Nas’ 15 Best Lines From ‘I Am…’
"N.Y. State Of Mind Part II"
Producer: DJ PremierLyric: "Had eight partners growin up, eight turned to seven/Seven turned to six niggas, got two in heaven/Six of us, holdin it, now it's five rollin thick/The sixth one's parole flipped; five niggas, went to four quick"
Why It's Dope: An easy flip of the original takes some of the urgency of his introduction out of the beat, but Nas still holds things down lyrically. This particular line, where he counts down number of friends in his crew from eight to an eventual two, is a by-the-numbers dissection of some of the biggest issues facing young black men growing up in the projects—murder, prison, moving away, flaking on friends—that cut crews down in size and number.