Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Nas
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Eric Hudson
Composer
Nasir Jones
Composer
David Ranier Webber
Composer
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Eric Hudson
Producer
Kevin Crause
Recording Engineer
Brian Sumner
Recording Engineer
Mark "Exit" Goodchild
Mixing Engineer
Chris Gehringer
Mastering Engineer
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Heard you got your masters, did college up
Never looked back, now that's what's happenin'
And it's good to see you made it out the hood
With a degree, a true man with passion
Now you could enter the so-called "White Man's Society" and go right past them
Looking in the Wall Street Journal for your face but it's always absent
There he go that's him, eating flan and ambrosia
Watch on his arm, golden, Latin
Tried to get his attention but he's flinching
Guess my grimy clothes threw him off, so I mention
We were neighbors some time ago
He was kinda cold, in this restaurant full of his kind and mo'
He saw but tried to look surprised, I know
This side of the city where he resides, so I had to go
I heard him laugh hard at some sad black jokes
Hate so-called "intellectuals"
No balls, he suggests we vote
He stand all proud, speaking to correct his folks
He want to lecture folks
'Cause he professional and he suggest that we don't sell dope
And I guess it's true, but who the fuck are you?
[Verse 2]
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna tell me who I am?
Who are you, tryna tell me what I'm not?
Tryna tell me what I'm not?
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna box me in, tryna find me who I am
[Verse 3]
I'm Idi Amin, Marcus Garvey, H. Rap Brown
I'm Muhammad Ali, I'm Reginald Lewis
George Washington Carver, I'm Nas with incredible music
Let's do it, thinking of a master plan
Sipping on disaster, smoking on gangster
Watching **** argue, killin' on my barstool
With my hell up in Harlem, hat in hand
With a girl named Pat, she more than a waitress to order a drink with
She divorced a banker and bought the bar
She got an automobile, she give an order to kill
You get caught and robbed
We could see your walk is off, you could lose your rhythm
When you outta the gutter for a while
You easily go to soft from hard
Now we all around hustlers, number runners, hoes and sharks
And we all know the code of the block
And you talking gibberish, anti-**** shit
'Cause you marched back with Rosa Parks?
Brother don't start, go build your Noah's Ark
You could float to the end of the world
And pretend what you not, but I know what you are
While I roll my car and I'm spending my knot
While my enemies plot, you ain't out of the shot
Matter of fact, you're an easier target
And I respect everything you accomplished
But I hope I never get old and talk that nonsense
So who the fuck are you?
[Verse 4]
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna tell me who I am?
Who are you, tryna tell me what I'm not?
Tryna tell me what I'm not?
Who are you, tryna tell me who I am?
Tryna box me in, tryna find me who I am
[Verse 5]
She Queen of Nzinga
Winnie Mandela, Ida B. Wells
Why can't you tell?
Why can't you tell?
Written by: Eric Hudson, Nasir Jones, David Ranier Webber