"If I Ruled The World" Checklist: How Many of Nas' Dreams Have Come True?

We rewind the clock and see how well Nastradamus predicted the future.

Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

This feature is a part of Complex's Nas Week, presented by Hennessy.

Things sure have changed over the past two decades—for all of us, but especially for Nasir Jones. The young rapper who started out trying to push his Queens-centric slang is now an OG and a worldwide ambassador for hip-hop. In short, living was alright; now, Life is Good. When Nas penned his 1996 hit, "If I Ruled the World," he spoke on scenarios big and small that he could only dream would come true one day—if he only had his way. Seventeen years later, thanks to the rapid expansion and near ubiquity of the Internet, society has gone from baby steps to a full-on sprint. Nas could have never imagined what the year 2013 would have in store. Or could he? Complex investigates with "If I Ruled The World" Checklist: How Many of Nas' Dreams Have Come True?

Written by Eric Rosenthal and Jeff Rosenthal (@itsthereal)

Puffing In Public

Lyric: "Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harrassing."
Did It Come True?: Yes

What might have been termed a "pipe dream" in 1996 has absolutely become a reality in 40% of the United States of America...as long as you have a doctor's note. While we still do live in a covert world of one-hitters and vaporizers, the movement to legally obtain weed has actually gone mainstream in the last decade.

Even one-time detractors have changed their mind, including CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta who recently stated, "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." Much like a typical pothead, Dr. Gupta was late. So go on, Nas! Feign Glaucoma—you're already wearing sunglasses indoors—grab yourself a prescription, hit the streets, and light one up! And never stop dreaming, especially in vivid colors.

No More Due Process

Lyric: "Imagine going to court with no trial."
Did It Come True?: No

Americans have enjoyed the right to a fair and speedy trial since the ratification of the Sixth Amendment in 1791. Why anyone would want to change that is...uh, unclear. Like, we're really trying to figure out what Nas is talking about here: Is he suggesting that the courts skip straight to the verdict? Because—while that happens every day—instant judgment is a pretty terrible thing to wish for, on an institutional level. That's just the Wild West; that just gives credence to racism and sexism and a whole lot of -isms, which is pretty much the opposite of everything Nas stands for. Then again, we have no idea what Nas is talking about here—most dreams, when you wake up, are complete nonsense and blither-blather.

Being A Better Parent

Lyric: "More concious of the way we raise our daughters."
Did It Come True?: Yes

At least Nas is, according to the third single off of his 2012 album, Life is Good. "Daughters" is Nas' honest, loving tribute to his relationship with his own. Detailing the good times and tough realities of raising a growing girl, Nas admits that while he may not have been the perfect father along the way, it's definitely his aspiration. More power to Nasir and all of the men who are conscious of the way they raise their little girls.

Cooler Temperatures

Lyric: "Days are shorter, nights are colder."
Did It Come True?: No

Ah, the 1990s. What a romantic and peaceful time, before terrorism and debt ceilings and impending doom greeted us every time we turned on our cable news stations. (Trust us, terrible things happened in the 1990s in every community, don't be fooled by nostalgia!)

Anyway, back then we had no cares for global warming. In fact, it's safe to say that as a society, we still don't! But yeah, while there's extreme temperatures on both sides of the thermometer, the planet as a whole is getting hotter and we're all going to die on this giant rock. Enjoy your weekend!

Pure Product

Lyric: "If coke was cooked without all the garbage, we'd all have the top dollars."
Did It Come True?: No

We're guessing this didn't come true, we don't smoke crack/snort coke so we can't really test the quality of the product on the streets. But we do watch a lot of TV!

(Get ready for a doozy of an explanation.)

If there's anything we've learned about the drug game from Breaking Bad's Walter White, it's never to deal in the meth trade. But the second thing is that the cooks don't make the money. When he thought he was stepping up the ladder, he was instead stepping into more piles of doo-doo. So, until (this hypothetical version of) Nas sits at the head of the European Big Pharma corporation's table, those big checks are going to the Germans. Well, until they die. Because Walter White is going to have someone murder them, hahahaha, no he'll just do it himself after he kills his DEA agent of a brother-in-law.

Lacing Up Your Clique

Lyric: "Imagine everybody flashing, fashion/Designer clothes, lacing your clique up with diamond Roles."
Did It Come True?: No

This dream obviously never came true because Nas never really got to put his crew on the way like 50 Cent put on G-Unit or Wayne put on YMCMB. Putting your team on is cool though. Surely Nas gave his friends opportunities to rap, to manage, to ride on buses, and the like. But did everyone in the crew have designer clothing and diamond Rolexes? We kinda doubt it.

Tony Montana Lifestyle

Lyric: "Watch the blimp read 'The World is Mine.''
Did It Come True?: Yes

Nas evidently fell asleep while HBO was on, and dreamt during a showing of Scarface.

