Stillmatic (The Intro) - Intellectual

[Intro]

Uh, you know

I still run with that, that blood of a slave, boilin' in my veins

It's just hot, until a nigga can't take it no more

Blood of a slave, heart of a King, turn my voice up

Ayo, the brother's Stillmatic

I crawled up out of that grave, wipin' the dirt, cleanin' my shirt

They thought I'd make another Illmatic

But it's always forward I'm movin'

Never backwards, stupid, here's another classic

C-notes is fallin' from the sky, by now the credits roll

They're starrin' Nas, executive poet, produced, directed by

The Kid slash Escobar, narration describes

The lives of lost tribes in the ghetto tryin' to survive

The feature opens with this young black child, fingers scratched

Cigarette burns on the sofa, turnin' the TV down

While Mary Jane Girls, 45's playin', soft in the background

Food from C-Town's, mornings was hash browns

Stepped over dope fiends, walkin' out the door, all of us poor

I learned the difference 'tween the snitches

The real ones, and who's soft, and the murderous, hungriest crews

People jumpin' from roofs

Shotguns pumpin', made it through my youth

Walkin' very thin lines, ages seven and nine

That's the age I was on my album cover, this is the rebirth

I know the streets thirst water like Moses

Walkin' through the hot desert searchin' to be free

This is my ending and my new beginning, nostalgia

Alpha and Omega places, it's like a glitch in The Matrix

I seen it all, did it all, most of y'all will pop for a minute

Spit a sentence then the game'll get rid of y'all

Y'all got there but y'all ain't get it all, I want my style back

Hate to cease y'all plan, it's the rap–repo man

To them double up hustlers, bidders, niggas who real

Professional stick-up kids dreamin' for mils

Let my words guide you, get inside you

From Crips to Pirus, this is survival

Blood of a slave, heart of a King

Uh, uh, blood of a slave, heart of a King

Uh, yeah

Huh, Braveheart, uh