Get Down
Quincey Tones; Nas Lyrics

New York streets where killers'll walk like Pistol Pete
In New York, there are streets where it's common to find killers like Pistol Pete walking around.

And Pappy Mason, gave the young boys admiration
Pappy Mason was respected by young boys.

Prince from Queens and Fritz from Harlem
There were street legends like Prince from Queens and Fritz from Harlem.

Street legends, the drugs kept the hood from starving
Drugs were important in keeping the hood from going hungry.

Pushing cars, Nicky Barnes was the 70's
Nicky Barnes was popular in the 70s for pushing cars.

But there's a long list of high-profile celebrities
There are many high-profile celebrities involved in street life.

Worldwide on the thorough side of things
There are people all over the world involved in street activities.

Livest kings, some died, one guy, one time
There were many successful street kings, but some died, like one particular guy.

One day grabs me, as I'm about to blast heat
One day, someone approached me as I was about to use a gun.

40-side of Vernon, I turned well he asked me
I turned on 40-side of Vernon and he asked me what I was up to.

"What you up to, the cops gon' bust you"
He asked me what I was doing because he knew police might catch me.

I was a teen drunk off brew, stumbled I wondered
I was a drunk teenager stumbling around and wondering what to do.

If God sent him, cause two squad cars entered the block
I thought that maybe God sent him because two police cars showed up after he talked to me.

And looked at us, I ain't flinch when they watched
The police looked at us, but I didn't flinch or show fear, even though I was breaking the law.

I took it upstairs, the bathroom mirror, brushed my hair
I went upstairs to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror while I brushed my hair.

Staring at a young disciple, I almost gave my life to what the dice do
I was staring at a young follower and almost became addicted to gambling.

Yeah man, throwing them bones
I was throwing dice.

Hoping my ace get his case thrown
I was hoping my friend would not get convicted of his crime.

His girl ain't wait for him, she in the world straight hoeing
His girlfriend did not wait for him and was out prostituting.

While he looking at centerfolds of pretty girls
He was looking at pictures of pretty girls.

Showing they little cooch, gangstas don't die he's living proof
Girls were showing their private parts, but his survival proved that gangsters do not always die young.

The D.A. who tried him was lying
The District Attorney who prosecuted him was lying.

A white dude, killed his mother during the case
A white man killed his mother during the court case.

Hung jury, now the D.A. is being replaced
The case ended in a hung jury, and now a new District Attorney is taking over.

Pre-trial hearing is over, it's real for the soldier
The pre-trial hearing is over and things are becoming serious for the defendant.

Walks in the courtroom, the look in his eyes is wild
When he walks into the courtroom, he looks crazy.

Triple-homicide, I sit in the back aisle
The defendant is being tried for killing three people, and I am sitting in the back of the courtroom.

I want to crack a smile when I see him
I want to laugh when I see him because he looks crazy.

Throw up a fist for black power, cause all we want is his freedom
I raise my fist in support of black power and hope that he will be freed.

He grabbed a court officer's gun and started squeezing
He grabbed a court officer's gun and started shooting.

Then he grabbed the judge, screams out, nobody leaving everybody
He grabbed the judge and shouted that nobody was leaving the courtroom.

Some niggas fuck they enemies in they ass when they catch 'em
Some people sexually assault their enemies when they catch them.

Weird-ass niggas are dangerous, so don't test 'em
Strange people are dangerous, so it's better not to test them.

They make you disappear, this a year that I won't forget
They can make you vanish without a trace, and I won't forget this year.

Sold CD's double platinum, met mo' execs
I sold CDs and went double platinum, and met more executives.

Southern niggas, independent label, real killers
There are independent labels in the south with real killers.

Know the business, ran Tennessee for years, now they chilling
They know the music business, ran Tennessee for years, and are now relaxing.

They had the coke game something crazy
They were heavily involved in the cocaine business.

Sold music out the trunk of they car, that shit amazed me
They sold music out of the trunk of their car, which surprised me.

Put me onto heron blunts, sherm or something
They introduced me to smoking angel dust or something similar.

Took a puff, what the fuck, I turned to punch them
I took a puff, was surprised by what I felt, and turned to fight them.

Southern niggas ain't slow, nigga tried to play me
People from the south are not slow, and someone tried to deceive me.

I left from around them dudes, they cool but they crazy
I stopped spending time with them because they are cool but crazy.

Now I'm back around the old school that raised me
Now I'm back with the people who raised me.

New York gangstas, we lounging, out in L.A. see
Gangsters from New York are relaxing in Los Angeles.

A dude wrote my dawg from Pelican Bay
Someone wrote to my friend in Pelican Bay prison.

The letter say, "Nas I got your back, the fools don't play"
The letter said that someone has my back and that the gangsters I'm around don't mess around.

I rolled with some Crips down to a Crenshaw funeral
I went with some Crips to a funeral in Crenshaw.

Never saw so many men slaughtered and I knew the ho responsible
I saw many people killed and I knew who was responsible for it.

The nigga still alive in a hospital
The man responsible for the killings is still alive and in the hospital.

Midnight they crept in his room and shot the doctor too
They snuck into his room at midnight and shot the doctor as well.

See my cousin's in the game, thugging and things
My cousin is involved in street life and thugging.

He plugged me with a dame who was half-Mexicano
He introduced me to a woman who was half Mexican.

Gave the ass up, I'ma mack daddy Soprano
She had sex with me and I felt like Tony Soprano, a famous character from a TV series.

She passed me the indigo, but the imbecile
She gave me the marijuana, but she was not intelligent.

Should of never tippy-toed, thought my eyes were closed
She should not have been sneaky because she thought I wasn't paying attention.

Opening the hotel room do', to let her goons in
She opened the hotel room door to let her friends in.

But I moved in a manner, on some Jet Li shit
I suddenly moved like Jet Li in a fight scene.

I let the hammers blow, wet three kids
I used guns and killed three people.

See honey thought I had something to do, with all the drama
She thought I was involved in the recent violence.

Cause I was with a crew, that had her people killed
She thought I was with a group of people who killed her associates.

Called up my cousin, told him I ain't fucking with you
I called my cousin and told him I was no longer going to be involved with him.

He responded cool, but told me out here this how motherfuckers
He responded calmly but warned me that this is how people behave in our line of life.

All I really gotta say is that
What I really want to say is that...

If that's how our people gon' get down, how we ever gon' get up?
If that's how we behave, how can we ever improve our situation?

How we ever gon' get up if that's how we get down?
We cannot improve if we continue to behave in negative ways.

A shame when you ain't look at it
It's a shame when we do not examine our behavior.

My folk is yo' folk, but we all kinfolk
Even though we may not be related by blood, we are still connected.

Somebody gotta make a change
We need to make changes to improve our situation.