One Mic – English Lyrics

• By: Nas
• Album: Stillmatic

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the potent message behind Nas's "One Mic," a track celebrated for its lyrical depth and social commentary. This song offers a unique opportunity to explore themes of empowerment and the power of voice, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of hip-hop's capacity for storytelling and social change.

[English]

♪ Turn my headphones up ♪

♪ Nothing gonna stop me now, nothing baby ♪

♪ I'm here now ♪

♪ We here, it's your world ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Yo, all I need is one mic ♪

♪ One beat, one stage, one person ♪

♪ Front of my face on the front page ♪

♪ Only if I had one love, one girl, and one crib ♪

♪ One God to show me how to do things his son did ♪

♪ Pure, like a cup of virgin blood ♪

♪ Mixed with 151 ♪

♪ One sip'll probably make me flip ♪

♪ See my name in the hieroglyphs ♪

♪ Like Osiris and Isis ♪

♪ Parables written inside papyruses ♪

♪ Acknowledge it. ♪

♪ We've been all tricked, time to come out of it ♪

♪ Seeds watch us grow up and try to follow us ♪

♪ Police watch us roll up and try knocking us ♪

♪ One knee, I ducked, could it be my time is up ♪

♪ But my luck, I got up, the cop (censored) again. ♪

♪ Bus stop, glass bursts, a fiend drops his Heineken ♪

♪ Ricocheting between the spots that I'm hidin' in ♪

♪ Blackin' out as I duck back ♪

♪ Forget gettin' hit! ♪

♪ This is my hood, I'mma rep to the death of it ♪

♪ 'til everybody come home, little brothers is grown ♪

♪ Hoodrats, don't abortion your womb ♪

♪ We need more warriors soon ♪

♪ Sent from the star, sun, and the moon ♪

♪ In this life of police chases, ♪

♪ street (censored), and coppers ♪

♪ Stick-up kids with no conscience, ♪

♪ leavin' victims with doctors ♪

♪ If you really think you ready to fly with mind powers ♪

♪ This is what Nas is 'bout, brothers, the time is now ♪

♪ Yo, all I need is one mic ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ That's all I need ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ All I need ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ All I need is one cup, one page, and one pen ♪

♪ One prayer, tell God forgive me for one sin ♪

♪ Matter of fact, maybe more than one ♪

♪ Look back at all the hatred against me, touch all of them ♪

♪ Jesus died at age 33 ♪

♪ There's 33 (censored) from twin (censored) ♪

♪ There's sixteen apiece, that's thirty-two ♪

♪ Which means, one of my dunns was holdin' 17, ♪

♪ 27 hit your crew, six went into you ♪

♪ Everybody gotta die sometime ♪

♪ Hope your funeral never get caught up ♪

♪ Pain'll go through the innocent ♪

♪ Nothin' is fair ♪

♪ Brothers roll up (censored) from wheelchairs ♪

♪ My heart is racin', tastin' revenge in the air ♪

♪ I let this all slide for too many years, too many times ♪

♪ Now I'm strapped with a couple of (censored) ♪

♪ Too many (censored) ♪

♪ If y'all people really with me ♪

♪ Get busy load up the (censored) ♪

♪ Do more than just hold it ♪

♪ Explode the (censored) until you empty ♪

♪ There's nothin' in our way ♪

♪ They (censored), they rush, we rush ♪

♪ (Censored) flyin', feel it ♪

♪ I feel it in my gut ♪

♪ That we take these dudes to war, lie 'em down ♪

♪ Cause we stronger now my peoples the time is now ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ That's all I need, that's all I need ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ There's nothing else in the world ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ That's all a nigga need to do his thing y'know ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ All I need is one life ♪

