2nd Childhood

[Intro]
Yeah, hahaha
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
Nas

[Verse 1]
Yo, explode, my thoughts were drunken from quarts of beers
Was years back, before Nasir would explore a career in rap
As a music dude, I mastered this Rubik's Cube
Godzilla, fought Gargantua, eyes glued to the tube
Was a long time ago, John Boy Ice
Geronimo po-lice jumpin' out Chryslers, e-z wider paper
Pops puffin' his cess, punchin' his chest like a gorilla
Outside was psychos, killers
Saw Divine, Goon, and Chongo, Lil' Turkey
R.I.P. Tyrone, 'member no cursin' front of Ms. Vercey
Big Percy, Crazy Paul, the Sledge Sisters
My building was 40-16, once in the blue, hallways was clean
I knew all that I'd seen had meant somethin'
Learned early to fear none, little Nas was huntin'
Livin' carefree laughin', got jokes on the daily
Y'all actin' like some old folks, y'all don't hear me
Yo, I'm in my second childhood

[Chorus: scratches by DJ Premier]
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect through the birth of my seed, Queensbridge
Make everything right, get yours, nigga
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect through the birth of my seed, Queensbridge
Make everything right, get yours

[Verse 2]
Yo, dude is 31, livin' in his mom's crib
Ex-convict, was paroled there after his long bid
Cornrows in his hair, still slingin', got a crew
They break his mom's furniture, watchin' Comicview
Got babies by different ladies, high, smokin' L's
In the same spot he stood since '85, well
When his stash slow, he be crazy
Say he by his moms, hit her on her payday
Junior high school dropout, teachers never cared
They was paid just to show up and leave, no one succeeds
So he moves with his peers, different blocks, different years
Sittin' on different benches like it's musical chairs
All his peoples moved on in life, he's on the corners at night
With young dudes, it's them he wanna be like
It's sad but it's fun to him, right? He never grew up
31 and can't give his youth up, he's in his second childhood

[Chorus: scratches by DJ Premier]
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect through the birth of my seed, Queensbridge
Make everything right, get yours, nigga
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect through the birth of my seed, Queensbridge
Make everything right, get yours

[Verse 3]
Baby girl, she's always talkin', name droppin', hangin' late
Drinkin', smokin', hates her baby daddy, craves shoppin'
E poppin', ecstasy takin', won't finish her education
Best friend she keeps changin', stuck with limitations
Lustin' men, many hotels, Fendi, Chanel
With nothin' in her bank account frontin' she do well
Her kid suffers, he don't get that love he deserve
He the Sun, she the Earth, single mom, even worse
No job, never stay workin', mad purty
Shorty, they call her the brain surgeon
Time flyin', she the same person
Never matures, all her friends married, doin' well
She's in the streets yakkety yakkin' like she was twelve
Honey is twenty-seven, argues fights
Selfish in her own right for life
Guess she's in her second childhood

[Chorus: scratches by DJ Premier]
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect through the birth of my seed, Queensbridge
Make everything right, get yours, nigga
When I flow for the street, who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect through the birth of my seed, Queensbridge
Make everything right, get yours
Who else could it be?
N-A-S, Nas