Shine On

by Nas

From the album: Hip Hop Is Dead

Track 17 of 17 on Hip Hop Is Dead (2006).

Duration: 2:42

Hip Hop Is Dead cover art

Lyrics for Shine On

Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants dead Everybody wants diamonds without the bloodshed Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants dead Everybody wants diamonds without the bloodshed They wanna shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em, yeah They dug me out the soil in the mines of the motherland Now I'm misplaced, one hand to another hand Illegal smugglin', people strugglin' Wish they could just throw me back in the mud again Yeah, guess that's how we got here Slave trade then the diamond trade Every child's afraid when his mother and father get sprayed Forced in the army, young killer brigade Gets a new name then he give his nose glue Til' his mind can't take what he's gon' through Lookin' in that dirt for that eyes so blue Then the Royal Family, the ice goes to And this thing has to change, feelin' half-ashamed As I rap with my platinum chain when you shop for a gift for me You think about the misery The same way we made apartheid history We can do the same thing to the conflict ice But everybody wanna shine, right? Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants dead Everybody wants diamonds without the bloodshed Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants dead Everybody wants diamonds without the bloodshed They wanna shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em My VVS glimmers on my chest 200 thou' encrusted watch on my wrist I wonder how people starve to death When God bless the land that lacks the harvest The stone's equality, but they homes are poverty And the whole world ignores the robbery Bought my girl pretty rocks when she's mad at me Tear-drop shaped, uh, perfect clarity It shocks, so many are killed annually 'Cause of greed, lust, and pure vanity Stop talkin' and do somethin' about it Every holiday season, jewelry stores crowded Kids snatched from their homes, mutilated alive Husbands separated from wives Keep a Jesus piece to be fly But back in the day there was a time when they called us shine Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants dead Everybody wants diamonds without the bloodshed Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants dead Everybody wants diamonds without the bloodshed They wanna shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em Shine on 'em, shine on 'em

Listen On

More from Hip Hop Is Dead

  1. Money Over Bullshit
  2. You Can't Kill Me
  3. Carry On Tradition
  4. Where Are They Now
  5. Hip Hop Is Dead
  6. Who Killed It?
  7. Black Republican
  8. Not Going Back
  9. Still Dreaming
  10. Hold Down The Block
  11. Blunt Ashes
  12. Let There Be Light
  13. Play On Playa
  14. Can't Forget About You
  15. Hustlers
  16. Hope - Acappella Version
  17. Shine On