Nas I Know I Can Quotes & Sayings

There was a side of me that knew I was gonna change the game, but I didn't know how many people would respect it. — Nas

You know the block was ill as a youngster
Every night it was like a, cop would get killed body found in the dumpster — Nas

I wanted to say what wasn't being said. I wanted to give people a real story. I wanted people to know people like me exist in the world. — Nas

I don't want any title. I just say what I say, and hopefully somebody gets it, man. I'm not perfect, and I'm just here and trying to make a dollar, and being real at the same time, you know? — Nas

I want you to know who I am: what the streets taste like, feel like, smell like. What the cops talk like, walk like, think like. What crackheads do - I wanted you to smell it, feel it. It was important to me that I told the story that way because I thought that it wouldn't be told if I didn't tell it. — Nas

I used to carry a notebook to the studio. I don't do that no more 'cause I don't have the time to write anywhere but right there in the studio on the spot. So when you hear my stuff, know that I wrote it in the studio. — Nas

I think a lot of us know when it's our time. No matter what profession you're in, you get a feeling. If you worked on it long enough, you know when it's ready. — Nas

When you're a teenager, you want to meet a lot of girls - you want to get the most girls. You don't know anything about respect; you don't know anything about being faithful and loyal to your girlfriend. — Nas

To me, hip-hop's been dead for years. We all should know that. With that being said, then, the object of the game now is to make money off of exploiting it. That's what it's all about - get this money. That's basically what I'm saying. — Nas

I'm inspired by people like Nelson Mandela. Can you imagine - you know how racist America was back then - imagine how racism was in South Africa when he had to stand up and say what he had to say. That's bravery beyond comprehension. — Nas

You ni**az get me sick, wannabe soundin like you know my arithmetic ... but we don't sound alike — Nas

I definitely have plans to do more collaboration albums in the future. I'm a big fan of Common. I'm a big fan of Scarface; I'm a big fan of so many people, from Jeezy to ... well, there are a lot of people's music that I respect. I don't know who I will collaborate with, but there's a great chance of something happening. — Nas

I can't control what people think. They know who I am. — Nas

I've been called everything. Gangsta rap. I've been called conscious rap. You know, everything. Whoever feels like calling it whatever they want to call it, that's on them. — Nas

I know you think my life is good 'cause my diamond piece,
But my life been good since I started finding peace. — Nas

When I write a story, I just wanna tell you what's in my head. It can come from real life and then turn into fantasy, stuff just rhyming. And write about what you know. I just like to tell stories that have not been told or told from my perspective. — Nas

I wish the music business was a much easier thing, but you know what? Nothing easy is worth anything. So it is what it is. There comes a time when things can work out and everybody can be happy. And that's what it's all about in the end - everybody being happy and working it out. — Nas

I know i can, be what i wanna be, if i work hard at it, I'll be where i wanna be — Nas

Marley is someone before his time, man. He's - he's almost - he's like a deity, like almost, you know what I mean? I just talk about what's going on, but of course, you know, Bob, before rappers, was already laying that kind of thing down. — Nas

I think you gotta always do things that keep you excited in an [rap music] industry that's so bullshit. When you know that you have so much energy and so much to give, it would be a shame if the facilitators of that aren't enthusiastic about you doing it, because you've been doing it for so long. So you just gotta figure out ways in this insane business to keep it fresh. — Nas

People afraid of criticism but I always put myself in a sacrificial position,they been know I ain't just rappin for fame — Nas

Anything that's really good, everybody wants to put their hands on. The multimedia puts their hands on it and everything happens that makes it global. Then people forget the roots of it and people forget why they care about it, and then it gets torn apart and turns so commercial that you don't even know what the essence of this art form is even about. — Nas

You know, rap is sort of like a form of talking, right? So it's like you can hear, you know, the slaves doing it. You can hear, like, you know, Africans and Jamaicans doing it just kind of as, like, a rhythmic, poetic conversation, you know, to a rhythm. — Nas

On the reals, all these crab niggaz know the deal,
When we start the revolution, all they'll probably do is squeal. — Nas

No matter who you are, black, white, green, there's going to be things in your way, you know what I mean? — Nas

When you have a daughter, you want to protect her from the things that I've seen out there, you know, the things that's out there that ain't good for her. It's a crazy world we live in. — Nas

I got the opportunity to meet people all over the world. Brilliant women, tall women, short women, slim women, thick women, you name it. But, I don't meet them. I have the opportunities to and it's a little bit - I'm a little shy, so I don't meet them and I don't know who's right for me. — Nas