Count this money, yaknowhatI'msayin? 
 [Nas]   Yea yea 
 [AZ]    Aiyyo, put the Grant's over there in the safe yaknowhatI'msayin? 
 [Nas]   Yea yea 
 [AZ]    Cause we spendin these Jackson's 
 The Washington's go to wifey, you know how that go 
 [Nas]   I'm sayin, that's what this is all about right? 
 Clothes, bankrolls, and hoes yaknowhatI'msayin? 
 Yo then what man, what?? *echoes* 
  
 Verse One: AZ the Visualiza 
  
 Visualizin the realism of life and actuality 
 Fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary 
 And my mentality is, money orientated 
 I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it 
 cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters 
 But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners 
 Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin 
 Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition 
 Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us 
 Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us 
 Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go 
 but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough 
 so, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors 
 me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers 
 Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high 
 Cause life's a bitch and then you die 
  
 Chorus: AZ the Visualiza 
  
 Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we get high 
 Cause you never know when you're gonna go 
 Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we puff lye 
 Cause you never know when you're gonna go 
 Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we get high 
 Cause you never know when you're gonna go 
 Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we puff lye 
 -- chorus #1 echoes at the end 
  
 Cause you never know when you're gonna go 
 Life's a bitch and then you die 
 -- chorus #2 includes these lines, echoes at the end 
  
 Verse Two: Nas 
  
 I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing 
 The essence of adolescent leaves my body now I'm fresh in 
 My physical frame is celebrated cause I made it 
 One quarter through life some God-ly like thing created 
 Got rhymes 365 days annual plus some 
 Load up the mic and bust one, cuss while I puffs from 
 my skull cause it's pain in my brain vein money maintain 
 Don't go against the grain simple and plain 
 When I was young at this I used to do my thing hard 
 Droppin foreigners take they wallets they jewels and rip they green cards 
 Dipped to the projects flashin my quick cash 
 and got my first piece of ass smokin blunts with hash 
 Now it's all about cash in abundance, niggaz I used to run with 
 is rich or doin years in the hundreds 
 I switched my motto -- instead of sayin fuck tommorrow 
 That buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto 
 Once I stood on the block, loose cracks produce stacks 
 I cooked up and cut small pieces to get my loot back 
 Time is Illmatic keep static like wool fabric 
 Pack a four-matic that crack your whole cavity 
  
 Chorus 
  
 *Olu Dara plays trumpet until fade