna fight, we cut yo' melon
Drinkin' that Old English, Red Bull and blue bull
Midnight Dragon was that cheap shit, fuck it, we was broke
Little badass, my nigga Rap sat me down, like this
He said "P, you gon' wind up dead
You and Hav' real good with that music shit
You need to stick to it, dunn, get your mind off the street"
And it stuck in the back of my head
Though I still did my little bit of menacin' every now and then
Bangouts in broad daylight, these things really happen
Niggas get cut up, I put it in my rappin'
It's not fiction, this the real deal fishscale
It couldn't get more graphic, I'm so trill
Said it's not fiction, this the real deal fishcale
So there you have it, let me touch that L

[Hook 2X]
It goes Tick Tock
This is for my niggas in the Bridge blocks
Comin' through, better hide your wrist-watch
'Cause niggas will let they shits pop...hey hey
Tick Tock
This is for my hoes, make your hips rock
Light a L baby, let the Cris' pop
Get your tits hot from this hip-hop...e'yday

The Alchemist

The Alchemist is a rapper and DJ on top of being one of the most prolific producers in hip-hop who is known for his eclectic beats. Al’s sample-heavy style has been associated with an East Coast sound even though he reps the West Coast, but he has worked with rappers from every region of America—including Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, and Eminem among others.

At 14 years old, Daniel Alan Maman from Beverly Hills, California entered the rap game as Mudfoot, one-half of The Whooliganz with actor Scott Caan in 1991. He also grew up with Evidence from Dilated Peoples and produced the crew’s debut single “Third Degree” in 1997. Al was mentored by Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs, who taught him production techniques and later introduced him to Mobb Deep. Al’s early productions on Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik album in 1999 began to grow his profile, which took off after the popularity of his production on the 2001 Jadakiss hit “We Gonna Make It.”

The Alchemist has been involved in many projects over the years. He released two compilations—2004’s 1st Infantry and 2009’s Chemical Warfare—a number of instrumental albums, mixtapes, as well as collaborative albums with Prodigy and Havoc of Mobb Deep, Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, Action Bronson, Oh No (as Gangrene), and Evidence (as Step Brothers) to name a few. Al has served as a DJ for Eminem and Action Bronson shows, and Al has also been a frequent guest on Action Bronson’s Viceland food show Fuck, That’s Delicious. Al used vocal samples from the show throughout his 2020 album The Food Villain.