Synopsis

Nas and Lauryn Hill ride through a brightly lit New York City while imagining a world reshaped by their ideals. Perched above the traffic and surrounded by sweeping city views, Nas delivers verses about freedom, justice, prosperity, and life beyond street violence. Hill anchors the performance with the hopeful chorus, while appearances from members of the Fugees and Nas' Queensbridge circle connect the dream of global influence to hip-hop's community roots. The video balances urban realism with glossy, larger-than-life ambition.

Factoids & Trivia

• Released in 1996, the video helped push Nas beyond his established hip-hop audience and became one of the defining visual statements from the *It Was Written* era.

• Much of the video uses Times Square and other New York locations as a backdrop, matching the song's vision of personal ambition expanding into a larger social fantasy.

• Nas and Lauryn Hill perform on top of a moving vehicle, creating the video's most recognizable image and giving the chorus a theatrical, parade-like quality.

• The video features cameos from Mobb Deep, AZ, Cormega, and the Fugees.

• Visual artist and designer Ron Norsworthy handled the video's visual design, contributing to its polished, high-budget look.

• The song itself reworks Kurtis Blow's 1985 song "If I Ruled the World" and also incorporates elements associated with Whodini's "Friends."