One Love Lyrics

[Produced by Q-Tip]

[Intro]
Herb, it's Born, you got six news on that jack?
Kid, shit is real
Check it out, man, check out what I got here, man
What is that, what?
What's that?
Yo it's a letter I got from my man Nas, man
What it say kid?

[Verse 1: Nas]
What up, kid? I know shit is rough doin' your bid
When the cops came you shoulda slid to my crib
Fuck it, black, no time for lookin' back, it's done
Plus, congratulations, you know you got a son
I heard he looks like ya, why don't your lady write ya?

Told her she should visit, that's when she got hyper
Flippin', talkin' about he acts too rough
He didn't listen, he be riffin' while I'm tellin' him stuff
I was like, "Yeah," shorty don't care, she a snake too
Fuckin' with them niggas from that fake crew that hate you

But yo, guess who got shot in the dome-piece?
Jerome's niece, on her way home from Jones Beach

It's bugged—plus little Rob is sellin' drugs on the dime
Hangin' out with young thugs that all carry 9's
And night time is more trife than ever

What up with Cormega? Did you see him? Are y'all together?
If so, then hold the fort down, represent to the fullest
Say what's up to Herb, Ice and Bullet
I left a half a hundred in your commissary
You was my nigga when push came to shove
(One what?) One love!
[Hook: Q-Tip]
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love

[Verse 2: Nas]
Dear Born, you'll be out soon, stay strong
Out in New York the same shit is goin' on
The crackheads stalkin', loudmouths is talkin'
Hold, check out the story yesterday when I was walkin'
That nigga you shot last year tried to appear
Like he hurtin' somethin'
Word to mother, I heard him frontin'
And he be pumpin' on your block
Your man gave him your Glock
And now they run together — what up, son? Whatever

Since I'm on the streets I'ma put it to a cease
But I heard you blew a nigga with a ox for the phone piece
Wildin' on the Island, but now in Elmira
Better chill, ‘cause them niggas will put that ass on fire

Last time you wrote you said they tried you in the showers
But maintain, when you come home the corner's ours

On the reals, all these crab niggas know the deal
When we start the revolution all they probably do is squeal
But chill, see you on the next V-I
I gave your mom dukes loot for kicks, plus sent you flicks
Your brother's buckwildin' in 4-Main, he wrote me
He might beat his case, 'til he come home I'll play it lowkey
So stay civilized, time flies
Though incarcerated your mind dies
I hate it when your moms cries
It kinda makes me want to murder, for reala
I even got a mask and gloves to bust slugs, but one love

[Hook: Q-Tip]
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love

[Verse 3: Nas]
Sometimes I sit back with a Buddha sack
Mind's in another world, thinkin'
"How can we exist through the facts?"
Written in school text books, bibles, et cetera
Fuck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er

So I be ghost from my projects
I take my pen and pad for the weekend
Hittin' L's while I'm sleepin'

A two-day stay, you may say I need the time alone
To relax my dome, no phone, left the 9 at home

You see the streets had me stressed somethin' terrible
Fuckin' with the corners have a nigga up in Bellevue

Or HDM, hit with numbers from eight to 10
A future in a maximum state pen is grim

So I comes back home, nobody's out but Shorty Doo-Wop
Rollin' two phillies together, in the Bridge we call 'em "oo-wops"

He said: "Nas, niggas caught me bustin' off the roof
So I wear a bulletproof and pack a black tre-deuce."
He inhaled so deep, shut his eyes like he was sleep
Started coughin', one eye peeked to watch me speak

I sat back like The Mack, my army suit was black
We was chillin' on these benches
Where he pumped his loose cracks

I took the L when he passed it, this little bastard
Keeps me blasted and starts talkin' mad shit

I had to school him, told him don't let niggas fool him
‘Cause when the pistol blows
The one that's murdered be the cool one

Tough luck when niggas are struck, families fucked up
Coulda caught your man, but didn't look when you bucked up
Mistakes happen, so take heed, never bust up
At the crowd, catch him solo, make the right man bleed
Shorty's laugh was cold-blooded as he spoke so foul
Only 12, tryin' to tell me that he liked my style
Then I rose, wipin' the blunt's ash from my clothes
Then froze, only to blow the herb smoke through my nose
And told my little man I'ma ghost, I broze

