Mariah collaborated with Nas on the song “Dedicated,” from her 2014 studio album Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse. “I worked on ‘Dedicated’ with Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy,” Mariah explained during a live Twitter Q&A. “It came from a place of nostalgia and wanting to pay homage to old school Hip-Hop and R&B.”
“I was excited to get back in the studio with her,” Nas said. “She's one of the greatest voices of our generation. She's on another level. Just working with an artist that big really shows me how much further I can go. I've been inspired just sitting there talking to her. She's very smart and extremely talented. And I'm just happy to work with her again.”
I'll just sit right here and sing that good old school shit to ya
I won't fool ya, I won't make you be my own
Oh baby you know, all that love-making we did, boy
It was so real I wanna feel that again
Long lost friend from way back when
Eric B was president
Tell me where the melody went
And if you still care, say yeah, yeah, yeah
Sing it like they used to do, this one's from me to you, oh
La di da di da di da
That's how you do it
That's how to make it okay
Oh baby you know
Make love, that's how to do it
Just like we did it back then
Well, this is dedicated to you
I'll just sit right here and sing that good old school shit to ya
I won't fool ya, I won't make you be my own
Oh baby you know, all that love-making we did
Boy it was so real I wanna feel that again
And all your friends from way back then
Tell me can you visualize
36 Chambers high
It feels like we're there, yeah yeah yeah
Remix of a Fantasy, I hear ' em singing back to me like
La di da di da di da
That's how you do it
That's how to make it okay
Oh baby you know
Make love, that's how to do it
Just like we did it back then
Well, this is dedicated to you
NAS:
Nah, we don't wish today's game was old again
We just wish it wasn't full of Draconian, Babylonian, phony men
FOH my summation fascinates, we have debates
Who's the greatest, living or passed away
I ask MC, see what she has to say
Eric B or Master P, some see it differently
'87 meant to me? I try to describe it, you try to relive it
I try to revive it, hoping that you get it, yeah
Something about “La Di Da Di” got inside our bodies
Something about “My Adidas” coming out the speakers
Used to do Doo-wop or the Pee-Wee Herman
Rest in peace Heavy D, “Moneyearnin' Mount Vernon”
Let's go
La di da di da di da
That's how you do it
That's how to make it okay
Oh baby you know
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
Oh baby you know
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
Oh baby you know
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
Oh baby you know
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
This is dedicated to you
Oh baby you know
Written by M. Carey, C. Hollis, J. Fauntleroy, N. Jones, D. Coles, R. Diggs, G. Grice, L. Hawkins, J. Hunter, R. Jones, C. Smith, C. Woods.
Produced by Mariah Carey, Hit-Boy and Darhyl “Hey DJ” Camper. Additional production by Hazebanga.
