The Empire

I'm from the home of the hustler, born with a mean mug Talk fast and we walk fast, keep up Step with a different rhythm, try to make the most of what little we've been given By the city that we live in "Where the Wall Street intellect and street smarts intersect And dog eat dog's feet the law that’s in effect Trying to get even for the odds that we overcoming So we can hear the sirens from the coppers but no one's running No matter what we facing we don't turn the cheek The highest currency is courage in these urban streets We're in-a-gadda-da-vita where people popping they heaters We never follow our leaders, for preachers, prophets and teachers With lady liberty's living but we ain't gotten to see her I swear the cab's will run you over without stopping the meter B-b-but you can never count us out, even when we down and out Nothing to be proud about, still the people shouting out [Hook] My city, my home, my city, my home, my city, my home, New York city My city, my home, my city, my home, my city, my home, New York city [Verse Two: Talib Kweli] I'm from the home of the stick-up kid, we always show the streets love Talk fast, plus we walk fast, keep up I step over Gutter Rainbows Wish I could give away millions like I was Maino You know how the gutter slang go If you listen to Big L, "Ebonics" was the meanest The bombers made it tragic but we rose up from the ashes Like the promise of the phoenix I promise you we eatin' Won't you stop being greedy We too hot for TV, Panasonic or the Zenith I roll with Brooklyn vegans Just for lookin', leave ya leakin' Central bookin' at the precinct Since a youth, I grew up in New York, i draw the parallels Detention that was jail snitches is the tattle tails Epitaphs was racial, fuck how niggas and the crackers feel It's tragic how our whips got more gadgets than the Batmobile The inspiration for Gotham The metropolitan's rotten Stay on top of the problems Cause we're coming from the bottom got em [Hook] My city, my home, my city, my home, my city, my home, New York city My city, my home, my city, my home, my city, my home, New York city New York, New York, my city, my home My city, my home [Verse Three: Iron Solomon] As a teen I sold 20's spending my own money Stepping out my parents' house the city was home to me Riverside Park, we would kick it after dark, by the pier With some beers, and a piff that we would spark And run up in house parties and turn them to our parties And neighbors would call cops, cause we would get wild rowdy Another night, another page written in life's journal 9 million stories in a city with 5 boroughs Different backgrounds, but we came through the same struggle Dreaming of fame, we wrote our names on the train tunnels Running round the city like rats in crawlspaces Catching court cases for jacking North Faces Chasing the fast life, we know that it's too short Breathing the air here it's like smoking a Newport My home is in New York, like Biggie in Bed-Stuy We live and we let die The city of NY [Hook] My city, my home, my city, my home, my city, my home, New York city My city, my home, my city, my home, my city, my home, New York city New York, New York, my city, my home My city, my home