♪ One try, one breath, I'm one man ♪

♪ What I stand for speaks for itself ♪

♪ They don't understand or wanna see me on top ♪

♪ Too egotistical ♪

♪ Talking all that slick stuff, while my name is biblical ♪

♪ Wonder what my secrets is, enemies move on you ♪

♪ Only if they know, what your weakness is, I have none ♪

♪ Too late I'm mad young, I'm laughin' ♪

♪ Cause I'm a cool brother ♪

♪ Thought I wouldn't have that ass done? ♪

♪ Fooled you brothers ♪

♪ What you call a infinite brawl, eternal souls clashin' ♪

♪ War gets deep, some beef is everlastin' ♪

♪ Complete with thick scars, ♪

♪ Brothers (censored) each other up in prison yards ♪

♪ Drama, where does it start ♪

♪ You know the block was ill as a youngster ♪

♪ Every night it was like a (censored) would get killed ♪

♪ Body found in the dumpster ♪

♪ For real a hustler, purchased my Range, ♪

♪ People throwing dirt on my name ♪

♪ Jealous cause fiends got they work and complain ♪

♪ Women left me cause they thought I was finished ♪

♪ Shoulda knew she wasn't true ♪

♪ She came to me when her man caught a sentence ♪

♪ Diamonds are blindin', I never make the same mistakes ♪

♪ Movin' with a change of pace, lighter load ♪

♪ See now the king is straight ♪

♪ Swellin' my melon cause none of these brothers real ♪

♪ Heard they were tellin' police, ♪

♪ How can a kingpin squeal? ♪

♪ This is crazy, I'm on the right track I'm finally found ♪

♪ You need some soul searchin', the time is now ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ That's all I ever needed in this world, (censored) cash ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ (Censored) the cars, the jewelry ♪

♪ All I need is one mic ♪

♪ Spread my voice to the whole world ♪

(hip-hop beat fades)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
mic /maɪk/ A1	noun - microphone
need /niːd/ A1	verb - require (something) because it is essential or very important noun - a thing that is necessary or wanted
world /wɜːld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries, peoples, and natural features.
face /feɪs/ A1	noun - the front part of the head verb - to confront and deal with a difficult situation
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection verb - to feel deep affection for
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
name /neɪm/ A1	noun - a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known. verb - give a name to
die /daɪ/ A2	verb - to stop living
hope /hoʊp/ A2	verb - want something to happen or be true noun - a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen
stand /stænd/ A2	verb - to be in or rise to an upright position, supported by one's feet verb - to have an opinion about something
matter /ˈmætər/ B1	noun - a physical substance in general, as distinct from mind and spirit; (in physics) that which occupies space and possesses rest mass, especially as distinct from energy. verb - be important or significant
revenge /rɪˈvɛndʒ/ B2	noun - the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered by oneself. verb - inflict hurt or harm on someone for (a wrong done to oneself)
eternal /ɪˈtɜːnl/ B2	adjective - lasting or existing forever; without end.
secrets /ˈsiːkrɪts/ B2	noun - something kept hidden or unexplained
weakness /ˈwiːknəs/ B2	noun - the state or condition of lacking strength
infinite /ˈɪnfɪnət/ C1	adjective - limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate.
biblical /ˈbɪblɪkəl/ C1	adjective - relating to or characteristic of what is contained in the Bible.

Key Grammar Structures

• Only if I had one love, one girl, and one crib

  ➔ Second Conditional

  ➔ Uses "if + past simple, would/could/might + infinitive". It expresses a hypothetical or unreal situation in the present or future. The clause "if I had" sets up the hypothetical.

• One sip'll probably make me flip

  ➔ Contraction + Future Probability

  ➔ "Sip'll" is a contraction of "sip will", indicating a future event. "Probably" expresses the likelihood of that event happening. "will + probably" implies near certainty

• We've been all tricked, time to come out of it

  ➔ Present Perfect Passive

  ➔ "We've been tricked" is the passive form of the present perfect tense. It emphasizes the result of the action (being tricked) rather than who performed the action. The passive construction is formed with "have/has + been + past participle".

• Hope your funeral never get caught up

  ➔ Subjunctive Mood (Supposition/Wish)

  ➔ The use of "get" after "never" implies a wish or hope, expressed in a somewhat informal way. Although not a perfect example of formal subjunctive, it conveys the same sense of something desired but not guaranteed. The construction "hope + (that) + subject + verb (in simple form)" is common.

• Jealous cause fiends got they work and complain

  ➔ Informal Causative "cause"

  ➔ "Cause" is used here informally as a shortened version of "because", indicating a reason or cause for jealousy. The grammar highlights informal speech patterns, where conjunctions are shortened for brevity.

• Shoulda knew she wasn't true

  ➔ Contraction of modal verb + Past Participle (Regret/Criticism)

  ➔ "Shoulda knew" is a contraction of "should have known." While grammatically incorrect ("known" should be used), it's a common colloquialism expressing regret or criticism about a past action. "Should have + past participle" indicates that something different should have been done in the past.