Thief’s Theme
A single from Nas' double album *Street's Disciple* that samples "The World Is Yours" and an Incredible Bongo Band riff.
"Thief's Theme" is a single from Nas' double album *Street's Disciple*, released through Columbia Records, Sony Urban Music, and Nas' Ill Will Records. The single contains vocals from Nas' song "The World Is Yours" from his first album *Illmatic*. The song featured an interpolation of the famous riff from Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" performed by Incredible Bongo Band. Nas would again use the same sample on the 2006 single "Hip Hop is Dead".
- Artist
- Nas
- Album
- Street's Disciple
- Release year
- 2004
Lore & Background
In 2004, Nas sponsored a contest in the United Kingdom, encouraging entrants to record a verse using the instrumental version of "Thief's Theme". The winner would perform a verse on the song, which appears on the UK version of *Street's Disciple*. Rising Son won the competition. The song was featured in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning film *The Departed* but was not featured on the soundtrack.
Reader's Guide
The UK version of *Street's Disciple* includes a verse from Rising Son, who won a 2004 contest sponsored by Nas.
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