[Chorus: Mark B. Mayfield]
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation

[Verse 1: Nas (Mark B. Mayfield)]
Yeah, Feds feast on street dons, look at their teeth showin'
Salivating at the mouth, South to East Orange
Keep pourin' that liquor, but n***a don't sleep on it
You'll be giving up your Jesus piece to your peeps to pawn it
For legal fees in the penal dorm
Screamin' on the horn with 'bout 30 years on your conscience
I'm watchin' brothers disappear, it's appallin'
Some dudes had just only a year of ballin'
Counter-intelligence found a strange evidence
(When the block is hot)
Still we behind the wheel with heat on us, hangin' with predicates
Position we placed in caves in, so they got us caged in
Waves spinnin' like Mike Bivens from New Edition agin'
(I gotta... when the block is hot)
I got families I'm feedin', 'cause my mans is bleedin'
Every five seconds look in all directions
I come through prepared, I give 'em a call
"I'm close, bring them guns downstairs"
[Chorus: Mark B. Mayfield (Nas)]
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot (hold it down)
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation

[Verse 2: Nas (Mark B. Mayfield)]
Uh, uh, it's beef week, Monday, murder
Two n***as dead, Tuesday
Wednesday and Thursday is hearse-day
Friday, somebody-gotta-die day
Saturday, put the gat away
Chillin' with your chick and a bag of haze
Wonderin' how it's all gon' end and what type of way
'Cause Sunday back to gunplay
Most shit start over nothin'
And get finished quick ‘cause the art of repercussion
Yeah, I seen it, a G going out indecent (when the block is hot)
Takin' a plea agreement, thinkin' he secret
Escape the crime scene, now you live straight like 9:15
Then one-time intervene (I gotta hold...)
My man ain't like me sayin' I don't care if I die
But the SIG Sauer on me now I'm scared to die
You thinkin' the one I send to clap you be a shorty
But he old school, holdin' a .38, he in his 40s
[Chorus: Mark B. Mayfield (Nas)]
I gotta hold down the block when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot (yeah, word to mother)
I gotta use my imagination, to change the situation (yeah)

[Verse 3: Nas (Mark B. Mayfield)]
(I gotta...) Anytime brothers can't get jobs, then they rob
A man rather die than live on his knees and starve
Cops steady askin' your man what happened
First he tell, then he stop, like he not really rattin'
Guess he not really in that casket from a sawed-off
(When the block is hot)
Listen, peep game from the brain of an all-star
The rain hurt n***as' bones who been shot
Metal pins in their leg, they walk with a limp-hop
The streets lie (when the block is hot), so you better be cautious
Your man'll fry you plus everybody talkin'
A vet, a General, don't step where I walked in
Make your own path, be a legend in your skin
(Hold down the block, when the block is hot)
Make your own cash, don't stress what I'm flossin'
Don't expect more when you put in less work than all them
Queensbridge projects has taught him
And that's for life, you heard me right, I got the block
[Outro: Mark B. Mayfield]
When the block is hot, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation
I gotta hold down the block, when the block is hot
I gotta use my imagination to change the situation