[Chous：Woman singing] I see people hating other people Tell me what's the reason That your kid is hungry, you ain't got no money What's the reason?
[Verse 1: Nas] By the time of age nine I'm already decidin' If I can protect mommy from the hood by fightin' Or usin' a knife or a gun when I'm twenty-one By by then them hoods woulda pushed their way in our apartment And we die then, so I been a young nervous wreck in the projects Watchin' them older niggaz pass pot and they high man I'm just a young boy, snot nose, hair nappy Cops ride by squeezin' their trigger fingers at me So I would go to school and try to get good grades Teacher wrote mommy and kicked me outta school for havin' braids So she cussed them, said 'My son ain't no motherfuckin' hoodlum' They judged us, thinking that we dumb 'cause where we come from Got a little older and now I see Young niggaz wanted by the powers that be (powers that be)
[Chorus: Woman singing] I see people hating other people Tell me what's the reason That your kid is hungry, you ain't got no money What's the reason? For these wars we're fighting with each other Season after season When you're workin' hard, but there ain't nothing comin' What's the reason?
[Verse 2: Nas] Uh, picture a Black nanny and a baby in a basket pushin' down 5th Ave She never had it, it's not hers to begin with She gives it breakfast, baths and dinners Treats it so tender while her own kids live alone at home with no phone on Ain't had a good meal in so long, but so long as mommy's a maid Cookin' and cleanin', she wanna feed her kids and her kids are dreamin' Where's my daddy, who's my daddy, have you seen him? I could imagine them askin', what type of human be-ing Could leave his family, go back to the Carribean? Was he locked up, shot up, does he have freedom? Mom said wipe your tears, keep readin' But daddy's somewhere, spirit broken, feelin' defeated A man feels he has to conquer all The world is his oyster, his pearl so y'all know
[Chorus: Woman singing] I can't find no reason why we can't all live in peace 'Cause this world keeps spinning, yet still I wonder what's the reason
I see people hating other people Tell me what's the reason When you're workin' hard but there ain't nothin' comin' What's the reason? Oooh-whoa-ooh-whoa
[Verse 3: Nas] I know a girl, her boyfriend was a fugitive She's intuitive, be on some stupid shit She called the cops 'cause she hated his mother Now he away doin' numbers, now she gay with her lover How many niggaz gon' die this summer? I pump life in my music, but still life is a wonder There's a officer in a squad car, he's a prostitute serial killer It's odd, huh? 'Cause he's the same cop in church with his wife He's molestin' his son and she ignores it at night Little bad ass bastard, lights a match and kills Betty Shabazz in her pad while she slept They said Prescott Bush funded Hitler while the world's in a twister Nigga, what you expect? Imagine what's next
[Chorus: Woman singing] I see people hating other people Tell me what's the reason That your kid is hungry, you ain't got no money What's the reason? For these wars we're fighting with each other Season after season When you're workin' hard, but there ain't nothing comin' What's the reason?
Woman harmonizes as Nas talks: 'Uh, uh, man, man'll search the whole planet, looking for what Try to conquer all. So what? To all my niggaz with they kids that love they kids, man. All the daddies out there To all the niggaz that died tryin'a figure out what's what Tryin'a be the biggest of the big, you know. Yeah, yeah Ladies forgive us. Gotta forgive us. For we know not what we do. Breakin' hearts, leavin' the crib, buggin' out and shit. Just man... man.'