Verbal Intercourse Lyrics

[Verse 2: Raekwon]
Perhaps bullets bust, niggas discuss mad money
True lies and white guys, we can see it through the eyes

Catch the most on tape, kilos disintegrate
Pyrex pots, we break, fiends licking plates
In the building, niggas building, like little children, staring
Them older niggas ain't caring

Sirens circling, fiends are lurking in your baggage
Oh, one's gone now, what? Smack him in his cabbage
In the woodwork
Crack sales bubble like Woolworths in the projects

Richest niggas rocking all the real worth
Police questioning, rooftop cats invested in
Trading in they Lexuses, GSs, sending messages

Two and two makes four, Cristals crazily pour
Gun wars, my crew feel 'em like swords

[Verse 3: Ghostface Killah]
With the green leathers, hundred-pound snakes and cakes
Fiends found in lakes, jealously jakes we shake
What I strive for is what I live for
Infatuated by material things in this wild life of war
Like somewhere over the rainbow, I see a big pot of gold

Future stacks, so I hold
Thousands of cracks bagged up inside the shoebox
Don't keep jack in my lab, don't wanna see 2Pac
Got two spots on New Lots flooded with rocks
Shootouts making me hot, crooked cops, bag Tony and the ball drop
In denial, I'm banging niggas for slot time
Hurry up, duke, I'm next on line

And what the fuck is you looking at?
By the way young blood hit me off with that Green Bay hat
Watch your back inside the hall, new niggas slide through
Like doors, yo, you're staring in the mess hall
Your adrenaline runs, cigarette niggas be swindling
New jacks surrendering, come home not remembering
Made bail with different size kicks on, a white dress shirt
Looking gay in the yard and you got hurt

Flashbacks of the day room, mop wringer style
Your faggot ass got bashed trying to turn the dial
You told your boo you was wildin'

Once you heard Wu, out of the blue, your family's from Shaolin
High class cooks, throw on vests out of phone books
Infirmary niggas are screaming, "I got juxed"
Sharpened toothbrushes, one-ninety mixed with baby oil and shit
Your man's in the kitchen stashing ice picks
Well I'ma end this with a big red cherry on top
Me, Nas, and Rae got the best product on the block
[Outro: Raekwon & Ghostface Killah]
Cream, my whole team is eatin' off of this good shit (Word up, throw your hands up)
Good shit, nigga, next time, don't overlook shit (Cock back the MAC if, say whatever your Hawaiian style)
Keep your eyes open and your wallet in your front pocket (Exoticness, fly shit)
RZA, Ghost, and Chef, and Nas, niggas in the profit (Floatin' on a nine-five in the wind)

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About

Genius Annotation

This is the first song by a Wu-Tang member to feature someone outside the Clan. Nas realizes the honor, and doesn’t disappoint, with arguably the best verse on the song.

The Nas verse was touted by The Source Magazine in the late 1990’s as the top 5 verses of All TIME in Hip Hop. Nasty described the making of the song in an interview with XXL

We got in the studio. RZA played the beat. Nas was liking it, and he was trying different rhymes to it. We would sit there, and he’d say some of his shit. But he didn’t really know which rhyme he wanted to say. And I was there, being like his little coach. And I was like, “That’s it, son.” He was like, “That’s it?” I was like, “Nigga, that’s it!” But he had already went through three or four rhymes, and he couldn’t really see which one he wanted it to be. But I heard it. Once it came out his mouth, I was like, That’s it. – Raekwon

Rae would come out to Queensbridge. I would go to Staten Island. We’d just ride and hang out all night. We didn’t call each other to work. We called each other to hang out. Somehow we wound up in the studio. RZA had a couple of beats ready. He played them for me. I got on both of them. The other one never came out. I was honored to be asked to be on the album. Raekwon was ahead of his time. I knew Rae was a classic artist and the album was going to be a music classic. – Nas

Nas’s verse was used for the first time on the track Deja Vu from 1994

Q&A

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

What did Raekwon say about "Verbal Intercourse"?
Genius Answer

Another one of my favorites right there. That one right there though, the beat was sick. RZA was just dominating where he wanted to take this record, and I was just right there with him all the time co-signing the beats. At that time me and Nas were real close. He would come see me at my crib. I’d come see him up in Queens. And I always told him I want him on the album.

So one day I brought him out to Staten Island. We went to RZA’s house and he went to the basement and he was listening to the beat and I’m like, ‘Yo, this is the one I’m thinking I need to have you on.’ And we would just sit there for an hour listening to the beat. Now mind you, I didn’t even write my rhyme yet. I just knew, this beat is going on the album.

So Nas is automatically like, ‘Yeah this is it, but I don’t know what rhyme to fucking come with.’ I’m like, ‘Fuck it. What you got?’ He got a couple lines. I’m like, ‘Fuck it, go in the booth.’ So now, I’m in the back on some A&R shit. Ghost walked in. We all just chillin’. Next thing you know, Nas is up in there trying all different kinds of rhymes. He’s my guest, so I’m definitely paying attention to what he’s doing ‘cause at the end of the day I’m gonna make sure that he does what he need to do.

He was trying shit and I was like, ‘Nah that ain’t it right there.’ And then once he said that, ‘Through the lights, cameras, and action,’ I looked at niggas in the room. Everybody looked at me. I’m like, ‘That’s it!’ I stopped him and said, ‘Yo, that’s the verse. Do that one.’ And ever since when he did that one, it was one of the best verses in hip-hop today.

When that came out, Nas was just really starting to be heard more. He was starting to get his buzz up now as far as being a Queensbridge representative. People were seeing that this nigga’s nice, but we helped put that credibility on it even more when that record came out. So it was definitely one that people was like, ‘Yo, I love this shit because this little nigga over in Queens is nice. Then he’s fucking wit y’all and then the record is mean.’ So, it just kinda like helped everybody’s position grow in the game at that time.

via Complex


Raekwon: We got in the studio. RZA played the beat. Nas was liking it, and he was trying different rhymes to it. We would sit there, and he’d say some of his shit. But he didn’t really know which rhyme he wanted to say. And I was there, being like his little coach. And I was like, “That’s it, son.” He was like, “That’s it?” I was like, “Nigga, that’s it!” But he had already went through three or four rhymes, and he couldn’t really see which one he wanted it to be. But I heard it. Once it came out his mouth, I was like, That’s it.
Our main focus was just to make sure that he get his nut off and do what he gotta do. When he did his thing, I must have wrote something real quick, just to add on and get the shit really looking like something. Ghost just put the cherry on the top. No hook, ’cause we didn’t care about hooks like that. All we had was the “RZA, Chef, Ghost, and Nas…,” which is more or less an introductory hook. Not really a hook.

Nas: Rae would come out to Queensbridge. I would go to Staten Island. We’d just ride and hang out all night. We didn’t call each other to work. We called each other to hang out. Somehow we wound up in the studio. RZA had a couple of beats ready. He played them for me. I got on both of them. The other one never came out. I was honored to be asked to be on the album. Raekwon was ahead of his time. I knew Rae was a classic artist and the album was going to be a music classic.

Ghostface: Nas banged it out in one night. He went first with his shit. We all came after. Son was fast. Nas had a couple verses. He spit one verse to us and then another, not on the mic. He just asked, “How this sound?” And then we picked the one he spit. He still had the pen in his hand and all the other shit, but son got in there and just threw an ill crack verse. He was on fire.

Source: XXL Mag

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