My Life Is Real - Nas & DJ Premier

What a life
"It's true that they underestimate you"
My life is real
"So I'm frontin' on 'em every chance I get to be honest"

Wavy hair, mystique, up in this bitch deep
Chain with some sick feet, corner of 10th Street
Scoop me in a MPV, I'm holdin' big heat
Soloist vocalist, maestro, this fish grease
Rest in peace, Polo, he see us, our wishes with G
Just like Ra and E — me and Preem; this history
Young ones, abuelas, Jesus candles, bodegas
Hallways playing some Gang Starr. "Who is that?" They gon' say, "Nas"
Look at us now, De La, Mobb, Rae, Ghost, and Rick
Big up Big L, Prodigy, Trugoy, they live
Martyrs, if you will, a 'Legend Has It...' cartel
I'm on jets with giants, I'm Bill Parcells
PTSD – Project Trauma Still Dwells
Happiness gotta be in you, money can't help
So, salute to the men that never hit the pen, black
We got to the bread and still live to spend that
What a life

I'm a man, I'ma die about it
Feel the pain, but I'm not gon' cry about it
Tell the truth 'cause ain't no reason to lie about it
(Invisible fingers playin' chords on my haunted piano)
I'm a man, I'ma die about it
Feel the pain, but I'm not gon' cry about it
Tell the truth 'cause ain't no reason to lie about it
(Invisible fingers playin' chords)

Already classic before you heard it, the spoiler was all my feature verses
I lined it up kinda perfect and then I hurled it
Rhymes in my mind's like pearls and oysters
Boss of bosses, Morpheus on my bullshit
The illest style right here 'til I got white hair
Gettin' foul-type stares, we ahead light years
We come out, the shift starts, so let the fifth spark
Turn the light switch off, drive a block, switch cars
Toss the face mask and gloves, damn, I just caught a buzz
Pulled another hit on a beat – guess who the victim was?
Guess who get reconfigured? The whole industry does
Premier, you my nigga because we became the men our mothers prayed for
Maybe even exceeded they expectations or maybe they always knew
While tyin' up our baby shoes, what was waitin' that brewed
In the souls of a chosen few
This ain't just talk, it's true
What a life

I'm a man, I'ma die about it
Feel the pain, but I'm not gon' cry about it
Tell the truth 'cause ain't no reason to lie about it
(Invisible fingers playin' chords on my haunted piano)
I'm a man, I'ma die about it
Feel the pain, but I'm not gon' cry about it
Tell the truth 'cause ain't no reason to lie about it
(Invisible fingers playin' chords)
My life is real