Street Dreams
by Nas

Album: It Was Written (1997)
Charted: 12 22
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This samples The Eurythmics' 1983 hit "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" and Linda Clifford's "Never Gonna Stop."
  • A re-mixed version featuring R. Kelly and including samples from the Isley Brothers' "Choosey Lover" was later released as a single. Nas explained to Rolling Stone magazine: "That was mostly the label who reached for that one, so I'll just leave it at that. I think maybe I was the first rapper from New York to rap with R. Kelly. I used to call him the R&B thug, and we used to see who had the most chains every night when I went on tour with him. There's some history there, so we just threw that on there."
  • Hype Williams, who also directed Nas's "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" video, helmed the clip, which was inspired by Martin Scorsese's 1995 gangster flick, Casino. Shot in Las Vegas, it features a cameo appearance from Frank Vincent, who played Frank Marino in the film.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.