 " The Don " is a song by American rapper Nas . Released as the second single from his tenth studio album , Life Is Good ( 2012 ) , it is produced by record producers Da Internz , Heavy D and Salaam Remi , who all helped write the song along with Nas , although Heavy D died before the song could be finished . Built around a sample of " Dance in New York " by reggae singer Super Cat , a former collaborator of Nas , " The Don " is backed by a boom bap , reggae @-@ tinged production with additional drum and piano sounds . Lyrically , Nas attempts to reaffirm his status as a " street poet " , addressing the hardships of poverty within disadvantaged societies and the realities of weapon and drug problems . 
