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  1. Tracks
  2. NAS
  3. Life Is Good
  4. The Don
The Don by NAS

SINGLE

NAS

The Don

Release date: 12th July 2012

From Life Is Good
Track 11
3:02
Hip-Hop/RapMusicEast Coast RapHardcore Rap
Spotify Apple Music More on NAS

About This Track

Released as the second single from Nas's tenth studio album 'Life Is Good' in 2012, 'The Don' marks a collaboration between the rapper and producers Da Internz, Salaam Remi, and Heavy D, who died before the song could be finished. The track's title nods to The Godfather's fortieth anniversary, a film Nas has cited as a favourite, whilst its dancehall-inflected production provides a grimy, hard-hitting backdrop for his New York-centric verses. The lyrics find Nas threading autobiography through luxury-brand namedrops and Queens nostalgia, recalling listening to Red Alert and Rap Attack whilst cutting school, his progression from hiding cash in his socks to bottles with sparklers surrounding his team. He raps about twenty years in the game whilst looking seventeen, the verse built around material ascent and the weight of longevity. The refrain anchors him to the city, a declaration of status and geography in equal measure.

"The Don" is a single by NAS, from the album Life Is Good, released 12th July 2012. The track is 3:02 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

The Don

New York girl, dem a mad over we
New York girl, dem a mad over we
New York girl, dem a mad over we
New York girl, dem a mad over we
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Inna New York City, inna New York City
Inna New York City, inna New York City
Smoking a escubano, guzzle my second bottle
Hope I don't catch a homo, grossing our net
Simultaneously making me climb higher
Heinous crimes behind me, search but can't find me
Fuck sadness, had this been you having this lavish
Habitual happiness at me you wouldn't look backwards
You would have sex on condominium roof decks
So anyone move next, I'll hit you with two Tecs
Rocking Roberto Cavalli no shirt on convertible Mazy
My Colombiana mommy riding beside me
Every tat mean something, that's my word on my body
I'll have to lean something wit that Mossberg shotty
My niggas is ignant, put lead in yo pigment
Just cuz y'all was mad at all the years I was getting it
In 97 the six, 98 the Bentley
Now it's the Ghost Phantom and y'all can't stand 'em but
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Inna New York City, inna New York City
Inna New York City, inna New York City
Yeah, army jacket swag, Army jacket green and black
With the square top pocket that snaps, where the gas at?
Pass that, not you, you hold cracks in your ass crack
I never did that, my sock's where my stash was at
Yo, I used to listen to that Red Alert and Rap Attack
I fell in love with all that poetry I mastered that
Cutting school with Preme team, the Fat Cat was at
Future not crystal clear yet Baccarat
Now I'm the one who reppin' Queens, way beyond your wildest dreams
Bottles on bottles with sparklers surround my team
That long cash get the baddest bitches out they jeans
20 years in this game, looking 17
I don't lean, no codeine, promethazine
I just blow green, pick which bitch to bless the king
Although he's on to another chapter
Heavy D gave this beat to Salaam for me to rap to, rah
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Inna New York City, inna New York City
Inna New York City, inna New York City
New York is like an Island, a big Rikers Island
The cops be out wilin', all I hear is sirens
It's all about surviving, same old two step
Try to stay alive when they be out robbin'
I been out rhymin' since born knowledge
Like prophet Muhammad said the ink from a scholar
Worth more than the blood of a martyr
So I'ma, keep it on 'til I see a billion dollars
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
Love model chocha mommy pop it like she 'pose ta
Eyes red shot like I'm never sober
Big time smoker, Indonesian doja
Mini me's you can hold up before you end up wet up from my soldiers
Don shit, under fire I remain on some calm shit
This for every ghetto in the hood
Nas the Don, Super Cat the Don Dada, understood?
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don, Nas the Don
Inna New York City, inna New York City
Inna New York City, inna New York City

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From Life Is Good

3:022012Single
Listen
Album
Life Is Good
Life Is Good
NAS
13th July 2012
Track number
11
Release year
2012
  1. 1No Introduction
    4:15
  2. 2Loco-Motive (feat. The Large Professor)
    3:41
  3. 3A Queens Story
    4:35
  4. 4Accident Murderers (feat. Rick Ross)

More from NAS

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Magic 3
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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
It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
2021

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

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  • 5Daughters
    3:20
  • 6Reach Out (feat. Mary J. Blige)
    3:47
  • 7World's an Addiction (feat. Anthony Hamilton)
    5:01
  • 8Summer on Smash (feat. Miguel & Swizz Beatz)
    4:20
  • 9You Wouldn't Understand (feat. Victoria Monet)
    4:36
  • 10Back When
    3:22
  • 11The Don
    3:02
  • 12Stay (feat. The Large Professor)
    3:45
  • 13Cherry Wine (feat. Amy Winehouse)
    5:56
  • 14Bye Baby
    3:59
  • 15Nasty
    3:05
  • 16The Black Bond
    2:23
  • 17Roses
    3:32
  • 18Where's the Love (feat. Cocaine 80s)
    4:27
  • 19Trust
    4:35
  • —Accident Murderers
  • —Reach Out
  • —Where's The Love
  • —Cherry Wine
  • —Summer on Smash
  • —Stay
  • —Loco-Motive
  • —You Wouldn't Understand
  • —World’s an Addiction
  • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Ernest Clark, Heavy D, Jah Thomas, Kosine, Nas, Salaam Remi, Super Cat
    Producer
    Da Internz, Heavy D, Salaam Remi
    Bass
    Salaam Remi
    Additional Vocals
    Kool DJ Red Alert
    Arranger
    Da Internz, Heavy D, Salaam Remi
    Mixing Engineer
    Jaycen Joshua
    Recording Engineer
    Brian Sumner, Gleyder “Gee” Disla
    Vocal Samples
    Super Cat
    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
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