Writers

[Chorus: Nas, Rakim & Bootie Brown]

Writers

Writin' my name in graffiti

Yes indeedy, I wrote graffiti

Writers

Writin' my name in graffiti

Yes indeedy, I wrote graffiti

I'm hard to read like graffiti

[Verse 1: Nas]

Here's my Galactican citizenship card

Interplanetary mission, I've been discharged to hit y'all

No ancillary staff will assist me

I'm about to show you what that writer's list be

See, I'm a writer in rap form

But these are writers that bomb trains and subway platforms

Courageous, bravest, street creators

They synonymous with DJs, rappers, and breakers

Arms folded, jail poses, ill portraits

Foster kids mixed in with the ill-fortuned

Fat laces, back in the day shit, calligraphers

Taggin' they namеs, puttin' they signatures in places

Courtyards, sports bars, landmarks, tan Clarks

Jams in thе park, they doing art

Big bubble letters all over the city

I see it up in high places, wonder how they did it

Admit it, I always wished that I could do the same

But now the mic is a marker, I'm taggin' up names

[Chorus: Nas, Rakim & Bootie Brown]

Sometimes at night, I would walk with a pen, with a marker, or even some chalk

Writin' my name in graffiti

Yes indeedy, I wrote graffiti

Sometimes at night, I would walk with a pen, with a marker, or even some chalk

Yes indeedy, I wrote graffiti

I'm hard to read like graffiti

[Verse 2: Nas]

Henry Chalfant made Style Wars

A young Kay Slay tag was Dez, go check it out, y'all

Zephyr got a Z sprayed on his back

Sleep by the train tracks in Wild Style, straight outlaws

Zoro is Lee Quiñones

Shout to Saint, Blade, Ink, Seen, Kade, Crash, and Topaz

Shoutin' out Taki 183

Cornbread straight out of Philly, Phase 2 out of NYC

The mic is a marker, I'm taggin' more names

Quik and Fuzz, and Kool Sphere out of Queens

Case 2, Easy, Cap, Ghost, Jerms

If you into art you should be concerned

These are some of the kings of the graff

And there's some iconic queens I should add

Charmin, Claw, Lady Pink goes back

And MadC, Germany's on the map

On the west, Slick, Dream, Chaka, and Hex

And international writers I can't forget

So let's salute the highly gifted Krylon mystics

This is homage to the ghetto hieroglyphics

[Chorus: Nas, Rakim & Bootie Brown]

Sometimes at night, I would walk with a pen, with a marker, or even some chalk

Writin' my name in graffiti

Yes indeedy, I wrote graffiti

Sometimes at night, I would walk with a pen, with a marker, or even some chalk

Yes indeedy, I wrote graffiti

I'm hard to read like graffiti

[Interlude: Nas]

Shout out to TeKay, Cost and Revs, Bom 5, Peak, Reas, V.E, Jesus Saves

Too Ill, Doze, PJ, Chino, Coco 144, Billy, Vinny, Flashbacks

J.A., XTC Crew, it's on you, what you gonna do?

Baby 168, 1-Up, Can 2, Bates, Kel First, we get it straight

Can Control, Futura, Estro, On The Run

Rockin' it Suckers, Eli, Old Queens Boys, Mad Style Kings

Most Talked About, Mob Rules, For the Rep, Can't Be Stopped

For the Rush, DAIM, 3D style of graff

[Verse 3: Nas]

When the cops came, they ran away, then returned

Keith Haring Crack is Wack just burns into my mind

It's called vandalism, like a crime

They had intuition 'cause gettin' pinched was a given

Not new to the system, when it's in you, it's like a religion

Phade was Fab 5 Freddy, oh, did I mention?

Crack, Sent, Giz, and Poem

Sitting on the throne, it's Merk, Gnome

And Skeme, Iz the Wiz, and Shame

Trap and Vulcan, Harlem Hall of Fame

Ice, Ich most famous for freight trains

The mic is a marker, I'm taggin' up names

Dondi, Serve, Running Man, Wayne, Ecko and Totem

Tame One, Ase One, Min One

Samo, that's Basquiat, thun

Big shout out the whole Tats Cru gang, hit Scrap Yard to rack up some new paint

Made U Look, another legendary crew

How ironic I made a song with that name in '02

Sane, Smith, two brothers, one passed

FX crew, Idea and Stash

Risk, R-I-S-K, Cope, Revolt, Tracy 168

Doc, TC5 crew, Part, Shy 147, it don't stop

And we all send blessings to these two, to Lou 167 and Rule

So let's salute the highly gifted Krylon mystics

This is homage to the ghetto hieroglyphics

[Outro: Nas]

To all the writers out there that's just gettin' started

Just gettin' ya name out there, keep bombin'