here are some good lyrics from one of the best songs ever.
Nas - NY State Of Mind
Verse One:
rappers are monkey flippin'
with the funky rhythm i bekickin'
musicians and flippin' composition if pain
i'm like scarface sniffin' cocaine
holdin' an m-16, see with the pen i'm extreme
now bullet holes left in my peepholes,
i'm suited up in street clothes
hand me a nine and i'll defeat foes
y'all know my stylo with or without the airplay
i keep some e & j sit up, bent up in the stairway
or even on the corner bettin' grants with the c-low champs
laughin' at the basheads tryin' to sell some broken amps
g, pass, get off quick, forever niggas talk ****
reminiscing about the last time the task force flipped
niggas be runnin' through the block shootin'
time to start the revolution, catch a body head for houston
once they caught us off-guard the mac 10 was in the grass
and i ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
pick the mac up told the brothers, "back up" the mac spit
lead was hittin' niggas one ran, i made him back-flip
heard a few chicks scream my arm shook, couldn't look
gave another squeeze heard it click yo, my **** is stuck
try to **** it it wouldn't shoot now i'm in danger
finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber
so now i'm jetting through the building lobby
and it was filled with children probably couldn't see as high as i be
(so whatcha sayin'?) it's like the game ain't the same
got younger niggas pullin' the triggers bringing fame to their name
and claim some corners, crews without gunsare goners
in broad daylight stick-up kids they run up on us
forty-fives and gauges macs and facts
saying niggas are catchin' back to backsnatchin' the cracks
and black there was a snitchon the block gettin' niggas knocked
so hold your stash until the coke price drop
i know this crackhead who said she gotta smoke some nice rock
and if it's good she'll bring ya customers in measuring pots, but yo
you gotta slide on a vacation inside information
keeps large niggas erasing and their wives basin'
it drops deep as it does in my breath
i never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
beyond the walls of intelligence life is defined
i think of crime when i'm in a new york state of mind
Verse Two:
be havin' dreams that i'm a gangster drinkin' moets, holdin' tecs
makin' sure the cash come correct then i stepped
investments in stocks sewin' up the blocks to sell rocks
winning gun fights with mega cops,
but just a nigga
walking with his finger on the trigger
make enough figures
until my pockets get bigger
i ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'
giveme a smith & wesson i'll have niggas undressin'
thinkin' of cash flow, buddah and shelter,
whenever frustrated i'm a hi-jack delta
in the pj's my blend tape plays
bullets are strays young bitches is grazed
eahc block is like a maze full of black rats trapped
plus the island is packed
from what i hear in all the stories
when my peoples come back, black
i'm livin where the nights are jet-black,
i just max and dream i can sit back
and lamp like capone with drug scripts sewn
or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, homes
i got so many rhymes i don't think i'm too sane
life is parallel to hell but i must maintain
and be prosperous though we live dangerous
cops could just harass me, blamin' us we're held like hostages
it's only right that i was born to use mics
and the stuff that i write is even tougher than dikes
i'm takin' rappers to a new plateau through rap slow
my rhymin' is a vitamin hell without a capsule
the smooth criminal on beat brakes
never put me in your box if the **** eats tapes
the city never sleeps full of villians and creeps
that's where i learned to do my hustle had to scuffle with freaks
i'm an addict for sneakers twenties of buddah and bitches with beepers
in the streets i can greet ya, about blunts i can teach ya
inhale deep like the words of my breath
i never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
i lay puzzle as i backtrack to earlier times
nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind