Violet Grohl is playing a Dork's Night Out at London's 100 Club•
All Points East has revealed four days of free community events in Victoria Park•
BTS are turning London into a citywide celebration ahead of their 'ARIRANG' shows•
Steve Lacy has teamed up with SZA on new single 'is it cool?'
•
My First Time explore the urge to escape on new single 'Paris, Texas'•
deBasement have announced their new EP 'HARDBODY' and shared teaser track 'CUT THE LINE'•
Mura Masa and Ledbyher join forces on break-driven new single 'Needja'•
Beck and Sierra Ferrell have teamed up for a new version of 'Ride Lonesome'•
Baby Queen turns the spotlight on herself with new album 'I Hope You Don't Remember Me'•
Cara Delevingne has released new single 'Need It', co-written with Fiona Apple•
Empress Of has announced her new album 'Dream House', featuring Blood Orange and Cecile Believe•
Ravyn Lenae weighs up an old flame on new single 'Saturday Night'•
Cruz Beckham has announced his debut EP 'Wear & Tear'•
Brandon Flowers has 'Plans' ahead of his solo return 'Thrasher'•
Carly Rae Jepsen has dropped her new single 'On Wires' ahead of double album 'Day and Night'•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
Violet Grohl is playing a Dork's Night Out at London's 100 Club•
All Points East has revealed four days of free community events in Victoria Park•
BTS are turning London into a citywide celebration ahead of their 'ARIRANG' shows•
Steve Lacy has teamed up with SZA on new single 'is it cool?'•
My First Time explore the urge to escape on new single 'Paris, Texas'•
deBasement have announced their new EP 'HARDBODY' and shared teaser track 'CUT THE LINE'•
Mura Masa and Ledbyher join forces on break-driven new single 'Needja'•
Beck and Sierra Ferrell have teamed up for a new version of 'Ride Lonesome'•
Baby Queen turns the spotlight on herself with new album 'I Hope You Don't Remember Me'•
Cara Delevingne has released new single 'Need It', co-written with Fiona Apple•
Empress Of has announced her new album 'Dream House', featuring Blood Orange and Cecile Believe•
Ravyn Lenae weighs up an old flame on new single 'Saturday Night'•
Cruz Beckham has announced his debut EP 'Wear & Tear'•
Brandon Flowers has 'Plans' ahead of his solo return 'Thrasher'•
Carly Rae Jepsen has dropped her new single 'On Wires' ahead of double album 'Day and Night'•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
Dork
News
Features
Reviews
Magazine
Shop
Listings
Directory
Festivals
Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST
Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD
Festival Guides-YOUR ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL COMPANION
Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST
Mixtape-DORK'S BEST NEW TRACKS
Play-DORK'S NEW MUSIC FRIDAY EDIT
Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD
Playlist Covers
Playlist Directory
Recommender
Before Doors-LIVE SESSIONS
Music Video Directory
Down With Boring-THE DORK PODCAST
Chart Attack-UK NUMBER ONES, DISSECTED
Dork Live
Dork Radio
Live
Live 24/7
Dork Radio
Dork
Down With Boring

Join thousands of music lovers getting the best new tracks, exclusive interviews, and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox every week.

In print now

June 2026

Latest issue variants

View archive
Dork, June 2026 (Bleachers cover)

Bleachers

Dork, June 2026 (Myles Smith cover)

Myles Smith

Dork, June 2026 (Towa Bird cover)

Towa Bird

Advertise
|
Support|
About Dork|
Privacy Policy|
Genres|
Years|
Sitemap|
RSS|
Cookie settings
© 2026 The Bunker Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
Powered by PlaywireAdvertise on this site.
  1. Tracks
  2. Nas
  3. It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
  4. Shootouts
Shootouts by Nas

TRACK

Nas

Shootouts

Release date: 1st July 2021

From It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
Track 12
3:46
Hip-Hop/RapMusic
Spotify Apple Music More on Nas

About This Track

Nas constructs a narrative of street violence and police corruption across Queens, built from accumulated detail and witness testimony. A cop known for aggressive pursuit through the projects becomes the target of a planned ambush, his movements tracked through the neighbourhood and his personal life exposed. The story unfolds through overlapping voices: Nas as observer and participant, a woman caught between the law and the street, accomplices coordinating the hit. The specificity accumulates weight. Names, locations, physical descriptions, the mechanics of surveillance and betrayal all compress into a single moment of violence. The song operates as testimony rather than confession. Nas moves between past tense recollection and present-tense narration, between what he heard and what he witnessed, maintaining a distance even as he describes complicity. The production sits sparse and propulsive beneath the narrative, letting the words carry the full weight of the account. What emerges is less a glorification of violence than a portrait of a system where police brutality and street retaliation feed each other, where survival means knowing the patterns of power and being willing to disrupt them. The final lines pull back to philosophy: 'It Was Written, but was never told', suggesting that these stories exist outside official record, preserved only in street knowledge and memory.

"Shootouts" is a track by Nas, from the album It Was Written (Expanded Edition), released 1st July 2021. The track is 3:46 long. It's filed under Hip-Hop/Rap. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Nas.

About the Artist

Nas

Nas

Lyrics

Shootouts

Yo, release what's in me
Besides the Henny, it's eyes that's seen plenty
Fiends get skinny as if Queens was a Craig Jenny
Instead of diet plans, it's crack, 200 grams

I pump a G-pack, peepin' for where the D's at
It's slow, lookin' for Rambo
The cop who got grazed back in the days
Chasin' niggas through my project maze

That cop — he got a death wish
He run behind niggas until you breathless
Everyday, he makin' ten arrests, shit!
My nigga, check this, I know the bitch he rest with

I even blessed it, forty-dash-ten, inspect it
(Already checked it, dunn, near his ankle you could see his gun)
Peep, he parked his Jeep in the back of the slum
To check Tanisha, fat ass, real fly with the blonde caesar

Vittadini summer gear, she push the two-seater
I heard she brag about the way he eat her
A Irish man, short, slim with a tan, they say he laced her cheeba
She due, be lookin' weaker, now her teeth are foul

Speakin' loud, peep her style, in and out of every reefer cloud
Fat ass dissolvin', like cotton candy in a mouth that's starvin'
Rock the same gear daily, like a soldier in my squadron
I heard she let Jake investigate from her window

'Cause she's a nympho, suckin' dick and coughin' up info
So now it's set up, her and the beast to get wet up
I know he's vest up, we blazin' from the neck up
(Yo, let me knock first) Soon as he open, let your Glock burst

They had the chains on, son, hit the lock first
We busted in, the cop jerked, Jungle popped one in his shirt
I grabbed the bitch by her tits, she tried to say she Earth
We saw the cameras, tape recorders and the monitors

They eyein' us, (Nas, yo, he survived one from the fo'-five)
Pull his shades down, they seen his last days now
There's no way now, we can be treated just like a slave now
Two in the dome, he's laid down
A-yo, the bitch is saved now
She's livin' in a snitch grave now

Shootouts is similar to Wild West
Broad daylight, face-to-face without a vest
You know the episodes, thugs camouflage the spectacles
Please God, just save the life that the Devil sold

See, It Was Written, but was never told
Peep the jewels, black man, it's even better than gold
Niggas roll with iron
Police roll in hot pursuit, tryin' to stop the loot
Fuck Jake, cock and shoot

Still on the streets with my peeps so deep
We threw a block party for my man goin' up creek
To do his two-to-four, niggas show love from all around the board
Peace, Lord, Sony Handy-Cam on record

Pop a bottle, 'cause when you come home, we still got it sewn
We can watch the tape, play back and just zone
Film all the bitches, on the benches with ill extensions
We block the streets off, only crew cars can enter

Music was loud and it was crowded
Barbecued wings, we fed the fiends
(Gamble in the back!) Killa shouted
And Frank tried to stop the bank, lost about what a Roley cost

Guzzled his drink, and staggered off
He's a Big Will, used to slang krill, now he own The Hill
Couldn't take losin' his cash, and I could feel
Something in the air, yeah

Frank returned with Pierre
A gunslinger, who niggas hadn't seen in a year
I usually be holdin', 'specially this type of weekend
And everyone except for me had started reachin'

They had gats in each others faces
With kids and grandmothers around
Frank's only concern was his papers
My man Killa let off, half of them fake niggas jet off

Police blitz quick, waitin' for that to set off
Runnin' the static, it got me mad 'cause they a bunch of faggots
Startin' shit in my hood, I can't have it
Yo, High, get the 40-Cali stainless

Jake is still out, let's make it real and still make 'em niggas famous
Dip behind trees in fatigues and squeeze, dodge and weave
Hearin' Jake retaliatin', and Wiz was up the alley waitin'
We breeze, jump in the ride, heard Pierre died
Internal bleedin' inside, and ain't been back since '95

Shootouts is similar to Wild West
Broad daylight, face-to-face without a vest
You know the episodes, thugs camouflage the spectacles
Please God, just save the life that the Devil sold

See, It Was Written, but was never told
Peep the jewels, black man, it's even better than gold
Niggas roll with iron
Police roll in hot pursuit tryin' to stop the loot
Nigga, fuck Jake, cock and shoot

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From It Was Written (Expanded Edition)

3:462021
Listen
Album
It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
Nas
2nd July 2021
Track number
12
Release year
2021
  1. 1Album Intro
    2:25
  2. 2The Message
    3:54
  3. 3Street Dreams
    4:40
  4. 4I Gave You Power
    3:53
Watch the music video

NAS — Shootouts

NAS — Shootouts
3:47

 

Shootouts

More from Nas

Albums & EPs

Magic 3
Magic 3
2023
Magic 2
Magic 2
2023
One Mic, One Gun
One Mic, One Gun
2022
Made You Look: God's Son (Live, 2002)
Made You Look: God's Son (Live, 2002)
2022
Magic
Magic
2021
King’s Disease
King’s Disease
2020

Explore

More tracks by Nas

  1. 1-800-Nas&HitMagic 3
    4:37
  2. 10 Shots (50 Cent diss)
  3. 3rd Childhood
  4. Believe
  5. Bouquet (To The Ladies)
  6. Crabs In A Barrel
  7. Define My Name
  8. Down For You
  9. GiT Ready
  10. H To The OMO

Showing 10 of 50

If you like Nas

JAY-Z

JAY-Z

Mobb Deep

Mobb Deep

AZ

AZ

Big L

Big L

Raekwon

Raekwon

Gang Starr

Gang Starr

  • 5Watch Dem N****s (feat. Foxy Brown)
    4:05
  • 6Take It In Blood
    4:48
  • 7Nas Is Coming (feat. Dr. Dre)
    5:41
  • 8Affirmative Action (feat. AZ, Cormega & Foxy Brown)
    4:20
  • 9The Set Up (feat. Havoc)
    4:02
  • 10Black Girl Lost (feat. JoJo Hailey)
    4:23
  • 11Suspect
    4:12
  • 12Shootouts
    3:46
  • 13Live N***a Rap (feat. Mobb Deep)
    3:45
  • 14If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) [feat. Lauryn Hill]
    4:43
  • 15Silent Murder
    3:25
  • 16Street Dreams (Bonus Verse)
    4:09
  • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Nas, Poke, Tone
    Producer
    Trackmasters
    Mastering Engineer
    Tom Coyne
    Mixing Engineer
    Rich Travali, Trackmasters
    READ MORE ABOUT NASREAD MORE ABOUT NASREAD MORE ABOUT NASREAD MORE ABOUT NAS
    READ MORE ABOUT NASREAD MORE ABOUT NASREAD MORE ABOUT NASREAD MORE ABOUT NAS
    Tool, Twenty One Pilots and Alanis Morissette top Riot Fest 2026 bill
    News

    Tool, Twenty One Pilots and Alanis Morissette top Riot Fest 2026 bill

    Pierce the Veil, Morrissey, Iggy Pop and Pixies join the Chicago weekender

    31 May 2026 • 6:43 pm
    ENNY, NAS and Ezra Collective are among the supports for Loyle Carner at All Points East
    News

    ENNY, NAS and Ezra Collective are among the supports for Loyle Carner at All Points East

    The festival takes place in London's Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets

    22 Nov 2023 • 10:13 am