Once Upon a Time

Lyrics

[Intro] Once upon a time in The Bronx, New York When the Gods of hip-hop ruled the grounds you walk Among them, a few Spanish kids there to talk And grow roots in the Earth where y'all scared to walk Once upon a time, once-once upon a time And once upon-once upon (Cuban) [Chorus] Once upon a time in The Bronx, New York When the Gods of hip-hop ruled the grounds you walk Among them, a few Spanish kids there to talk And grow roots in the Earth where y'all scared to walk Once upon a time in The Bronx, New York When the Gods of hip-hop ruled the grounds you walk Among them, a few Spanish kids there to talk And grow roots in the Earth where y'all scared to walk [Verse 1: Cuban Link] Remember me? That crook from them BX streets That cooked that "Off the Books" beat without a chef's degree I done went toe to toe with the best emcee Big Pun number one, may he rest in peace Let's see, I been doing this since niggas used to backspin Before the game went digital, I was trackin' Real or real rappin', spittin' like a MAC-10 One shot, one came the Lyrical Assassin Back then, Latin rappers had a light buzz They was nice but they wasn't doing it quite like us We used to write stuff to get them niggas hyped up Battled in cyphers, way before the fight club Ayo, I'm pure with the hands like MacGyver I'm liver than a .45 revolver, run you over like a truck driver So pump rides and make you feel the vibe And you can feel I'm fine right between your eyes when I'm feelin' live It's all love, I'm even shoutin' out the haters 'Cause the love got me up but the hate made me greater I'm as real as I portray to be, I'm an originator And I'm still droppin' flavor that's hotter than the equator [Chorus] Once upon a time in The Bronx, New York When the Gods of hip-hop ruled the grounds you walk Among them, a few Spanish kids there to talk And grow roots in the Earth where y'all scared to walk Once upon a time in The Bronx, New York When the Gods of hip-hop ruled the grounds you walk Among them, a few Spanish kids there to talk And grow roots in the Earth where y'all scared to walk [Verse 2: Big Punisher] Yo, I'm all about business and enterprisin' Advisin' financial advisors on franchisin' to widen their horizons Divisin' ideas with master-minders Movin' on a stash with Diamonds First we get the cash, then we laugh like mynas Don't get me wrong, I'm a funny bastard But when it come to money, done, I'm not the one to laugh with I'm after for what cash can bring me, brothers Me and my demon lovers blast and laugh like hyenas Back to Ringling Brothers Believe them others you're the best Yes, and still I'm investin' mils on a hunch over lunch Puffin' on a Chesterfield Who want test the real scandalous? I'm at the Sands in Los Angeles Plannin' hits with anonymous philanthropists Spanish kids, close to God like evangelists Choppin' niggas up and makin' sandwiches [Outro] Once upon a time in The Bronx, New York When the Gods of hip-hop ruled the grounds you walk Among them, a few Spanish kids there to talk And grow roots in the Earth where y'all scared to walk Once upon a time, once-once upon a time And once upon-once upon