Left some jewels in his skull that he can sell if he chose
Words of wisdom from Nas: try to rise up above
Keep an eye out for Jake, Shorty Wop, one love
[Hook: Q-Tip]
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love
One love, one love, one love, one love

[Outro: Nas]
To all my niggas locked up
From Queensbridge and all over
To my man [Goon?], one love
To my man Herb, one love
To my man [Lake Gucciano?], one love
Can't forget my motherfuckin' heart, Big [Bo?], one love
To [Oogie?], yeah, one love

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About

Genius Annotation

“One Love” was the final single released from Illmatic. Fellow Queens native Q-Tip provided the vibes from the Heath Brothers' “Smilin' Billy Suite Part II” as the backdrop for Nas' song which finds him reading letters he wrote to his incarcerated friends about what was happening in the neighborhood.

Producer Large Professor provided some background information on how this track came together:

[Nas] was like, ‘Yo, you think Q-Tip would give me a beat?’ That’s really when I was gettin' up with Tip a lot, so I was like, ‘Yo, of course. Just roll through with me out to Jamaica [Queens] one time, and we’ll just sit down.’ And we did. We rolled out there, back when Tip had all the stuff in Phife’s grandmother’s basement. And we sat down, and Tip was like, ‘Oh word? I don’t really have no beats done right now. But I'ma show you the record I'ma use for you.’ And he played this record [The Heath Brothers' ‘Smilin’ Billy Suite Part II'], and it was just like, ‘Oh shit! That shit is crazy!’ He hooked it up and did his thing, and it was on.

The third verse of this song was the basis of a scene in the movie Belly, starring Nas and DMX

This shifting of perspective in his verses is one of Nas’s iconic techniques, as Adam Bradley notes:

Nas is perhaps contemporary rap’s greatest innovator in storytelling. His catalog includes songs narrated before birth (‘Fetus’) and after death (‘Amongst Kings’), biographies (‘UBR [Unauthorized Biography of Rakim]’) and autobiographies (‘Doo Rags’), allegorical tales (‘Money Is My Bitch’) and epistolary ones (‘One Love’), he’s rapped in the voice of a woman (‘Sekou Story’) and even of a gun (‘I Gave You Power’).

Nas' storytelling abilities stem from none other than Slick Rick. The last verse is almost reminiscent of Slick Rick’s ‘'Children’s Story’‘ as Nas tells a young child about the life of crime.

Watch video: Nas – The story behind One Love

Q&A

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

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

Q-Tip told this to XXL about the song:

Just from when you heard Nas initially, you knew he was ill. When I first heard him rhyme, I knew he was ill. Everybody knew he was ill. But I told Faith, “You guys got somebody special.” Because he has vulnerability in his rhymes. A lot of niggas who MC, you don’t hear the vulnerability. He keeps it relatable, but he has a lot of depth. He can keep it gangsta, he can keep it educated, he can keep it thoughtful. He can tell you that he’s the shit, & he can tell you when he fucks up. And that’s what makes Nas endearing to everybody.

Why is Q-Tip not marked as a featured artist? The hook is not sampled, right?
Genius Answer

A good guess is that Q-Tip isn’t marked as a featured artist because he only does the hook. If he’d had a rap verse, that might have warranted it back then. Being marked as a “featured” artist was about helping market to people. His name recognition alone probably wasn’t just wasn’t enough in 1994.

Feature credits weren’t prominently displayed on the cover art back then unless it was a huge artist. They’d probably be buried somewhere in the credits, like Q-Tip’s showstealing verse on Deee-Lite’s “Groove Is In The Heart.”

What did Q-Tip say about producing this song?
Genius Answer

I specifically produced ‘One Love’ for Nas. … I told him, ‘Yo, I’m going to give you some spooky sounding shit for your album.’ And Nas was like, ‘Yeah, I need that to capture the feel of what I’m saying. I need that crazy, mysterious shit.’ So that was the vibe of ‘One Love.’ I knew that it was going to be a classic track. I just knew it. It’s one of those special songs that when you work on it you know what it’s going to be.

Vibe, 2011

Credits
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Additional Vocals
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Mastering Engineer
Recorded At
Battery Studios (New York City)
Release Date
October 25, 1994
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