Surviving The Times Lyrics

[Intro]
But that's the whole, tragic, point my friends!
What would I do if I could suddenly feel
And to know once again that what I feel is real?
I could cry, I could smile
I might lay back for a while
Tell me what, what, what would I do if I could feel?


[Verse 1]
I was young, I was survivin' the times
Waitin' for my moment, I was destined to shine
Little Ray had an NSX, I was hopin' I'm next
Wantin' bracelets, never hada rope on my neck
Unless I was holdin' Taiyeh chain – Rest In Peace

Even though that night you flipped on us, you warned us
If you came back and we still on the corners, we goners

Movin' on to move your arm in your watch
To another time on the block

‘Cause this 40 Side where they say shorty rhyme
Tragedy, he used to come through all the time
I'm talkin' Juice Crew, not what the word define

He had a sister named Erin, for sure was fine
That was my first crush, I bought my first mic
I wrote my first verse, I was about nine
I was about mine, fantasize house buyin'

Met Paul, he wore some big glasses
Him and Melquan took me where G Rap lived
I was happy just gettin' some answers
I ain't even know what a record advance was

I'm seein' hoes sex in the studio bathroom
With rap dudes, thinkin', "Wow, she moved me!"
Same girl then right now's a groupie
Back then she was like the star in a movie

Large jewelry and expensive Gucci
Next stop, Paid In Full posse recruits me
Knew they were some millionaires, their ropes were dookie
Eric B man lookin' like touch it, he shoot me
You see, every time Ra didn't show
I get to record demos at attempts to blow

I wonder, could they tell? How did they know?
Sixteen years later, here I go

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About

Genius Annotation

A song that summarize Nas' career for the time he was signed to Columbia. The song can be found on his Greatest Hits album released by Columbia in 2007

Nas spoke on the record in an interview with Rolling Stone:

Actually, I had it done a good while ago. I forgot I had the record. It was just perfect to go with the Greatest Hits. It just came from a conversation. I needed people around to remind me of certain things that happened, so I got a lot of information from somebody that was hanging around while I was in the studio. It’s crazy, because when I talk about people from a whole other rap era, I don’t know if people understand how much that meant to me, just coming up around legends like Kool G Rap and Eric B and Large Professor and people like Akinyele who was around in the early stages that I met through Large Professor from a rap group named Main Source that most cats today never even heard of.

Q&A

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Credits
Produced By
Written By
Release Date
November 6, 2007
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