It Ain’t Hard to Tell (10th Anniversary Remix)

[Intro:]
Take it to the bridge
To the motherfuckin' bridge
Queensbridge in the motherfucker

[Hook:]
It ain't hard to tell
It ain't hard to tell

[Verse 1:]
The buddha monk's in your trunk, turn the bass up
Not stories by Aesop, place your loot up, parties I shoot up
Nas, I analyze, drop a jewel, inhale from the L
School a fool well, you feel it like Braille, it ain't hard to tell
I kick a skill like Shaquille holds a pill
Vocabulary spills I'm Ill plus Matic
I freak beats, slam it like Iron Sheik
Jam like a Tec with correct techniques
So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magnetize me
Scannin' while you're plannin' ways to sabotage me
I leave 'em froze like her-on in your nose
Nas can rock well, it ain't hard to tell

[Hook:]
It ain't hard to tell
It-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it
It ain't hard to tell
It ain't hard to tell

[Verse 2:]
What's a beat if the rap don't click
I spit rhymes like I'm sick, dying loss in a pit
The only way I can escape is by vocals
Verbalize a strife
Stabbin' ears like a knife hood like
The Prophet of the gutter
Lyrics are silk mega butter
I flow never stutter
Clever poetic brothers on a mission
Dissin' all who perps the fraud
Scrams listen, (and) do what the experts record
Burn your pen and pads, mics you'll need not
Well I be packin' like a rasta in a weed spot
Hittin' your hearts like a hollow tip
Verbally illin' minds manipulated
My raps are nickel-plated
I illustrate it, X-rated, then move out
Nas the parlayer takes you on a new route
It's suicide poetry released from a cell
With immense clientele, I excel
It ain't hard to tell

[Hook:]
It ain't hard to, it ain't hard to tell
It-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it
It ain't hard to tell

[Verse 3:]
Now, I'm blessed with the finesse to express like Shakespeare
The blocks "Cape Fear" drop metaphors when the breaks clears
My mic check is life or death, breathing a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps
Deep like the Shining, sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a Uzi on the island in my army jacket lining
Hit the Earth like a comet – invasion!
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazing
Cause in my physical, I can express through song
Delete stress like Motrin, then extend strong
I drink Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell

[Hook:]
It ain't hard to tell
It-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it
It ain't hard to tell
It ain't hard to tell