[Chorus]
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
[Verse 1]
Straight up, shit is real
And any day could be your last in the jungle
Get murdered on a humble, guns'll blast, niggas tumble
The corners is the hot spot, full of mad criminals
Who don't care, guzzling beers
We all stare at the out-of-towners
(Ayo, yo, who that?) They better break North
Before we get the four pounders and take their face off
The streets is filled with undercovers, homicide chasing brothers
The D's on the roof tryin' to watch us and knock us
And killer coppers even come through in helicopters
I drink a little vodka, spark a L and hold a Glock for
The fronters, wannabe ill niggas and spot runners
Thinking it can't happen 'til I trap 'em and clap 'em
And leave 'em done, won't even run about gods
I don't believe in none of that shit, your facts are backwards
Nas is a rebel of the street corner
Pulling a TEC out the dresser; police got me under pressure
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
[Verse 2]
Yo, they call me Nas, I'm not your legal type of fella
Moët drinking, marijuana smoking street dweller
Who's always on the corner, rolling up bless
When I dress, it's never nothing less than Guess
Cold be walking with a bop and my hat turned back
Love committing sins and my friends sell crack
This nigga raps with a razor, keep it under my tongue
The school drop-out, never liked the shit from day one
‘Cause life ain't shit but stress, fake niggas, and crab stunts
So I guzzle my Hennessy while pulling on mad blunts
The brutalizer, buddha-sizer, accelerator
The type of nigga who be pissing in your elevator
Somehow the rap game reminds me of the crack game
Used to sport Bally's and Cazals with black frames
Now I'm into fat chains, sex and TECs
Fly new chicks and new kicks, Heines and Beck's
[Chorus]
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
Represent, represent
No doubt, see my stacks are fat, this is what it's about
Before the BDP conflict with MC Shan
Around the time when Shante dissed the Real Roxanne
I used to wake up every morning, see my crew on the block
Every day's a different plan that had us running from cops
If it wasn't hanging out in front of cocaine spots
We was at the candy factory, breaking the locks
Nowadays, I need the green in a flash just like the next man
Fuck a yard, god, let me see a hundred grand
Could use a gun, son, but fuck being the wanted man
But if I hit rock bottom, then I'ma be the Son of Sam
Then call the crew to get live too, with Swoop
Barkim, my brother Jungle, Big Bo cooks up the blow
Mike'll chop it; Mayo, you count the profit
My shit is on the streets, this way the Jakes'll never stop it
It's your brain on drugs, to all fly bitches and thugs
'Nuff respect to the projects, I'm ghost, one love
[Chorus]
Represent y'all, represent
Represent y'all, represent
Represent y'all, represent
Represent y'all, represent
[Outro]
One time for your mothafuckin' mind
This goes out to everybody in New York
That's living the real fucking life in every projects, all over
To my man Big Will, he's still here
The 40 side of Vernon, my man Big L.E.S
Big Cee-Lo from the Dime, Shawn Penn, the 40 busters
My crew the shorty busters, the 41st side of Vernon posse
The Goodfellas, my man Cormega, Lakey the Kid
Can't forget Drawz, the Hillbillies
My man Slate, Wallethead, Black Jay, Big Oogie
Crazy barrio spot, (Big Dove), we rock shit a lot, PHD
And my man Preemo from Gang Starr
'94 real shit y'all (word up Harry O)
Fuck y'all crab-ass niggas though!
Bitch ass niggas! Bitch ass niggas!
You bitch ass motherfuckers!
Come to Queensbridge, motherfucker!
Yeah, yeah, let's bring it back
That's just a warm up
‘Cause I can– on anybody, anybody
About
After slowing things down on “One Time 4 Your Mind,” “Represent” finds Nas getting hyped up with his crew from Queensbridge backing him up in the studio. DJ Premier sampled Lee Erwin’s “Thief of Baghdad,” and although he revealed that this was the first song he created for Illmatic, he also said in a 2019 interview that the album version of “Represent” is actually a remix of the original jazzier version:
We had already done ‘Represent’ but not the one on the album. The one on the album is a remix. Once we got to me hearing ‘One Love’ and ‘Life’s a Bitch,’ I was like, ‘Yo, I gotta update mine.’
‘Represent’: Raw, me in the studio, a bunch of my boys, and having a good time, Hennessy flowing–that’s what it was. […] It was fun for all of us. I think we had a good time doing ‘Represent.’
In an interview with XXL, Nas' brother Jungle recalled the recording session for the outro of “Represent”:
That was one of the days Nas let everybody get in the mic booth and talk and shit. I don’t know why he used to do that shit, ‘cause none of us—we only had one or two rappers [in the crew]. Like, everybody who was in the studio was in the booth, but none of them would even wanna be a rapper. They just wanna roll with the rapper. The whole project was happy to just be out the projects and shit. Everybody was packed up in D&D Studio.
DJ Premier talked about the creation of “Represent” in Episode 6 of his production series So Wassup?
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Nas had this to XXL about the song:
Nas: That was a serious weight, representing Queensbridge. I was honored to do it, because of what Shan & Marley had already done. I just wanted to grab the flag & hold it up as high as ever. I felt like they had already paved the way, & now they needed an unbeatable solider to hold that flag up high. After the battle with BDP, you can’t ignore the doubt that people had in my hood. So it was like, I’m here now, & I got it, & I’ma hold it down to the death.
Whilst Nas' religious beliefs seem hard to pin down, he definitely believes in some kind of god. In a question and answer session, Nas says that God is “the man with the answers.”
- 1.The Genesis
- 5.Halftime
- 7.One Love
- 9.Represent
- 11.I’m a Villain
