[Produced by L.E.S.]

[Intro: Nas]

Uh, uh

Yo, check it. Uh

[Chorus: Nas]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this?

I rob you, put you on my hit list

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips

How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch, powerful minds

We brave men

I blow smoke and I'mma keep sayin'

[Chorus: Nashawn]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this?

I rob you, put you on my hit list

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips

How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch, powerful minds

We brave men

I'ma blow smoke and keep sayin'

[Verse 1: Nashawn]

I wanna be more than that bullet that go through ya zone

Wanna be the lead that tear through ya skin and crack bones

Wanna be the heat that you feel, makin' ya moan

Wanna be the hospital bed that you lay on

Wanna be the god that you feel when you pray on

It's Nashawn; the type that get the hyper calm, I'm gonna kill somethin'

Rap cats be real frontin'

Fuck shootin' legs, cock back, put his brains on the pave'

Nigga how 'bout that? Close range with the gauge and get payed

First rapper to shoot off stage

Turn the front page the next day; my life is like a book

A twenty-four hour song without no hook

Millennium Thug, computer chips up in my slug

Turn corners when you turn corners, know who to plug

Thugs around me outside, it's grimy outside

Better slide before you get bodied outside

[Chorus: Nas]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this?

I rob you, put you on my hit list (Uh)

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips

How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch; powerful minds

We brave men (Uh-huh)

I blow smoke and I'ma keep sayin'

[Chorus: Nashawn & Nas]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this? (Uh)

I rob you, put you on my hit list

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips

How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch; powerful minds

We brave men

I'ma blow smoke and keep sayin'

[Verse 2: Nas]

I'm a prison cell, six by nine

Livin' hell; stone wall, metal bars for the gods in jail

My nickname? The can, the slammer, the big house

I'm the place many fear 'cause there's no way out

I take the sun away, put misery instead

When you with me, most folks consider you dead

I saw too many inmates fallin' apart

Call for the guards to let them out at night when it's dark

Convicts think they alone, but if they listen close

They can hear me groan, touch the wall, feel my pulse

All the pictures you put up is stuck to my skin

I hear ya prayers (Even when ya whisperin')

I make it hotter in the summer, colder in the winter

If the court parole ya, then another con enters

No remorse for your tears, I seen 'em too often

When you cry, I make you feel alive inside a coffin

Watch you when you eat, play with your mind when you sleep

Make you dream that you free, then you wake up to me

Face to face with a cage, no matter your age

I can shatter you, turn you to a savage in rage

Change ya life, that's if you get a chance to get out

'Cause only you and I know what suffering's about

Yo, it's stunnin' when bed sheets become your woman

And I'm the one that got yo' weapons when the beef is comin'

Maybe one day, I'll open up my arms to release you

You'll always be my property, nigga, stay legal (Stay legal, stay legal, stay legal)

[Chorus: Nas]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this?

I rob you, put you on my hit list

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips

How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch, powerful minds

We brave men

I blow smoke and I'ma keep sayin'

[Chorus: Nashawn]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this?

I rob you, put you on my hit list

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips

How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch, powerful minds

We brave men

I'ma blow smoke and keep sayin'

[Chorus: Nas]

These the last words of a hanging slave; how can I forget this?

I rob you. Put you on my hit list

Under my nails is dirty, look at the grime

My burnt lips from the roach clips. How can I shine?

Being broke and bag a dope bitch, powerful minds. We brave men

I blow smoke and I'mma keep sayin'