Every Ghetto, Every City

I was just a little girl (little girl)
 Skinny legs, a press and curl (a press and curl)
 My mother always thought I'd be a star (my mother always thought I'd be a star)
 But way before the record deals
 Streets that nurtured Lauryn Hill (uh-huh)
 Made sure that I'd never go too far (well, what up? Yeah)
 Every ghetto, every city
 And suburban place I been
 Make me recall my days
 In New Jerusalem (you know, uh-huh)
 Story starts in Hoodaville (Hoodaville)
 Grew up next to Ivy Hill
 When kids were stealing quartervilles for fun
 "Kill the Guy" in Carter Park (uh)
 Rode a Mongoose 'til it's dark
 Watching kids show off the stolen ones
 Every ghetto, every city
 And suburban place I've been
 Make me recall my days
 In the New Jerusalem
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 Bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickel (well, that's a quarter)
 Springfield Ave had the best popsicles
 Saturday morning cartoons and Kung-Fu (ooh-tah!)
 Main Street roots tonic with the dreads
 A beef patty and some coco bread
 Move the patch from my Lee's to the tongue of my shoes
 'Member Frelinghuysen used to have the bomb leather?
 Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick was together
 Looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 Drill teams on Munn Street
 'Member when Hawthorne and Chancellor had beef
 Moving Records was on Central Ave
 I was there at dancing school (dancing school)
 South Orange Ave at Borlin pool (uh-huh)
 Unaware of what we didn't have
 Writing my friends' names on my jeans with a marker
 July 4th races outside Parker
 Fireworks at Martin Stadium (oh, word, my love)
 The Untouchable PSP
 Where all them crazy niggas be
 The car thief got away through Irvington (lock it up, uh, uh)
 Hillside brings beef with the cops
 Self-destruction, record drops
 And everybody's name was Muslim (children playing, women producing)
 Sensations in '88
 Attracted kids from out of state
 And everybody used to do the wop (wop it out, wop it out, wop it out)
 Jack ya, jack ya, jack ya body
 Nah, the BizMark used to amp up the party
 I wish those days, they didn't stop
 (I wish those days, they didn't stop)
 Every ghetto, every city
 And suburban place I've been
 Make me recall my days
 In New Jerusalem (every city)
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot
 Don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, yeah
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 
 I was just a little girl (little girl)
 Skinny legs, a press and curl (a press and curl)
 My mother always thought I'd be a star (my mother always thought I'd be a star)
 But way before the record deals
 Streets that nurtured Lauryn Hill (uh-huh)
 Made sure that I'd never go too far (well, what up? Yeah)
 Every ghetto, every city
 And suburban place I been
 Make me recall my days
 In New Jerusalem (you know, uh-huh)
 Story starts in Hoodaville (Hoodaville)
 Grew up next to Ivy Hill
 When kids were stealing quartervilles for fun
 "Kill the Guy" in Carter Park (uh)
 Rode a Mongoose 'til it's dark
 Watching kids show off the stolen ones
 Every ghetto, every city
 And suburban place I've been
 Make me recall my days
 In the New Jerusalem
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 Bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickel (well, that's a quarter)
 Springfield Ave had the best popsicles
 Saturday morning cartoons and Kung-Fu (ooh-tah!)
 Main Street roots tonic with the dreads
 A beef patty and some coco bread
 Move the patch from my Lee's to the tongue of my shoes
 'Member Frelinghuysen used to have the bomb leather?
 Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick was together
 Looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 Drill teams on Munn Street
 'Member when Hawthorne and Chancellor had beef
 Moving Records was on Central Ave
 I was there at dancing school (dancing school)
 South Orange Ave at Borlin pool (uh-huh)
 Unaware of what we didn't have
 Writing my friends' names on my jeans with a marker
 July 4th races outside Parker
 Fireworks at Martin Stadium (oh, word, my love)
 The Untouchable PSP
 Where all them crazy niggas be
 The car thief got away through Irvington (lock it up, uh, uh)
 Hillside brings beef with the cops
 Self-destruction, record drops
 And everybody's name was Muslim (children playing, women producing)
 Sensations in '88
 Attracted kids from out of state
 And everybody used to do the wop (wop it out, wop it out, wop it out)
 Jack ya, jack ya, jack ya body
 Nah, the BizMark used to amp up the party
 I wish those days, they didn't stop
 (I wish those days, they didn't stop)
 Every ghetto, every city
 And suburban place I've been
 Make me recall my days
 In New Jerusalem (every city)
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot, don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 You know it's hot
 Don't forget what you got (you know it's hot)
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back, yeah
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back
 Looking back, looking back, looking back