Where It Started At (NY)

[Produced by Hi-Tek] [Intro: Sample + Hi-Tek] "Where do I start?" Let's see, what they wan' hear? [Hook: Dion + Jadakiss + Samples] Let me see where I start at (Uh) Hood cats are part of where it started at (No doubt) We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed (Yeah) For the score, go to war like a Jarhead (Hi-Tek!) New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! (Wooh! Eh-hah!) New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! ("We're gonna take you all on a little trip to New York City") ("With her first 'Hello'—") [Verse 1: Jadakiss] Uh, got a lot of heart, best part is I'm clever too Hand skills, hawk work, gun play, whatever, Duke Ecstasy, oxy, Vicodin, powder Ari, Haze, Diesel, Sour Dust juice, loosies, turbans, kufis Hand guns is petite, the shotties is doofy Telling in is not nice, a lot of niggas got life Everything is good in my bank except cocked dice Harlems, Jordans, the hood can't afford them So they bootlegged them, now everybody sport them Dorms, cells, packages, mail Warrants, bails, everything's real now [Hook: Dion + Papoose + Samples] Let me see where I start at Hood cats are part of where it started at We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed For the score, go to war like a Jarhead New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! (Hi-Tek, Hi-Tek) New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! (Papoose, Papoose) ("With her first 'Hello'—") [Verse 2: Papoose] All I got is my word and my nuts Man, I got Brooklyn in my balls So you could see Bed-Stuy if you lookin' in my drawers Always talkin' 'bout "you ballin'"—look, you want to ball? Word on the streets—niggas ready to put you on the wall You just a leg shooter, you aim your gun low I shoot my TEC high—I keep a high TEC like the producer Pap' rip the desi till that clip is empty Man, I have black buried in the cemetery Go 'head, get your fetti, but you better tell, homes Messing with me, you'll get black-buried like a cell phone Punks pay dues, not me—I pay attention Call it "New York" 'cause we keep reinventin' [Hook: Dion + Samples] Let me see where I start at Hood cats are part of where it started at We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed For the score, go to war like a Jarhead New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! ("With her first 'Hello'—") [Verse 3: Talib Kweli] Who flipped the vocabulary? Shadow my adversaries Bust 'em like a capillary, roaches and rats on every corner When it's warmer, but New York is used to that already Manhattan built those cemeteries where the blacks is buried (Yeah) I take the Staten ferry, I walk the broad way (C'mon) I talk to chicks along the way with John Forté Used to do this all day, burning in the project hallways Discussing strategies in the court case (Tell 'em) I rock The North Face, cold like winter I'm from Brooklyn like the Decept' and lowlife niggas, word Fuck the talking, this a New York thing we aboard But, all things considered, we all kings—what? [Hook: Dion + Raekwon + Samples] Let me see where I start at Hood cats are part of where it started at We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed For the score, go to war like a Jarhead New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! New York! (My nigga, my nigga, what' up Tek, you did it again, nigga Word up, I love that) ("With her first 'Hello'—") [Verse 4: Raekwon] Ayo, yo, I rhyme for the streets, broke niggas rap on they feet So angry as hell, we yell from the beats Wise killers up in New York, who lay for a piece Crime action get you trapped by the chiefs, no peace, see? Proud and have the hood style and good talent Most of us fell off from drug wars, tryna re-up; the law of wildin' Can't get no rest, the vest is on, stress pilin' Scheming on something green with eagles on it, Chef found it While I take a trip back, our first little pack Had to open doors, no time for broads, I was scopin' crack Baggin' like a newborn, barely profit, beef pop off We carry tommy guns and smoke trees and grab pockets Pilgrimage life, real like with no money and no white I had this white girl who work for me, wipin' pipe Livin' by the sword, a hundred niggas daily Who get all on board and kill for some paper, live on them acres, bo' [Hook: Dion + Samples] Let me see where I start at Hood cats are part of where it started at We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed For the score, go to war like a Jarhead New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!