You're da Man - Live at Webster Hall, NYC - Dec. 17, 2002

Uh uh, yo

They plan was to knock me out the top of the game

But I overstand they truth is all lame

I hold cannons that shoot balls of flames

Right in they fat mouth then I carve my name

Nas, too real, Nas, true king

It's however you feel, g'head, you swing

Your arms too short to box with god

I don't kill soloists only kill squads

Fame went to they head, so now it's "Fuck Nas"

Yesterday you begged for a deal, today you tough guys

I seen it coming

Soon as I popped my first bottle I spotted my enemies tryna' do what I do

Came in with my style, so I fathered you

I kept changing on the world since "Barbeque"

Now you wanna hang with niggas I hung with

Fuck bitches I hit, it's funny I once said

If I, ever make a record

I take a check and put something away for a rainy day to make my exit

But look at me now, ten years deep

Since in the project, crack in my socks weep

I never asked to be top of rap's elite

Just a ghetto child tryna' learn the traps of the streets

But look at me now

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

Now wait a sec', give me time to explain, women and fast cars

And diamond rings can poison a rap star

It's suicidal, how I smoke in so much la'

I saw a dead bird flying through a broken sky

Wish I could flap wings and fly away

To where black kings and Ghana stay

So I could get on my flesh right away

But that'll be the day when it's peace

When my gat don't need to spray

When these streets are safe to play

Sex with death, indulge in these women

Vision my own skeleton swimming in eternal fire

Broads play with pentagrams in they vagina

Like the Exorcist, then they gave birth to my seeds

I beg for God's help, why they love hurting me?

I'm your disciple, a thug certainly

I'm the N the A to the S-I-are

If I wasn't I must've been Escobar

Forty-five in my waist, staring at my reflection

In the mirror, sitting still in the chair like my conception

When everything around me got cloudy, the chair became a king's throne

My destiny found me

It's clear why the struggle was so painful

Metamorphosis, this is what I changed to

And God, I'm so thankful

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"

"You're the man" "You're the man"