Format 12" single Length 4:51 | Recorded 1992 Label Columbia | |
Released May 31, 1994 (1994-05-31) Genre East Coast hip hop, jazz rap | ||
"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. It reached #13 on the Hot Rap Singles chart in 1994. The hook was sampled from Ahmad Jamal's 1970 released song, "I love music", which appears at 4:50 and ends at roughly 5:10.
Contents
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 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.
A-Side
- "The World Is Yours" (4:51)
- "The World Is Yours" (Instrumental) (4:51)
B-Side
- "The World Is Yours" (Tip Mix) (4:29)
- "The World Is Yours" (Tip Mix Instrumental) (4:30)