[Chorus: Nas (repeat 2X)]

Some of us have angels -- the kingdom, the power

Some of us have angels -- the power, the glory
Some of us have demons -- greed, and lust
Some of us have demons -- lust, temptation


[Nas]
Now this is you, dressed in all black, fatigue hat, ready for combat

A good ^!$$%, you don't leave tracks
A hood ^!$$% wantin G-stacks, do what you gotta do to get that
You feel you need that, where the jooks at?

These are your ^!$$%z, creepin they be leavin ^!$$%z sleep witchu
Loc' style, quiet no smile, it's the official
Sometime they grimy, speakin on they own people

They snake you if they have to, raised tattoos
Now these are your (*##$es, phonin lonely homey chickens
All the homies stick em, you think you own em man listen

She stab you in your sleep with a knife from out the kitchen
Put a root on you, next week they find you missin
Dead in your Expedition in the forest, fell off the cliff and

tumbled til you blew up, Feds told her and she threw up
Fake (*##$es, actresses, wicked witch practices
Two sides of us, negative or positive


[Chorus]


[Nas]
Now this is your mom, your good luck charm
Pushin you to do no wrong, prayin for you that you live long

Nobody kill my baby, but she know her baby crazy
In and out of jail, mom's screamin, "God take me!"
This is your pop, chip off the old block that made him

The man of the house, mom and pops seperatin
Spittin image of a gangster the way pop walked
the way pop talked, got older and you thanked him now

This is your hood, poor folks drugs and robberies
Turnin into the things moms wanted you not to be
Crime followin the wrong dudes who have no values

Life's cheap as the dime in the minds of those around you
This is the test, the stress, the conflict the ups and downs of
^!$$%z around you make threats

They tell you keep it gangster, no matter the predicament
Even though your decision won't help you benefit


[Chorus]

[Nas]

Now once again this is you, entertainin your desires
(*##$es money and guns, aimin and you fire
Everyday is grief, if it ain't beef, it's feedin your seed

Tryin to eat? You form material needs
The weed make your brain sizzle, a pistol make it cool off
by stickin up ^!$$%z, make them take they jewels off

His reputation is, bigger than his whole life span
He never planned to fail, he just failed to plan
What does it take to realize, Satan's alive, he whispers

And any chance he get, he can take ^!$$%z
He comes in all shapes and sizes, his best disguise is
when he stand beside us, but God is inside us, within me

You are your worst enemy - my mom's words echo in my head
And if I let go I'm dead
He stepped at my door, the ? motivate my spirit

And now the body experience, so now I feel it
Lookin at my blessings, the bullets - that missed me coulda hit me
Them court cases coulda put me in the penitentiary

I never hate, that's just wasted energy
The past is gone, the present's a gift, so what's the mystery?
The future - and time only reveals, what fear is

False expectations, appearin real
We only human, love thy neighbor, so I was told
and I will til permanently, my eyes are closed


[Chorus]