Reason Nas (Ft. Emily King)

[Chorus: Emily]
I see people hating other people
Tell me what's the reason
That your kid is hungry, you ain't got no money
What's the reason?

[Verse 1: Nas]
By the time of age nine I'm already decidin'
If I can protect mommy from the hood by fightin'
Or usin' a knife or a gun when I'm twenty-one
By by then them hoods woulda pushed their way in our apartment
And we die then, so I been a young nervous wreck in the projects
Watchin' them older niggas pass pot and they high man
I'm just a young boy, snot nose, hair nappy
Cops ride by squeezin' their trigger fingers at me
So I would go to school and try to get good grades
Teacher wrote mommy and kicked me outta school for havin' braids
So she cussed them, said "My son ain't no motherfuckin' hoodlum"
They judged us, thinking that we dumb cause where we come from
Got a little older and now I see
Young niggas wanted by the powers that be (powers that be)

[Hook: Emily]
I see people hating other people
Tell me what's the reason
That your kid is hungry, you ain't got no money
What's the reason?
For these wars we're fighting with each other
Season after season
When you're workin' hard, but there ain't nothing comin'
What's the reason?