One Time 4 Your Mind Lyrics

[Chorus: Grand Wizard & Nas]
One time for your mind, one time (Yeah, whatever)
One time 4 your mind, one time (It sound clever)
Ayo, Nas, fuck that, man, that shit was phat
But kick that for them gangstas, man, fuck all that! (Right, right)


[Verse 2: Nas]
What up, niggas? How y'all? It's Nasty, the villain
I'm still writin' rhymes, but besides that, I'm chillin'

I'm tryin' to get this money, God — you know the hard times, kid
Shit, cold, be starvin' make you wanna do crimes, kid
But I'ma lamp ‘cause a crime couldn't beat a rhyme
Niggas catchin' 3-to-9's, Muslims yellin' "Free the mind!"
And I'm from Queensbridge, been to many places
As a kid, when I would say that outta town, niggas chased us

But now I know the time, got a older mind, plus control a 9
Fine, see, now I represent mine
I'm new on the rap scene, brothers never heard of me
Yet I'm a menace, yo, police wanna murder me

Heini Dark drinker, represent the thinker
My pen rides the paper, it even has blinkers
Think I'll dim the lights, then inhale, it stimulates

Floatin' like I'm on the North 95 Interstate
Never plan to stop, when I write, my hand is hot
And expand the lot from the Wiz to Camelot
The parlayer, I'll make your heads bop, pah
I shine a light on perpetrators like a cop's car
From day to night, I play the mic and you'll thank God
I wreck shit so much, the microphone'll need a paint job
My brain is incarcerated
Live at any jam, I couldn't count all the parks I've raided
I hold a MAC-11, and attack a reverend
I contact eleven L's and max in heaven

[Chorus: Grand Wizard & Nas]
One time for your mind, one time (It sounds clever)
One time for your mind, one time (Yeah, whatever)
One time for your mind, one time
Yo, from '92 to '99


[Outro: Grand Wizard]
Yeah, that shit was crazy phat, pah, know what I’m sayin'?
But check it, you got another verse for me
I want you to kick it, you know what I'm sayin'?
Kick that shit for the projects, know what I'm sayin'?

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About

Genius Annotation

“One Time 4 Your Mind” features a jazzy breakbeat from the 1969 track “Walter L” by Jimmy Gordon & His Jazznpops Band, courtesy of producer Large Professor, who spoke about the track in an interview with XXL:

It was cool, ‘cause it was a little quick rhyme that he had. Some shortie-to-the-store shit, like that. Not like he was tryin’ to go too hard or lyrical. It was just like, “Yo, I’m a regular dude. I’ll kick some cool, around-the-way, corner shit for you.

Nas said the following about the track:

‘One Time 4 Your Mind’ was amazing to me. Again, the track by itself was out of this world.

Nas' friend Grand Wizard added:

At the time, we were just listening to the beat, and Nas was like, ‘Come in [the booth] with me and help me with the hook.’ So I get on the mic and say, ‘One time for ya mind, one time…’ And Nas comes in with, ‘Yeah, whatever…’ He just knew how to bounce off of me.

Q&A

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

What did Nas say about "One Time 4 Your Mind"?
Genius Answer

Nas told this to XXL about the song:

Nas: Honestly, that song was just like, “Hey, we chilling.” That song, I didn’t give a fuck— it was just, go in there & have fun. I wanted Wiz’s voice on that. Out of everybody around, I thought that he had a voice that can be on a record & come off. I always wanted him to rhyme & shit, & that was my way of pushing him into that shit.

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