“New York” is all trad New York Premier-biting production, chopped samples with urgent pianos and pure descriptive Nas lyricism: “yo the trains are new york veins, the city’s a psycho/ people are the bloodstream, mean and ice-cold.” Lost Tapes had more personal, introspective shit and I loved it for that reason. On this track though, supposedly from Lost Tapes 2, Nas is direct, to the point, a bunch of little narratives built upon each other, lots of dark urban imagery and romanticized city drama. Its no new ground, and none of the personal style that he showed in Street’s Disciple; just fresh classic Nas shit, the stuff that made me love Illmatic and “Nas is Like” like the corny old-fashioned Nas head I am.
we eat so many shrimp 
This is what I need when I’m up night breathin with scuffed nikes.