Twenty years in the making What was I thinking? 1992, wow I wasn't sure how to get into the rap game The incredible rap game It's all a dream It's time, and when that time came I took it Yeah Rappers, I monkey flip 'em, With the funky rhythm I be kickin' Musician, inflictin' composition of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin' ******* Holdin' an M16, see with the pen I'm extreme Now, bullet holes left in my peepholes I'm suited up in 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 baseheads tryna sell some broken amps G-packs get off quick, forever *****s talk Reminiscin' about the last time the task force flipped *****s 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' *****s, one ran, I made him backflip Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look Gave another squeeze, heard it click, "Yo, my *******t is stuck!" It wouldn't shoot, now I'm in danger Pulled my *******t back and saw Three bullets caught up in the chamber Now I'm runnin' to the building 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 *****s pullin' the triggers, Bringin' fame to their name Claim some corners, crews without guns are goners In broad daylight, stick-up kids, they run up on us 45's and gauges, MAC's in fact Same *****s will catch you back-to-back Snatchin' your cracks in black There was a snitch on the block gettin' *****s knocked So hold your stash 'til the coke price drop I know this crackhead who said she got to smoke nice rock And if it's good, she'll bring you customers in measuring pots But yo, you gotta slide on a vacation Inside information keeps large *****s erasin' And their wives basin' It drops deep as it does in my breath I never sleep—‘cause sleep is the cousin of death I lay puzzle 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" Where I live, where I'm at("New York state of mind") "New York state of mind" Be havin' dreams that I'm a gangsta Drinkin' Moets, holdin' TEC's 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 ***** 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 have brothers undressin' Thinkin' of cash flow, buddha and shelter Whenever frustrated, I'm a hijack Delta In the PJ's, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays Young *******es 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 drug scripts sewn Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, holmes 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've taken 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 *******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 an addict for sneakers 20's of buddha and *******es 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 puzzle 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" Where I live, where I'm at ("New York state of mind") "New York state of mind" But tonight, tonight In the D.C state of mind Yeah, yeah Detonize, come on Detonize what Detonize all Thank you 20 years ago, I was writing that rhyme in a small apartment In a small room, inside that small apartment. Just living in a world that I knew, Talking about the things that I see and live man. You know, teenagers' mind is wild That *******t just what was going on man
[00:00.00]Twenty years in the making [00:44.00]What was I thinking? [00:45.42]1992, wow [00:53.80]I wasn't sure how to get into the rap game [00:57.19]The incredible rap game [01:12.80]It's all a dream [01:17.10]It's time, and when that time came [01:23.53]I took it [01:31.43]Yeah [01:34.57]Rappers, I monkey flip 'em, [01:35.98]With the funky rhythm I be kickin' [01:37.61]Musician, inflictin' composition of pain [01:40.36]I'm like Scarface sniffin' ******* [01:42.31]Holdin' an M16, see with the pen I'm extreme [01:44.92]Now, bullet holes left in my peepholes [01:47.24]I'm suited up in street clothes [01:48.81]Hand me a 9 and I'll defeat foes [01:50.38]Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay [01:53.17]I keep some E&J, sittin' bent up in the stairway [01:55.77]Or either on the corner bettin' Grants with the cee-lo champs [01:58.93]Laughin' at baseheads tryna sell some broken amps [02:01.46]G-packs get off quick, forever *****s talk [02:03.67]Reminiscin' about the last time the task force flipped [02:06.77]*****s be runnin' through the block shootin' [02:08.87]Time to start the revolution, catch a body, head for Houston [02:11.81]Once they caught us off-guard, the MAC-10 was in the grass and [02:14.50]I ran like a cheetah, with thoughts of an assassin [02:17.00]Picked the MAC up, told brothers, "Back up!" — the MAC spit [02:19.95]Lead was hittin' *****s, one ran, I made him backflip [02:22.35]Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look [02:25.15]Gave another squeeze, heard it click, [02:26.98]"Yo, my *******t is stuck!" [02:27.90]It wouldn't shoot, now I'm in danger [02:30.42]Pulled my *******t back and saw [02:32.09]Three bullets caught up in the chamber [02:33.41]Now I'm runnin' to the building lobby [02:35.30]And it was full of children prob'ly, [02:37.07]Couldn't see as high as I be [02:38.56](So what you sayin'?) It's like the game ain't the same [02:40.63]Got younger *****s pullin' the triggers, [02:42.34]Bringin' fame to their name [02:43.80]Claim some corners, crews without guns are goners [02:46.51]In broad daylight, stick-up kids, they run up on us [02:49.24]45's and gauges, MAC's in fact [02:51.71]Same *****s will catch you back-to-back [02:53.43]Snatchin' your cracks in black [02:54.99]There was a snitch on the block gettin' *****s knocked [02:57.62]So hold your stash 'til the coke price drop [02:59.70]I know this crackhead who said she got to smoke nice rock [03:02.32]And if it's good, she'll bring you customers in measuring pots [03:05.07]But yo, you gotta slide on a vacation [03:07.31]Inside information keeps large *****s erasin' [03:09.97]And their wives basin' [03:11.03]It drops deep as it does in my breath [03:13.04]I never sleep—‘cause sleep is the cousin of death [03:15.58]I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times [03:18.34]Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind [03:21.81]"New York state of mind" [03:24.33]"New York state of mind" [03:26.48]Where I live, where I'm at("New York state of mind") [03:30.16]"New York state of mind" [03:31.77]Be havin' dreams that I'm a gangsta [03:32.96]Drinkin' Moets, holdin' TEC's [03:34.70]Makin' sure the cash came correct, then I stepped [03:37.15]Investments in stocks, sewin' up the blocks to sell rocks [03:40.77]Winnin' gunfights with mega-cops [03:42.54]But just a ***** walkin' with his finger on the trigger [03:45.27]Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger [03:47.88]I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin' [03:50.51]Give me a Smith & Wesson, I have brothers undressin' [03:53.34]Thinkin' of cash flow, buddha and shelter [03:55.90]Whenever frustrated, I'm a hijack Delta [03:58.47]In the PJ's, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays [04:01.33]Young *******es is grazed, each block is like a maze [04:04.21]Full of black rats trapped plus the Island is packed [04:06.33]From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back [04:08.91]Black, I'm livin' where the nights is jet-black [04:10.87]The fiends fight to get crack [04:12.58]I just max, I dream I can sit back [04:14.54]And lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn [04:17.19]Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, holmes [04:20.34]I got so many rhymes, I don't think I'm too sane [04:22.37]Life is parallel to Hell, but I must maintain [04:24.93]And be prosperous, though we live dangerous [04:27.01]Cops could just arrest me, [04:28.30]Blamin' us: we're held like hostages [04:30.23]It's only right that I was born to use mics [04:32.70]And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes [04:35.47]I've taken rappers to a new plateau [04:37.30]Through rap slow, [04:38.27]My rhymin' is a vitamin held without a capsule [04:41.19]The smooth criminal on beat breaks [04:43.26]Never put me in your box if your *******t eats tapes [04:46.15]The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps [04:48.86]That's where I learned to do my hustle, [04:50.33]Had to scuffle with freaks [04:51.43]I'm an addict for sneakers [04:52.65]20's of buddha and *******es with beepers [04:54.65]In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya [04:57.44]Inhale deep like the words of my breath [04:59.46]I never sleep—‘cause sleep is the cousin of death [05:02.13]I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times [05:04.83]Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind [05:08.99]"New York state of mind" [05:11.16]"New York state of mind" [05:12.84]Where I live, where I'm at ("New York state of mind") [05:16.74]"New York state of mind" [05:18.93]But tonight, tonight [05:27.22]In the D.C state of mind [05:29.69]Yeah, yeah [05:39.38]Detonize, come on [05:42.26]Detonize what [05:44.58]Detonize all [06:09.61]Thank you [06:13.40]20 years ago, I was writing that rhyme in a small apartment [06:19.79]In a small room, inside that small apartment. [06:22.26]Just living in a world that I knew, [06:26.11]Talking about the things that I see and live man. [06:30.38]You know, teenagers' mind is wild [06:35.87]That *******t just what was going on man
