The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis
Shining, like who on top of this?
Gangstas of Gotham hardcore
I'm wrestling with words and ideas
seeking what will transmit
The scribes can apply to transcript,
Tonight alive, let's describe the
Draped in metal and fiber
Where mercenaries is paid
For profits, thirsty criminals
Hard knuckles on the second hands
the cost of living is preposterous
Stay alive, you play or die, no options,
Can't tell between the cops and the robbers,
they both partners, they all heartless
back streets stay darkened
My eagle talons stay sharpened,
like city lights stay throbbing
The shiny Apple is bruised but
sweet and if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth,
who got shot down and locked down
My narrative rose to explain
Amidst the harbor lights which
Blastin' holes in the night
Breathe in, inhale vapors from
Heard the bass ride out like an
I can feel the city breathing
against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last
Breathin' in deep city breaths,
hell froze the night the city slept
The beast crept through concrete
Communicatin' with one another
And ghetto birds where waters fall
From the hydrants to the gutters
The beast walk the beats,
but the beats we be makin
You on the wrong side of the track,
plungin' to death that's painted by the numbers
With Krylon applied pressure,
By havin' children by a lesser
We played against each other like puppets,
When the only pull you got
is the wool over your eyes
Gettin' knowledge in jail like
Look in the skies for God,
what you see besides the smog
Is broken dreams flying away on the
Thoughts that people put in the air
Places where you could get murdered
It's a paradox we call reality
So keepin' it real will make you
casualty of abnormal normality
Killers Born Naturally like,
Not knowing the ways'll get you capped
Some cats be emceeing to illustrate
Hard to be a spiritual being when shit
is shakin' what you believe in
For trees to grow in Brooklyn,
I'm asking if y'all feel me and
the crowd left me stranded
My blood pressure boiled and rose,
to the winners the spoils go
I take the L, transfer to the
trife the Roman Empire state
Blastin' holes in the night
Breathe in, inhale vapors from
Heard the bass ride out like an
I can feel the city breathing
against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
Corner I stood lookin at my former hood
Felt the spirit in the wind,
knew my friend was gone for good
Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt,
struggle I hadn't mastered
I choreograph seven steps to heaven
In hell, waiting to exhale and
Veteran of a cold war It's
What I know or, what's known
So some days I take the bus home,
From the crib I spend months gone
Sat by the window with a clutched dome
listenin' to shorties cuss long
Young girls with weak minds,
Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord,
but didn't have a touch- tone
It's a dog- eat- dog world,
Some of this land I must own
Outta the city, they want us gone
My circumstance is between
Surrounded by hate, yet I love home
Ask my guy how he thought
travellin' the world sound
Found it hard to imagine he hadn't
It's deep, I heard the city
but for me it's hard to keep
but for me it's hard to keep
Blastin' holes in the night 'til
Breathe in, inhale vapors from
weed smoke retrace the skyline
How the bass ride out like
I can feel the city breathing
against the flesh of the evening
Kiss the eyes goodbye I'm on the last train