The light is there, yeah yeah   See I come from Mississippi   I was young and runnin' wild   Ended up in New York City, where I had my first child   I named the boy Nasir, all the boys call him Nas   I told him as a youngster, he'll be the greatest man alive      Let's go, hey hey hey hey   Tribrary of these rap skits, styles I mastered   Many brothers snatched it up and tried to match it   But I'm still number one, everyday real   Speak what I want, I don't care what y'all feel   'Cause I'm my own master   My Pop told me, "Be your own boss keep integrity at every cost"   And his home was Natchez Mississippi   Did it like Miles and Dizzy, now we gettin' busy      Bridging The Gap from the blues, to jazz, to rap   The history of music on this track   Born in the game, discovered my father's music   Like Prince searchin' through boxes of Purple Rain   But my Minneapolis was The Bridge, home of the Superkids   Some are well-known, some doin' bids   I mighta ended up on the wrong side of the tracks   If Pops wouldn't've pulled me back an said yo      See I come from Mississippi   I was young and runnin' wild   Ended up in New York City, where I had my first child   I named the boy Nasir, all the boys call him Nas   I told him as a youngster, he'll be the greatest man alive   Greatest man alive, gre-gre-gre-gre-greatest man alive      The blues came from gospel, gospel from blues   Slaves are harmonizin' them ah's and ooh's   Old school, new school, know school rules   All these years I been voicin' my blues   I'm a artist from the start, hip-hop guided my heart   Graffiti on the wall, coulda ended in Spoffard, juvenile delinquent   But Pops gave me the right type'a tools to think with      Books to read, like X and stuff   'Cause the schools said the kids had dyslexia   In art class I was a compulsive sketcher of   Teachers in my homeroom, I drew pix to mess them up   'Cause none'a them would like my style   Read more books than the curriculum profile   Said, "Mr. Jones please come get your child   'Cause he's writin' mad poems and his verses are wild"      I was born in Mississippi   I was young and runnin' wild   Moved to New York City, where I had my first child   I named the boy Nasir, all the boys call him Nas   I told him as a youngster, he'll be the greatest man alive   Greatest man, the great-greatest man alive      Hey hey hey, my Poppa was not a Rollin' Stone   He been around the world blowin' his horn, still he came home   Then he got grown, changed his name to Olu   Come on, tell 'em 'bout all the places you gone to      I been to Saudi Arabia, Mozambique   Madagascar, Paris, Greece   The Middle Africa is where we lived   Better known as Queenbridge      Nas, Nas you don't stop   Olu Dara in the house, you don't stop   Muddy Waters' Howling Wolf you don't stop   From the Blues to Street Hop you don't stop   Tell 'em Pop      See I come from Mississippi   I was young and runnin' wild   Ended up in New York City, where I had my first child   I named the boy Nasir, all the boys call him Nas   I told him as a youngster, he'll be the greatest man alive   Greatest man alive, gre-gre-gre-gre-greatest man alive   Rest in peace Ray Charles