[Nas]
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Uhh
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Yo, yo-yo, y'all
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Whattup? Whattup
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It's time man (Word, it's time?)
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Straight up, it's time man
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Aight, set that shit off
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(Set it off then nigga, set it off)
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Broken glass in the hallway, bloodstained floors
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Neighbors, look at every bag you bring through your doors
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Lock the top lock, momma shoulda cuffed me to the radiator
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Why not? It might've saved later from my block
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N.Y. cops, hookers crawlin off the stroll, coughin
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stitches in they head, stinkin and I dread thinkin they be snitchin
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But who else, could it be, shook at these, unmarked vans
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Parked in the dark -- NARC's, where's your heart?
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Hustlers starve; they bust a U-e I jog
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to my building -- come out later wearin camouflage
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See the sergeant and the captain -- strangle men
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Niggaz gaspin for air; til they move no more and just stare
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with dead eyes -- tired of riots, shit is quiet
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Simple-minded fools infiltrate grimy crews
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Overcrowded cribs, uncles home from bids, sister's pregnant
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father's on drugs, moms is smokin, beds is piss-infested
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Had eight partners growin up, eight turned to seven
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Seven turned to six niggaz, got two in heaven
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Six of us, holdin it, now it's five rollin thick
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The sixth one's parole flipped; five niggaz, went to fo' quick
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when he went O.T., college life, converted into gangbangin
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Four niggaz still hangin, years passed and slang changin
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Three of us now, fourth nigga ain't around
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We all thought he was real -- he did the snake shit
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Fake shit -- beat his ass down, yo his mouth
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could've got us all wasted, what a f*ckin clown
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All I got left in the end is two of my best friends
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And we all goin out, to the death for these ends, WHAT?
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New York, New York ("New York state of mind" -> [Rakim])
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New York, New York ("New York state of mind" -> [Rakim])
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[repeat while Nas is talking]
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You heard about it, you see about it
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You read about it, it's in your papers
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It's in your daily news ("Get money!")
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New York chronicles, every day
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The crime rate, the murder rate
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The money rate, the paper chase, youknowhatImean?
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New York state of mind baby, check it out
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[Nas]
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I'm at the, gamblin spot, my hands on a knot
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New York Yankee cap cover my eyes, stand in one spot
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I take a nigga dough, send him home, to a shoebox
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You lost that nigga I put your dollar in the jukebox
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Hear my favorite song, all these niggaz sing along
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All the ciggarette smoke's cloggin my lungs, hoodrats flashin they tongue
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Young thugs blastin they gun, we got reputations
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Bitches and niggaz both on parole or probation
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Shit is sick, niggaz got gats, army fatigues
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I got my eyes glued on, whoever walk in the lead
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Cause I ain't playin, niggaz'll run up in here and shoot up this shit
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Stick yo' ass up, niggaz'll find the loot in your kicks
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Bunch of triple-cross niggaz, just New York niggaz
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Lift you off your feet when they was just talkin with you
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Some of these dudes the Feds be on em, you knew em for years
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Be the type when you walk in a pub, they offer you beers
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That ain't gangsta, niggaz is up North with tatted tears
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Your name's on the affadavit, you ratted kid
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Faggot-ass niggaz that be scared to do they bids
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F*ck you, we run you out of N.Y, you can't live
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Got your quiet niggaz, that relocated down South
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comin back to floss, then you got the jealous loudmouths
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All of a sudden we got Crips and Bloods, D.T.'s
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runnin round quick to split your mug, it's ea-sy to score
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but it's hard to get the shit off
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Niggaz fightin over hundred sales, jump in the car and drive off
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When the fiend come around the block, happy as hell
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Niggaz, mad cause they ain't get a piece of that sale
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Cutthroat connivers, universal, ghetto survivors
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Go to any hood that's live and make it liver
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A lot of niggaz scheamin, some real, some niggaz frontin
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But I'm a big dreamer, so watch me come up with somethin
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New York, New York
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New York, New York
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