[Intro: AZ & (Biz Markie)]
(Yo, this is funky! A-yo, what's up, fellas?)
Peace, God, peace, peace, how you?
(Yeah, I'm a'ight, I'm all good)
Yeah, yeah, cool, cool
Check it out!
I see today's mathematics as bein' understanding, you know?
Understanding is havin' the ability to see things clearly
For what they are, not what they present theyself to be
It completes the cipher, you know what I'm sayin'?
It's also symbolic to the black child, which is the best part
A-yo, son, represent

[Verse 1: Nas]
Now, I'm the average n***a in the street life, God
I try to beat trife odds
Ride my L-E through the night fog and park
It's buddha to be sparked, it's consistent
The beast smells the L because it travel long distance
Cruisin' in his Chrysler, pursuin' n***as in my cipher
Start wildin' like insane asylum on Rikers Island
Verbal assassin, I murder freestylin'
One-two for the gun crew, three drinkin' Cristal and
I play the side 'cause the words of man kill
Proverbs buck out my grill, real as Ill Will, peep the steel!
Nobody move, nobody die, why must I be high?
Bustin' in trife bitches, touchin' mic switches
It's like a hot spoon of heroin, a Don like Pérignon
Females love the guns I be wearin'
Plant my seeds to live infinite, indeed in my sentences
I flow demandin', that's understanding
[Verse 2: Nas]
850 tempo, but rugged like a Pinto
Chop shop hip-hop, burn the block intro
High priests release voodoo
Déjà vu on this taboo Illmatic shit, and what have you
Chef cocaine cook, no brainer, got the proper diction
My competition bleeds words and weed blurs my vision
I'm freezin' in time, stop the rhyme!
I'm sober in a stolen Range Rover, much crime
I, stick up America, Nas in your area
Disrupt the sound barrier, clowns get pounds of terror
A full whip for more clips than Clint has in his era
Dirty Harry — cold, black, the uncanny of Kojak
A Beretta stickin' up trucks carryin' Amaretto
Clever to entice 'em, herbs I'm micin' while I'm pricin'
N***as like they slaves, best behave, I'm the nice one
Nas — broken down from Nasir; means protection
Pop dukes' resurrection
International hoes I'm sexin', while you be fuckin' one section
Question: Does a lonely mic give me an erection? Yes, son!
On a float like The Jetsons, futuristic rappin' mystic
Bust it! Try and diss it while my finger's on the iron biscuit
I rhyme terrific, sparklin' like the Diamond District
It's understanding

[Outro]
That's where it's happenin' in Queens
That's where it's happenin' in Queens
That's where it's happenin' in Queens
That's where it's happenin' in Queens