N.Y. State of Mind

About N.Y. State of Mind

Nas displays complex lyricism with his “N.Y. State of Mind” over a track from Gang Starr’s DJ Premier. The chorus samples a Rakim line from the track “Mahogany,” which is fitting since Nas was being heralded as the second coming of the God MC. The track is considered one of Nas' greatest songs, and the duo produced a sequel five years later for Nas' third album, I Am…. Alicia Keys used DJ Premier’s beat for her 2003 track “Streets of New York,” which featured verses from Nas and Rakim. .

Text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.

About this song

Credited to

Nas

Album

Illmatic · Track 2 of 10

Released

April 19, 1994

Duration

4:54

Ranking

#3 most played Nas track on Foxsoundi

On Last.fm

1,229,351 listeners on Last.fm

More from Nas

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2. We Major · 11 plays
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4. Champion · 5 plays
5. Road To Zion · 4 plays
6. I Can · 4 plays
7. Just a Moment (feat. Quan) · 3 plays
8. I Want You - Remix - Main · 3 plays
9. Eye for a Eye (Your Beef Is Mines) (feat. Nas & Raekwon) · 3 plays
10. The Set Up (feat. Havoc) · 3 plays

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• Mos Def — Six Days - Remix
• Common — Pretty Bird (Freestyle)
• Big Pun — You Ain't a Killer
• Raekwon — C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)
• Big L — Forever
• Rakim — Guilty All the Same (feat. Rakim)
• Method Man — C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)
• Gang Starr — Get Together
• Ghostface Killah — Protect Ya Neck
• GZA — Protect Ya Neck

From the album: Illmatic