The World Is Yours (Nas song)

For the song by Faith No More, see The World Is Yours (Faith No More song).
"The World Is Yours"
Single by Nas featuring Pete Rock
from the album Illmatic
Released May 31, 1994 (1994-05-31)
Format 12" single
Recorded 1992
Genre East Coast hip hop, jazz rap
Length 4:51
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Nasir Jones, Peter Phillips
Producer(s) Pete Rock
Nas singles chronology
"It Ain't Hard to Tell"
(1994)		 "The World Is Yours"
(1994)		 "One Love"
(1994)
Illmatic track listing
"Life's a Bitch"
(3)		 "The World Is Yours"
(4)		 "Halftime"
(5)
"The World Is Yours"
The song provides one of Illmatic's more optimistic narratives and contains a sample of Ahmad Jamal's "I Love Music" (1970).[1]
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"The World Is Yours" is a 1994 song by rapper Nas. It was the third single from his debut album Illmatic, released a month after the album. It is considered by music critics as one of the greatest hip-hop songs ever recorded; About.com ranked it seventh greatest rap song of all time.[2] It reached #13 on the Hot Rap Singles chart in 1994.

The song (including the title) and its accompanying video pay homage to the film Scarface. The song also references drug dealer/crime boss Howard "Pappy" Mason. The song also mentions the serial killer of the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, which that went, and still are, unsolved.

A remix of the song was produced by Q-Tip featuring similar but new lyrics; both it and the original were released by Columbia Records as singles, and promoted with music videos.

Sprite has put the title of this song on its cans and bottles in summer 2015 in part of their "Obey Your Verse" summer campaign

Samples

Songs that have sampled "The World Is Yours" include:

Jay-Z's sample on his song "Dead Presidents", using one of Nas's lines ("I'm out for dead presidents to represent me") as the chorus, indirectly led to the Jay-Z vs. Nas feud, after Nas refused to re-record his vocals for the Jay-Z song, or to appear in the accompanying video.

Soundtrack appearances

The song was featured in the video games Tony Hawk's Underground and NBA 2K13. It can also be heard in a scene in the film Antwone Fisher, and appears on the soundtrack for the film The Wackness. The song is also played in the film Dope.

Other cultural references

"The World Is Yours" was mentioned by Nas in his later songs "Got Ur Self A..." and "Firm Biz".

Single track listing

A-Side

  1. "The World Is Yours" (4:51)
  2. "The World Is Yours" (Instrumental) (4:51)

B-Side

  1. "The World Is Yours" (Tip Mix) (4:29)
  2. "The World Is Yours" (Tip Mix Instrumental) (4:30)

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles[3] 14
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[4] 67
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks[5] 27

References

  1. ↑ MVRemix: Illmatic. MVRemix Media. Retrieved on 2009-02-14.
  2. ↑ Top 100 Rap Songs (1-10) at About.com
  3. ↑ "Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles - The World Is Yours - NAS". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  4. ↑ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - The World Is Yours - NAS". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  5. ↑ "Hot Rap Singles - The World Is Yours - NAS". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
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