Nas, DJ Premier - Sons (Young Kings)

Yeah Young kings It all starts Humble beginnings Young kings Young, young kings, yeah Head on a swivel, loaded lead in a nickel The devil holding a sickle, wanna sever your tissue That's forever the issue, then candlelight at a vigil They say jail is both a rehab center and a homeless shelter And life and death is as close as tonic and seltzer Never fold under pressure, give you my manifesto Every man is a vessel, my son is my reflection He from the highest Heaven, I try not to possess him Allow him to be tested One day the words may come out the mouth of a reverend By the power vested in me, loud at his wedding Gift flowers while you can smell 'em, I try to tell 'em All the diamonds and foreigns, all the finest of garments It's really how it ends and not how it started Filthy rich, scuba diving in your wealthy pockets Louis, Prada, but health is my most valuable stocktip Y'all 'bout to run things to my young kings To my brothers with sons, let him run To my brothers with sons, so fun I pray y'all both share the most powerful bond A little different from him and his mom To my sisters with boys, the joy To my sisters with boys, enjoy Tell 'em stand tall, know he should go for it all Meet the glorious king Plenty stuff I used to see I often thought was an image of us Getting off the city bus, all the memories rush I used to look up at the crossing sign A child with a grown-up hold in his arm while I was walking with my mom I pointed at it, automatic I saw it as a little boy who was the baddest Like don't let him run in traffic I really thought the crossing sign was me and my mom Like who thought we was that important for a street sign One year, she told me that sign was for everybody I'm like, "We ain't everybody, nah, we special, Mommy" Playin' with toys, yo, she got us Atari Those is Miss Ann's boys, Nasir and Jabari Our youth was constantly fightin' institutional racism In school, we question the bias, two little future lions Haile Selassies in training Y chromosome, in no time they grown Firstborn be like the mom, second born is usually like dad Then you add the other siblings Hold each other down 'cause love brings The world at your feet, my young kings To my brothers with sons, let him run To my brothers with sons, so fun I pray y'all both share the most powerful bond A little different from him and his mom To my sisters with boys, the joy To my sisters with boys, enjoy Tell 'em stand tall, know he should go for it all Meet the glorious king