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Nas displays complex lyricism with his N.Y. State of Mind over a track from Gang Starrs DJ Premier. The chorus samples a Rakim line from the track Mahogany, which is fitting since Nas was being heralded as the second coming of the God MC. The track is considered one of Nas' greatest songs, and the duo produced a sequel five years later for Nas' third album, I Am. Alicia Keys used DJ Premiers beat for her 2003 track Streets of New York, which featured verses from Nas and Rakim. Complex listed N.Y. State of Mind in the #9 spot on their list of The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Beats of All-Time.

Nas said the following about the track

The music just spoke to the people that needed to know what was in my head and what it was like in the minds of everybody in New York at that timethats what I thought. I thought the sound sounded like what was in everyones head at some point, or that sound represents a certain section of your mind. [] There was a lot going on in New York, especially in the 90s, same as today. That songI think its timeless in a lot of ways.

In an interview with XXL, DJ Premier gave some background information on N.Y. State of Mind:

That was actually the second beat that I did [for Illmatic]. The first one was Represent. I just had the drum pattern going with the funny littleit sounds almost like an astronaut signal at the beginningI found that Joe Chambers sample [Mind Rain], which is where thats from. I usually dont disclose my samples, but I cleared it, so its all good. Found the sample, and when they heard that melody, Nas and them was in agreement, like, Yo, hook that up, thats hot. So I hooked it up, and Nas started writing.

Right at the beginning of the record, when he says, Straight out the dungeons of rap, where fake niggas dont make it back. And then theres kind of like a silence, where the music is building up, and you hear Nas go, I dont know how to start this shit. He just wrote it, and he was trying to figure out how to format it, like when to come in. Im waving at him in the control room like, Look at me, go in for the count. So right when he looks up and sees me counting, he just jumps in. He did the whole first verse in one take, and I remember when he finished the first verse, he stopped and said, Does that sound cool? And we were all like, Oh my God! It was like, I dont even care what else you write.

He also praised Nas adapting to the New York sound:

On New York State of Mind it was literally him watch[ing] me drop the needle. What you think of that, you like that? And Im [like,] Its alright. Okay, keep going. You know its a record so Im like bringing it to that point where I think it needs to start. Boom, I said, Oooh, let me hook that up. The sound that ran hip-hop was our sound [and] Nas matched that. He wasnt like unh uh, shorty, get your sound up, know what Im saying? It wasnt get your sound up, its like he blends right in.

Producer Large Professor revealed that N.Y. State of Mind is his favorite song on Illmatic:

The intensity and just the pureness, like, it captured the whole New York perfectly. As a fan of Nas, as a fan of Preem, as a fan of hip-hop, like, it was just like, Yo, this is crazy.

See the rest here:
Nas N.Y. State of Mind Lyrics | Genius Lyrics