Living In A Gated Community

Lyric: "The better living, type of place to raise kids in."
Did It Come True?: Yes

As those realty mavens at TMZ reported, Nas' Atlanta residence consisted of "3,500 square feet with a walk-in pool and hot tub, granite counter-tops, custom theater, gym and game room." So yes, I'd say that that's a nice place to raise a child...what's that? Oh, due to Nas not paying his taxes, the home was foreclosed on in 2012? Well...at least ex-wife Kelis has a nice apartment in the Chelsea section of New York City, so their son Knight can live like a king, yes? What's that? Kelis had to sell her place because there was a tax lien? Well... hotels count as nice places to raise kids in, right?

No More Lies

Lyric: "Open they eyes to the history told foul."
Did It Come True?: Of course not

Everyone remembers history differently; facts can be elastic, even when there's evidence to the contrary. Like, let's find a popular example where a sliver of the country couldn't believe something that was 100% proven to be true. How about...Barack Obama's birth in Hawaii? Or, sure, something less political. Maybe Elvis Presley sightings after his death? Or, similarly, with Tupac's death? The landing of aliens in Area 51? And those are just the crazy ones, the ones that are impossible to believe! Good luck explaining the idea of "truth" to a regular MediaTakeOut reader.

Spending Money Without A Care

Lyric: "Tricking six digits on kicks and still holding."
Did It Come True?: Yes

It's not outlandish to think Nas would drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on footwear and still have money left over BECAUSE HE HARDLY PAID TAXES. The years 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 were especially good years for Nas in terms of his shoe game (#nonewtaxes), but he's had to pull back a bit from those shoe dreams, in an effort to pay back the $6 million he owed the federal government. Then again, if he's like any level of celebrity, he should have a good connection at Nike or Adidas or Reebok to hook him up (tax-free too)!

Trips Across The Ocean

Lyric: "Trips to Paris, I civilized every savage."
Did It Come True?: Yes

[Hums the beat to "Ni***s in Paris" eight times.] [Thinks about how every rapper has filmed music videos in Paris, from A$AP Rocky to Shyne, from Pusha T to Waka Flocka.] [Remembers how Kanye lived out there for a few months to record Yeezus, bringing Chief Keef, King Louie and Travis Scott into his Parisian estate.] [Dwells on Jay Z's lines, "I'm shocked too, I'm supposed to be locked up too—if you escaped what I escaped, you'd be in Paris getting fucked up too."] [Hums the beat to "Ni***s in Paris" some more.]

Getting To Know Every Female

Lyric: "Every girl I'd meet I'd go downtown."
Did It Come True?: No

Now, we have no idea what goes on in Nas' bedroom, but "every girl" seems like an incredibly tall mountain to climb. Even if he were to do that—and, really, he probably never thought this through—the amount of time devoted to recharging his lockjaw and visiting sexual health clinics wouldn't allow any time for him to even meet anyone. Then again, maybe this whole thing is what broke up his marriage: Nas' bull-headed insistence that he hook up with each and every sexually-mature woman who passed his way.

Clearing Out The Jails

Lyric: "I'd open every cell to Attica and send 'em to Africa."
Did It Come True?: No

According to Wikipedia, Nas has not, in fact, opened any cell doors at Attica, nor has he released any prisoners and instructed them to head on down to Africa. Had he though, he might have released David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz (murder six people in NYC in the 1970s), Colin Ferguson (murdered six people on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993), or Kendell Francois (murdered eight women and stored the bodies in his home), so not totally sure why he would dream to do that. Sounds more like a nightmare, Nas.

Cruising In The Hot Ride

Lyric: "I push a Q45 Infiniti."
Did It Come True?: No

I WOKE UP IN A Q45! If that were the case today, we'd would be very concerned for Nas. What once was considered a luxury car, is today just used in period films, and instead, rappers and non-rappers' dreams are battery-powered rather than gasoline-filled. Nas would never have dreamed of the day that he'd go to the mall to check out a Tesla. Then again, Nas probably wouldn't have dreamed that a lot of his 1990s contemporaries would go the way of the Q45.

A Peaceful Society

Lyric: "No such thing as jealousies or B Felonies."
Did It Come True?: No

Ugh, good luck changing human nature, Nas. It's impossible to weed out jealousy: hell, it's practically what America was built on! As for Class B felony numbers, New York City has been doing a pretty stellar job as statistics for homicides, armed robberies, rapes and violent assaults have all fallen to record lows. Now, we could have a real discussion about how these drops in crimes are occuring—race-based stop and frisks, Giuliani-ism, etc.—but let's just say that guys are still getting caught with Class B felonies. So let's figure out a better way to fix that problem.