One Mic Lyrics

[Produced by Chucky Thompson and Nas]

[Intro]
One time
Yeah, yeah

[Verse 1]
Yo, all I need is one mic, one beat, one stage

One nigga front, my face on the front page
Only if I had one gun, one girl and one crib
One God to show me how to do things his son did
Pure, like a cup of virgin blood
Mixed with 151, one sip'll make a nigga flip

Writin' names on my hollow tips, plottin' shit
Mad violence, who I'm gon' body? This hood politics
Acknowledge it, leave bodies chopped up in garbages
Seeds watch us, grow up and try to follow us

Police watch us, roll up and try knockin' us
One knee, I ducked, could it be my time is up?
But my luck, I got up, the cop shot again
Bus stop glass burst, a fiend drops his Heineken
Ricochetin' between the spots that I'm hidin' in
Blackin' out as I shoot back, fuck gettin' hit
This is my hood, I'ma rep to the death of it
'Til everybody come home, little niggas is grown
Hoodrats, don't abortion your womb
We need more warriors soon
, sent from the stars, sun and the moon
In this life of police chases, street sweepers and coppers
Stick-up kids with no conscience leavin' victims with doctors
If you really think you ready to die with nines out
This is what Nas is 'bout, nigga, the time is now

[Chorus]
Yo, all I need is one mic
All I need is one mic (That's all I need)
All I need is one mic (All I need, niggas)
All I need is one mic (Yeah)

[Verse 2]
All I need is one blunt, one page and one pen
One prayer, tell God forgive me for one sin
Matter fact, maybe more than one
Look back at all the hatred against me, fuck all of them
Jesus died at age thirty-three, there's thirty-three shots
From twin Glocks, there's sixteen apiece, that's thirty-two
Which means one of my guns was holdin' seventeen
Twenty-seven hit your crew, six went into you

Everybody gotta die sometime, hope your funeral
Never gets shot up, bullets tear through the innocent

Nothin' is fair, niggas roll up shootin' from wheelchairs
My heart is racin', tastin' revenge in the air
I let this shit slide for too many years, too many times
Now I'm strapped with a couple of MACs, two mini nines

If y'all niggas really with me, get busy, load up the semis
Do more than just hold it, explode the clip until you empty
There's nothin' in our way, they bust, we bust, they rush, we rush
Lead flyin', feel it? I feel it in my gut

That we take these bitches to war, lie 'em down
'Cause we stronger now, my nigga, the time is now
[Chorus]
All I need is one mic (That's all I need, niggas, that's all I need)
All I need is one mic (There's nothin' else in the world)
All I need is one mic (That's all a nigga need to do his thing, you know?)
All I need is one mic (This is all I need)

[Verse 3]
All I need is one life, one try, one breath, I'm one man
What I stand for speaks for itself, they don't understand
Don't wanna see me on top, too egotistical

Talkin' all that slick shit the same way these bitches do
Wonder what my secrets is, niggas'll move on you
Only if they know what your weakness is, I have none
Too late to grab guns, I'm blastin' 'cause I'm a cool nigga
Thought I wouldn't have that ass done? Fooled you niggas
What you call an infinite brawl, eternal souls clashin'
War gets deep, some beef is everlastin'
Complete with thick scars
Brothers knifin' each other up in prison yards
Drama, where does it start?
You know the block was ill as a youngster
Every night it was like a cop'll get killed, body found in a dumpster
For real a hustler, purchased my Range, niggas throwin' dirt on my name
Jealous 'cause fiends got they work and complained
Bitches left me 'cause they thought I was finished
Shoulda knew she wasn't true, she came to me when her man caught a sentence
Diamonds are blindin', I never make the same mistakes
Movin' with a change of pace, lighter load, see now the king is straight
Swellin' my melon 'cause none of these niggas real
Heard they were tellin' police, how can a kingpin squeal?
This is crazy, I'm on the right track, I'm finally found
You need some soul-searchin', the time is now
[Chorus]
All I need is one mic (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
All I need is one mic (All I ever needed in this world, fuck cash)
All I need is one mic (Fuck the cars, the jewelry)
All I need is one mic (To spread my voice to the whole world, baby)

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About

Genius Annotation

“One Mic” is the third single off of Stillmatic. The single peaked at number 43 on the “Billboard Hot 100”, making it Nas’s third top-fifty hit on the chart.

Producer Chucky Thompson told HipHopDX:

‘One Mic’ was a situation that was during a time that [Nas] was in the beef with Jay-Z. I knew that that beef wasn’t gonna last forever. My whole thing was, ‘Okay, so what do we do after this whole beef is over? How do we come out of this?’

It was my first meeting with Nas. We just sat and talked about that situation where you feel you’re gettin' ready to fight or gonna have to get ready to defend somethin', what’s that record that would calm you down? We both said it was [Phil Collins'] ‘In The Air Tonight.’ He mentioned to me that he wanted to make a record where the chorus was quiet [laughing] and that verses would rise. So me taking those two ideas, I just came up with something that was calm and built up a little bit in the verses and then go back calm for his chorus."

The lyrics discuss Nas’s desire for a simple life (“Only if I had one gun, one girl, and one crib/One God to show me how to do things his son did”) and obstacles that prevent it (“One nigga front, my face on the front page”). It has been noted for its political consciousness and dystopian themes. One may also notice a Christian overtone, as well.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Nas say about "One Mic"?
Genius Answer

Nas told Rolling Stone:

I’m a huge fan of Phil Collins and I just wanted to take the vibe from ‘In the Air Tonight.’ ‘One Mic’ is just about the power. It’s almost like Hip Hop is Dead in its infant stages, saying how much this is a blessing to be out here, speaking about what’s happening in my neighborhood, having the whole world understand and relate.

‘One Mic’ just gives me the ability, no matter how much ignorant people are mad that I’m exposing or talking about our country, no matter what the language is, I’m talking in a language that the people can hear, I’m not sugar-coating it. So if it scares people and people feel guilty, people feel like they’ve got to make up excuses to why the world’s this way, no matter what they say, like they’ve got their mic, I’ve got mine, and that’s what that song’s about.

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Performance Rights
Recording Engineer
Mixing Engineer
Assistant Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Recorded At
Right Track Recording (New York City)
Release Date
December 18, 2001
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