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Nas recorded the first verse of ‘N.Y. State Of Mind’ in one take and the intro was a mistake

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During a 2009 interview on the making of Illmatic, , who produced N.Y. State Of Mind revealed, Nas recorded the first verse of ‘N.Y. State Of Mind’ in one take.

He did the whole first verse in one take, and I remember when he finished the first verse, he stopped and said, “Does that sound cool?” And we were all like, “Oh my God!” It was like, I don’t even care what else you write.” DJ Premiere told XXL.

‘ intro to ‘NY State of Mind’ where he raps “I don’t know how to start this s**t” was actually a mistake, and he went on to the first verse in one take.

[N.Y. State of Mind Intro]
Yeah, yeah
Ayo, , it’s time, word (Word, it’s time, man)
It’s time, man (Aight, man, begin)
Yeah, straight out the fuckin’ dungeons of rap
Where fake ni**as don’t make it back
I don’t know how to start this shit,
yo… now”

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