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The Message by Nas

TRACK

Nas

The Message

Release date: 1st July 2021

From It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
Track 2
3:54
Hip-Hop/RapMusic
Spotify Apple Music More on Nas

About This Track

The second track on Nas's sophomore album 'It Was Written', released in 1996, 'The Message' sets the tone for a record that chased superstardom without abandoning the lyrical precision of his debut. The rapper adopts the Nas Escobar persona here, dealing in mafioso imagery and high-stakes bravado, the production a sleeker counterpart to the raw Queensbridge narratives that made his name.

Nas writes himself as untouchable, the hook a mantra of vigilance. The verses catalogue luxury and violence in equal measure, from Vegas dice games to red-dot plots, the specificity of detail anchoring what could otherwise drift into pure posture. The threat is casual, the craft meticulous.

Often cited as one of his finest tracks, 'The Message' makes its case for dominance plainly, the ambition worn without apology. It remains a touchstone of mid-nineties New York rap, the sound of an artist calculating his next move whilst the city watches.

"The Message" is a track by Nas, from the album It Was Written (Expanded Edition), released 1st July 2021. The track is 3:54 long. It's filed under Hip-Hop/Rap. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 2 articles about Nas.

About the Artist

Nas

Nas

Lyrics

The Message

Fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 Gusto
Your luck low, I didn't know 'til I was drunk though
You freak niggas played out, get fucked and ate out
Prostitute turned bitch, I got the gauge out
96 ways I made out, Montana way
The Good-F-E-L-L-A, verbal AK spray
Dipped attache, jumped out the Range, empty out the ashtray
A glass of 'Ze make a man Cassius Clay
Red dot plots, murder schemes, thirty-two shotguns
Regulate with my dunn's, 17 rocks gleam from one ring
They let me let y'all niggas know one thing
There's one life, one love, so there can only be one King
The highlights of living, Vegas style roll dice in linen
Antera spinning on milleniums, twenty G bets I'm winning them
Threats I'm sending them, Lex with TV sets the minimum
Ill sex adrenaline
Party with villains, a case of Demi-Sec to chase the Henny
Wet any clique, with the semi TEC who want it?
Diamonds I flaunt it, chicken-heads flock I lace 'em
Fried broiled with basil, taste 'em, crack the legs
Way out of formation, it's horizontal how I have 'em
Fucking me in the Benz wagon
Can it be Vanity from Last Dragon?
Grab your gun it's on though
Shit is grimy, real niggas buck in broad daylight
With the broke MAC it won't spray right
Don't give a fuck who they hit, as long as the drama's lit
Yo, overnight thugs, bug 'cause they ain't promised shit
Hungry-ass hooligans stay on that piranha shit

I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death
I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'

I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death
I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'

I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death
I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'

I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death
I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'

I peeped you frontin', I was in the Jeep
Sunk in the seat, tinted with heat, beats bumpin'
Across the street you was wildin'
Talkin' 'bout how you ran the Island in '89
Layin' up, playin' the yard with crazy shine
I cocked a baby 9 that nigga grave be mine, clanked him
What was he thinking on my corner when it's pay me time?
Dug 'em, you owe me cousin, something told me plug him
So dumb, felt my leg burn, then it got numb
Spun around and shot one, heard shots and dropped son
Caught a hot one, somebody take this biscuit 'fore the cops come
Then they came asking me my name, what the fuck
I got stitched up and went through
Left the hospital that same night, what
Got my gat back, time to backtrack
I had the drop so how the fuck I get clapped?
Black was in the Jeep watching all these scenes speed by
It was a brown Datsun, and yo nobody in my hood got one
That clown nigga's through, blazin' at his crew daily
The 'Bridge touched me up severely, hear me?
So when I rhyme it's sincerely yours
Be lightin' L's sippin' Coors, on all floors of project halls
Contemplatin' war niggas I was cool with before
We used to score together, Uptown copping the raw
But uh, a thug changes, and love changes
And best friends become strangers, word up

Y'all know my steelo
There ain't no army that can strike back

Y'all know my steelo
There ain't no army that can strike back

Y'all know my steelo
There ain't no army that can strike back

Y'all know my steelo
There ain't no army that can strike back

Thug niggas
Yo, to them thug niggas gettin' it on in the world, you know?
To them niggas that's locked down
Doin' they thing, survivin', ya know'm sayin'?
To my thorough niggas, New York and worldwide
Yo, to the Queensbridge Militia, yo
'96 shit
The Firm clique
Illmatic, nigga
It was written though
It's been a long time comin'
Y'all fake niggas, tryna copy
Better come with the real though
Fake-ass niggas, yo
(They throw us slugs, we throwin' them back, what)
Bring the shit, man, live, man
(Fuck that son, word up) '96 shit

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From It Was Written (Expanded Edition)

3:542021
Listen
Album
It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
It Was Written (Expanded Edition)
Nas
2nd July 2021
Track number
2
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

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Explore

More tracks by Nas

  1. 3rd ChildhoodLight-Years
  2. GiT ReadyLight-Years
  3. Intro Commentary
  4. It's TimeLight-Years
  5. JunkieLight-Years
  6. Living To DieNas: The Lost Scrolls 2 (Mixtape)
  7. My Life Is RealLight-Years
  8. My Story Your StoryLight-Years
  9. Nas speaks on AZ
  10. Nas speaks on Big L

Showing 10 of 20

If you like Nas

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JAY-Z

Mobb Deep

Mobb Deep

AZ

AZ

Big L

Big L

Raekwon

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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
  • —If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (feat. Lauryn Hill)
    4:43
  • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Dominic Miller, Nas, Sting, Tone
    Producer
    Trackmasters
    Keyboards
    Poke, Tone
    Additional Vocals
    AZ
    Drum Machine
    Poke, Tone
    Mastering Engineer
    Tom Coyne
    Mixing Engineer
    Rich Travali, Trackmasters
    Percussion
    Kid Capri
    Scratches
    Kid Capri
    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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