New York (Ya Out There?)

Lyrics

{*from the movie "Wildstyle"*} If you was born in New York City, let me hear say "You know that"! YOU KNOW THAT [Verse 1: Rakim] A-yo, once upon a rhyme where the scenery sets, you see stress Street's a matter of life and death, no regrets Life's a test, it's trife with special effects Neighborhood's full of reps, cities are projects Where the young cadets get stripes from the vets And comrades to quest to be the next to finesse Collect debts and select bets with death threats Object — cheddar; better your total net Where trends are set from ways to express the outfits Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect Avenues to check, boulevards to sweat The smell of gunsmoke's more common than cigarettes (WE GOT) cliques for wreck (WE LIKE) Pits for pets (WE GOT) Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets (WE LIKE) much respect, the sex extra wet And high-tech dialect you ain't catch yet The Bronx Ya out there? No doubt! Brooklyn Ya out there? [Verse 2: Rakim] A-yo, we got blocks and blocks Of big shots with big knots and big props Yo, this is where the bullshit stops Where herbs get got If you snitch, you get shot We get down, and leave the town in a state of shock (WE GOT) dangerous hang-out spots and slick cops Place called Rikers Island where kids get locked A lotta gear to rock with blocks of clothes shops Styles are top notch, this is the place to watch So blast the box, the radio station is hot Ease your mind starin' at skylines from rooftops Flip scripts for chips, and new whips off the lot Quick to call a shot, politic' with thick plots And the Garden of Eden against the sea that we got To make sure the core of the Big Apple don't rot Where seeing's believin', we be achievin' a lot Where disc-jocks created hip-hop, check it out! (Queens - ya out there? no doubt Manhattan - no doubt New York city, Staten Island New York, New York, Long Island New York - ya out there?) [Verse 3: Rakim] A-yo, we got five boroughs of ghettos with many places to meet You get lost in busy streets, the city that never sleeps Mecca, Pelan, Medina, the population increase The desert and the oasis, New York, the far east With Gods and sheiks, pretty Amazons for weeks Player dons that fleece, the family's black sheep Icons that teach but we all act unique We got stats to reach, so we all have to eat A mass of peeps, with they own masterpiece The crafts' elite, we be goin' past the peak The latest technique no other place get as deep Who parks release some of the world's greatest athletes DJ's and MC's and graffiti artistes Who use walls and subway trains for marquees We go back to b-boys, breakdancin', breakbeats And it'll never cease! And on that note, we say peace