[Intro: Nas]
Yo, this remix goes out to everybody out there
That call theyself "keepin' it real"
From yours truly — Escobar and big R
From New York to Chi-Town
Check it out now
Commissioner Steve Stoute
Trackmasters, QB
Check it, yo
[Verse 1: Nas]
Low profile, rap style slick as Nu Nile
Give the crew pounds every time we cover new ground
Still surviving, but there's a few down, back in the essence
I'm askin' questions on the phone with jail adolescents
Quiet confession, the system's applying the pressure
My mind is guessin' — is living and dying a lesson?
But not to be obliged with the mirage of cars
Take me off track, from what the Gods focus on hard
Laid up, smokin' cigars
Motioning maids to bring me toast and eggs kosher
Ice chokers and wolves to smoke ya
My wisdom culture, lives in ultra madness
Devoted, Coach bag bitch
Broke, the average n***a hopes to get mad rich
But what's the purpose?
Only the Gods can watch the Earth twist
I'm physically trapped down on the surface
With all the crack merchants, snakes, and serpents
Foul Jakes that search us
Clowns with four pounds, this ain't a circus
[Chorus: R. Kelly]
Street dreamer (Oh, mercy, mercy me)
Ain't nothin' out there for ya
(There ain't nothin' out there for you)
Situation's gettin' heavy
Heavy, heavy, tryin' to be a gangsta
(Word up)
[Verse 2: Nas]
Black clouds over the hood, I'm on the corner with the thugs
Late night, under the moon, as they assume I'm slangin' drugs
'Cause I'm hooded up, thought a G a night wasn't good enough
Pushed my luck, yo, they had a brother put in cuffs
Luckily, made it out of court comfortably
Judge said I need a job, ain't nothin' comin' free
Could've got a one-to-three
I try to school these shorties under me, but they can't see
From life to death, so now we back to where we never left
The ghetto — it's a damn shame, knowing it's a man's game
Shorty thinks it's time to make your plans change
All that running 'round, tryin' to chase what's already here
Been there, it's goin' nowhere
Pops told me, "Knuckle up, no fear"
I wish some of these killings, they could be prevented
Whatever happens, it was written, meanin' God meant it
But during life, you put your heart in it
Even though it seems we being targeted
Let that brother R. hit it
[Chorus: R. Kelly]
Street dreamer (Oh, mercy, mercy me)
Ain't nothin' out there for ya
(There ain't nothin' out there for you)
Situation's gettin' heavy
Heavy, heavy, tryin' to be a gangsta
[Bridge: R. Kelly]
Dream on, dream on
Dream on, dream on
Dream on, dream on
Dream on, dream on
Street dreamer, yeah
Street dreamer, dream on
Dream on
[Verse 3: Nas & (R. Kelly)]
Sorta wild — since a child, hope was all we had
Dreamt of plushed-out pads, complainin', the mental strainin'
How many in my crew is into gainin'?
Subtract the weak links up out the chain, and rise and start reignin'
Blasphemy, using Nas' name in vain
Some claim supreme being, yet they lied in His name
I tried to learn the game, and only thing I found incredible
Everything I tried to learn, see, I already knew (That's right)
And it's embedded in my heart now
So I could sit back, count a stack, and play my part now
I saw my life flash in front of my eyes, He wore disguise
Put a gun to me, hungry, He went on to chastise
"That's Nas, ain't it? Made it rich from entertainment"
Fresh Wally's painted, as he told the kid he came with
My first thought was, "How the game flip?"
Yo, perhaps it was somebody I smacked drunk in a party on 'gnac
Or was I marked for a contract, for some foul act I did a while back?
Or even beyond that –
He got me layin' face-flat, saying my grace, Black
Woke up in a cold sweat, yo, I hate that
Nightmares feeling real
Word to Will — my a-alike, I lost in the battlefield
That's why I hit the mic with mad appeal
Grab your shield and meet your maker
The Queens n***as die for paper
Deep things, the street dreams will take ya
[Chorus: R. Kelly]
Street dreamer (Oh, mercy, mercy me)
Ain't nothin' out there for ya
(There ain't nothin' out there for you)
Situation's gettin' heavy
Heavy, heavy, tryin' to be a gangsta
Street dreamer (Oh, mercy, mercy me)
Ain't nothin' out there for ya
(There ain't nothin' out there for you)
Situation's gettin' heavy
Heavy, heavy, tryin' to be a gangsta
Street dreamer (Oh, mercy, mercy me)
Ain't nothin' out there for ya
(There ain't nothin' out there for you)
Situation's gettin' heavy
Heavy, heavy, tryin' to be a gangsta