Nothing To Lose
K'naan feat. Nas Lyrics

Uh, someone called the cops on him
He was being reported to the police by someone

Someone told his pops on him
He was being reported to his father by someone

He was talking crooked and he had some rocks on him
He was talking in a suspicious manner and carrying drugs on him

Tucked, tucked in his socks’ corner
He had hidden the drugs in the corner of his socks

Chucks, chucks and the Charlotte Hornet
He was wearing Converse shoes and a Charlotte Hornets basketball jersey

Cap, when he flowed then they all surprised on him
People were surprised by his impressive rapping skills

Yes, he's a fugee but he go all Nas on ‘em
He is from a refugee family but raps like Nas

Well, can’t go pras on ‘em
He cannot rap like Pras, another member of The Fugees

And he got that crossover
He has crossover appeal and can appeal to both mainstream and underground audiences

But he from the streets you don’t cross over
Despite his crossover appeal, he remains true to his roots in the streets

Hut, hut to the block soldiers
Salute to the soldiers on his block

Buck, buck to the cop vultures
Shots fired to criticize the police as opportunistic scavengers

Nope, no I don’t know pilots
He does not know any airplane pilots

Nigga I know pirates
He knows people who engage in illegal activities on the sea

Violence the islands
The islands he refers to are associated with violence

Shout out to my idrens
Greetings to his friends

Put your hands up like it’s a mother fuckin’ siren
Raise your hands as a sign of respect or surrender

Well, I paid all my dues
He has paid all his debts and worked hard

Shone a million shoes
He has worked hard and made a lot of money

‘Cause when you got nothing left
When you have hit rock bottom

You got nothing to lose
You have nothing left to risk by taking chances

I used to stand on Vernon and ten
He used to hang out on Vernon Avenue and 10th Street

Burnin’ a spliff burner on hip
He used to smoke marijuana

Wishing to flip a bird, yac burning my chest
He wished to make a lot of money and felt the burning in his chest from drinking cognac

Black certainly I’m dressed
He is dressed in all black

Strictly that army shit
He is wearing military attire

Finish my shift
He finishes his work shift

Pack gone before the dawn hit
He packs up and leaves before sunrise

Anything I could earn on the strip
He made money any way he could on the streets

Turn it and flip
He reinvested his earnings to make more money

Watching my back
He was always aware of his surroundings

Cooking the pot
He was cooking drugs

Making it stretch
He made the drugs last as long as possible

Discussing with’ my clique
He discussed things with his group of friends

Should we duct tape the connect
They were considering kidnapping someone for ransom

It’s rough and K’naan knows
He knows how rough life can be

He had the same woes
He faced the same struggles

I’m voicing my opinions
He is speaking his mind

I forgot y’all was there
He forgot he was being listened to

I ain’t know y’all was still listenin’
He did not think anyone was still paying attention to him

Be honest I ain’t care
He did not care about others’ opinions of him

Y’all don’t get my innuendos my interests
People do not understand his subtle references to his interests

Y’all on some simple shit
People are not on his intellectual level

Thinking I’m preachy
People think he is trying to teach them something

Yeah my church is the world
The world is important to him

Christians sip a cup of this holy water
He is comparing his influence to holy water consumed by Christians

Stuck at this phony border
He is stuck at a fake or false boundary

It’s custom to enter the main stream
It is normal to become part of the mainstream

You must front and record
You must present an image of success and record music

A poorer oratory
Lesser-speaking skills

Your life story corny
Your life story is boring

Yo, my Somali niggas know what war be
His Somali friends know what war is like

Remember when niggas said Nas was Somalian
People used to mistake Nas for being from Somalia

Baseball caps had the tags, like a yardie and
He used to wear baseball caps with tags, like a Jamaican gang member

It was written just came out, I was gnarly then
Nas's album 'It Was Written' had just come out at the time and he was feeling confident or impressive

Niggas dreaded seein’ me like a Rastafarian
People were afraid to see him, like they might be afraid of a Rastafarian

We didn’t know the dress code though we was bargainers
He did not know how to dress properly because he was focused on making deals and money

The knock off Filas, with the pumps and cheap cardigans
They wore cheap knock-off Fila brand shoes with high-top sneakers and inexpensive cardigan sweaters

Niggas looked corny I admit, we was foreigners
He and his friends looked silly or uncool because they were not from the area

But this corny kid, quick to send you to the coroners
Despite his uncool appearance, he was still dangerous and could easily kill someone

Y’all know my war story, I won’t repeat it
People already know about the violence he has experienced and he will not tell the story again

It’s just injury, my victory’s undefeated
Despite the harm he has suffered, he has still never truly been defeated

Thought you knew me well, go back and delete it
People do not actually know him well and need to forget what they thought they knew

I’m in every joint this year, Orthopedic
He is everywhere and very active this year, possibly making reference to the medical specialty of Orthopedics which deals with issues pertaining to bones and joints

And yes the AK’s are instruments we do drum ‘em
Automatic rifles like AK-47s are used by him and his associates as musical instruments

I’m somewhere between killa and king Solomon
He is somewhere between being a killer and the wise King Solomon from the Bible

And the shades take half the face we over stun ‘em
He and his associates wear sunglasses that cover half their faces, which contributes to their intimidating appearance

And treat obstacles like ass we overcome ‘em
They have a casual or disrespectful approach to obstacles, as they always overcome them

Man, they really made me do this
He is blaming someone or something for forcing him to take action

I was peaceful like a Buddhist
He used to be a peaceful person

But then niggas came and screwed it up like Judas
Someone betrayed him and changed his peaceful mindset

Now I’m suited up with Lugers
He is now armed with powerful pistols

Rugers suddenly intruders
He is now even more prepared to defend himself against intruders

Turn around like hoola hoopers
He and his associates are able to quickly change directions to avoid danger

Fucking losers
He has no respect for his enemies or those who oppose him

This one’s for the world
This song is dedicated to the world

This one’s for your girl
This song is dedicated to your significant other

This one’s for your mama
This song is dedicated to your mother

This one’s for your nana
This song is dedicated to your grandmother