N.Y. State of Mind(feat. National Symphony Orchestra) (Live|Explicit)

Rappers I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm

I be kickin' musician inflictin' composition

Of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin' c*****e

Holdin' an M16 see with the pen I'm extreme

Now bullet holes left in my peepholes

I'm suited up with street clothes hand me a 9 and I'll defeat foes

Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay

I keep some E&J sittin' bent up in the stairway

Or either on the corner bettin' Grants with the Cee-Lo champs

Laughin' at base-heads tryna sell some broken amps

G-packs get off quick forever n***as talk s**t

Reminiscin' about the last time the task force flipped

N***as be runnin' through the block shootin'

Time to start the revolution catch a body head for Houston

Once they caught us off-guard the MAC-10 was in the grass and

I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin

Picked the MAC up told brothers"Back up" the MAC spit

Lead was hittin' n***as one ran I made him back-flip

Heard a few chicks scream my arm shook couldn't look

Gave another squeeze heard it click"Yo my s**t is stuck"

Tried to cock it it wouldn't shoot now I'm in danger

finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber

So now I'm jettin' to the buildin' lobby

And it was full of children prob'ly couldn't see as high as I be

So what you sayin'

It's like the game ain't the same

Got younger n***as pullin' the triggers bringin' fame to their name

And claim some corners crews without guns are goners

In broad daylight stick-up kids they run up on us

45's and gauges MACs in fact

Same n***as will catch you back-to-back snatchin' your cracks

In black there was a snitch on the block gettin' n***as knocked

So hold your stash 'til the coke price drop

I know this crackhead who said she gotta smoke nice rock

And if it's good she'll bring you customers and measuring pots

But yo you gotta slide on a vacation

Inside information keeps large n***as erasin' and their wives basin'

It drops deep as it does in my breath

I never sleep 'cause sleep is the cousin of death

Beyond the walls of intelligence life is defined

I think of crime when I'm in a New York State of Mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

Be havin' dreams that I'm a gangsta drinkin' Moëts holdin' TECs

Makin' sure the cash came correct then I stepped

Investments in stocks sewin' up the blocks to sell rocks

Winnin' gunfights with mega-cops

But just a n***a walkin' with his finger on the trigger

Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger

I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'

Give me a Smith & Wesson I'll have n***as undressin'

Thinkin' of cash flow Buddha and shelter

Whenever frustrated I'ma hijack Delta

In the PJ's my blend tape plays bullets are strays

Young b***hes is grazed each block is like a maze

Full of black rats trapped plus the Island is packed

From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back

Black I'm livin' where the nights is jet-black

The fiends fight to get crack I just max I dream I can sit back

And lamp like Capone with d**g scripts sewn

Or the legal luxury life rings flooded with stones homes

I got so many rhymes I don't think I'm too sane

Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain

And be prosperous though we live dangerous

Cops could just arrest me blamin' us we're held like hostages

It's only right that I was born to use mics

And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes

I'm takin' rappers to a new plateau through rap slow

My rhymin' is a vitamin held without a capsule

The smooth criminal on beat breaks

Never put me in your box if your s**t eats tapes

The city never sleeps full of villains and creeps

That's where I learned to do my hustle had to scuffle with freaks

I'm a addict for sneakers 20s of Buddha and b***hes with beepers

In the streets I can greet ya about blunts I teach ya

Inhale deep like the words of my breath

I never sleep 'cause sleep is the cousin of death

I lay puzzled as I backtrack to earlier times

Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind