This week, Nas is taking Hip-Hop back to the 1990s. On Thursday, the Grammy award-winning rapper shared the Rap Caviar x Spotify Singles exclusive track "Life Is Like A Dice Game," a Cordae and Freddie Gibbs-assisted remake of Nas' classic 1993 freestyle. Now, on Friday, Nas has doubled up on the nostalgia and released a 25th-anniversary edition of his sophomore album It Was Written.
The special extended version of the triple-platinum album featured two additional songs, but neither of them was new per se. The first song added on the project was "Silent Murder," which has been included in previous "Best Of"-esque compilations on DSPs, but the other track, "Street Dreams (Bonus Verse)," makes its streaming debut with the re-release of It Was Written.
The alternate version of "Street Dreams" that's tacked to the end of the expanded edition was released in 1996 as the second track on the 7" physical single of It Was Written's second hit single. The song features a different third verse than the original version, and now it's available to stream on all DSPs.
Travel back in time to 1996 by listening to the rare "Street Dreams (Bonus Verse)" below, and don't forget to check out the rest of the 25th anniversary extended version of It Was Written here.
Quotable Lyrics
I creep tinted, parked the whip and grabbed the rented
Seems like I'm changin' my locations every minute
Like a plague is on my head, son, I vision red rum
Warrant squads knockin' at the same time the Feds come
Pandemonium got me puffin' Cambodian
Grand openin's of barber shops and stock
My jew-el rock, tokin' pronto
Livin' like a pablo
