One Time 4 Your Mind by Nas Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Layers of Illmatic’s Laid-Back Anthem
Lyrics
It’s illmatic (yeah)
It’s illmatic, huh
(Huh, check it)
(One time for your mind, one time)
Yeah, whatever
(One time for your mind, one time)
Yo, whatever
(One time for your mind, one time)
Ayo, Nas (what up, Paul?) Kick that fuckin’ rhyme
Check it out
When I’m chilling, I grab the Buddha, get my crew to buy beers
And watch a flick, illin’ and root for the villain, huh
Plus, every morning, I go out and love it, sort of chilly
Then I send a shorty from my block to the store for phillies
After being blessed by the herb’s essence
I’m back to my rest, ten minutes, some odd seconds
That’s where I got the honey at, spends the night for sexing
Cheap lubrication, lifestyle protection
Picking up my stereo’s remote control, quickly
Ron G’s in the cassette deck, rockin’ the shit, G
I try to stay mellow, rock, well, acapella rhymes’ll
Make me richer than a slipper made Cinderella, fella
Go get your crew, Hobbes, I’m prepared to bomb troops
Got niggas who’s born, I shot my way out my mom dukes
When I was ten, I was a hip-hoppin’ shorty wop
Known for rocking microphones and twisting off a forty top, yeah
(One time for your mind, one time)
Yeah, whatever
(One time for your mind, one time)
It sound clever
(Ayo, Nas, fuck that, man, that shit was fat)
(But kick that for them gangstas, man, fuck all that)
Right, right, what up niggas, how y’all? It’s Nasty, the villain
I’m still writin’ rhymes, but besides that I’m chillin’
I’m trying to get this money, God, you know the hard times, kid
Shit, cold be starvin’, make you want to do crimes, kid
But I’m a lamp, ’cause a crime couldn’t beat a rhyme
Niggas catching three to nines, Muslims yelling free the mind
And I’m from Queensbridge, been to many places
As a kid, when I would say that out of town, niggas chased us
But now I know the time, got a older mind
Plus control a nine, fine, see, now I represent mine
I’m new on the rap scene, brothers never heard of me
Yet I’m a meance, yo, police want to murder me
Heine dark drinker, represent the thinker
My pen rides the paper, it even has blinkers
Think I’ll dim the lights then inhale, it stimulates
Floating like I’m on the north ninety-five interstate
Never plan to stop, when I write my hand is hot
And expand a lot from the wiz’ to Camelot
The parlayer, I’ll make ya heads bop, Pah
I shine a light on perpetrators, like a cop’s car
From day to night, I play the mic, and you’ll thank God
I wreck shit so much, the microphone’ll need a paint job
My brain is incarcerated
Live at any jam, I couldn’t count all the parks I raided
I hold a MAC-11, and attack the Reverend
I contact eleven L’s, and max in heaven
Yo, one time for your mind, one time
It sound clever
But one time for your mind, one time
Yeah, whatever
One time for your mind, one time
Yo, from ninety-two to ninety-nine
Yeah
Yeah, that shit was greasy, fat Paul, know what I’m saying?
But check it, you gotta another verse for me?
I want you to kick it, you know what I’m saying?
Kick that shit from the projects
When Nas penned ‘One Time 4 Your Mind’, it was more than just filling an album track—it was a deliberate stride into the depths of an artist’s momentary escape from the pressures of street life and fame. Nestled within the critically acclaimed ‘Illmatic’, the song thrives as an anecdote, a slice of life that captures the unguarded introspections of Nasir Jones.
This isn’t just a track; it’s a narrative woven through the idle musings of an artist who is as reflective as he is observant, a man whose mind works tirelessly even in what appears to be the most laid-back scenarios.
The Quintessential Chill-Out Session
At first glance, ‘One Time 4 Your Mind’ might play out as a standard hip-hop trope of relaxation and recreation. But it’s not the substance itself—be it the ‘Buddha’ or the ‘beers’—that’s insightful. It’s the ritual, the instinctive pull towards camaraderie and ‘root for the villain’, viewing life as both spectator and participant.
This duality presents itself within the comfort of familiarity—be it the convenience store run or the magnetic pull of one’s stomping grounds. It’s a momentary celebration of the mundane, leading listeners through the rituals that ground and humanize, even amidst an ever-turbulent landscape.
Bars with Depth Beyond the Beat
Nas doesn’t waste a single bar. Even in his relaxed state, his lyrics are potent with metaphors and storytelling, ‘rockin’ microphones and twisting off a forty top’. There’s a braggadocious tinge to his recollections—this isn’t just about relaxing; it’s about owning every part of your story, from the battle scars to the triumphs.
His penmanship hits with the force of street knowledge and personal history, and the ‘rhyme’ always beats out ‘crime’—a testament to the redemption found in art over the easily treaded paths of wrongdoing.
The Hidden Meaning: A Glimpse into Nas’s Mind
‘One Time 4 Your Mind’ is an invitation. ‘It sound clever,’ Nas remarks, and it is—cleverly concealed are the musings of a mind constantly scanning the environment. These seemingly irrelevant details sketch a vivid picture of the mental landscape Nas navigates through.
Each line reveals a strategy—a survival mechanism reinforcing his will over circumstance, a resolution to ‘lamp’ despite the urging hunger for crime’s quick fix. It’s his internal war made public, yet delivered with an almost nonchalant finesse.
Visual Language and Immersive Storytelling
From ‘the herb’s essence’ to the ‘stereo’s remote control’, Nas employs visual language to pull listeners into his reality. This isn’t just listening to a song; it’s a VR experience set to the soundtrack of the inner city. He paints his world vividly, using words as colors to decorate the sprawling canvas of Queensbridge life.
Storytelling is paramount, and the ‘villain’ in the flick he watches is a mirror to himself—the anti-hero of his own script. As he flows from recalling his youth to conquering the mic, Nas crafts a narrative arc of empowerment that’s both grounded and aspirational.
Memorable Lines That Speak Volumes
‘My brain is incarcerated’, Nas declares, a single line that encapsulates the experience of being bound by social and legal parameters, yet finding liberation in expression. Herein lies the grit of ‘One Time 4 Your Mind’—it’s internal, a soliloquy on loop that unveils layers of the artist as both observer and participant in his reality.
And as he ends, leaving us pondering with ‘Yo, from ninety-two to ninety-nine’, it’s clear—this isn’t just a snapshot, it’s an ongoing conversation with his psyche, a chess match with time and perseverance as patient opponents.
