The City

Off of the Element of Surprise. Samples Love Me,
 Love Me, Love Me or Leave Me, Leave Me, Leave Me... read more
 In the metropolis the all-seeing eye steady watching us
 Traffic lights on every corner got cameras that monitor us
 The city takes no novices, so you better be street savvy
 Never fall asleep, the snakes creep gradually
 It's hard to keep your sanity or raise your seeds and family
 In this jungle we occupy, forever breathing tragedy
 Gun-toting goons put wounds in your anatomy
 Just to make the cash in their pockets expand dramatically
 Shorties running rampantly with no guidance or role models
 Living their lives like young Tony Sopranos
 Cause rappers and crime figures seem to be their biggest idols
 I guess that's how the city life influences dudes
 The only prospects are those that Biggie spit in the booth
 About selling powder to sniff or getting rich shooting hoops
 My advice is to stay away from criminal pursuits
 And don't let the city's venom taint your innocence of youth
 Ay yo, from my world to yours kid, it's all the same struggle
 We in a warzone trying to maintain the hustle
 Some escape the jungle in search of better landscapes
 While others chase the urban life, cause they like the fast pace
 The city, where cats be trying to boost up the crime rate
 The city, shorties'll bust they guns till their palms ache
 The city, a place they say it's hard to succeed at
 The city, but still that's my favorite place to be at
 Tenement buildings, bus stops and subways
 Dudes sitting on the park benches while they puff haze
 Trying to take their moms away from living in this rough maze
 Knuckleheads busting dumdums while others duck strays
 Trying to act tough and say they made it on the front page
 But that's the routine, this fast life will never lose steam
 Drama filled streets influence scripts on the movie screen
 Discretion is advised if your eyes dare to view a scene
 But on the flipside, far from confusion and distraction
 O.G.'s be on the block, chilling on the stoop relaxed
 Watching the drug merchants and consumers interacting
 Bootleggers displaying CDs with the music blasting
 Outside the sneaker spot where you can cop the newest fashion
 Graffiti covered properties sprayed up by the vandals
 And basketball courts with kids who're nice with the handles
 Those are just some brief descriptions of the city life environment
 Everybody's on the run putting in labor and sweat
 Either out chasing a dream or maybe chasing a check
 Some people succeed but only a few make an attempt
 At escaping this grand chessboard paved with cement
 We try to see our wages raised to the greatest extent
 So we can be comfortable, live stable and content
 Cause to carry cash by the fistful, cats'll blast their pistol
 Materialism got them starving to make their wrist glow
 The streets got their minds held captive, it's that simple
 I can tell by looking at the bars attached to every window
 Soon as you feel the breeze from the city wind blow
 It's like you're instantly motivated to go and get dough
 That's just the rush that touches you
 once you dwell in these urban districts
 The urge to earn figures at a very absurd percentage
 Whether suburban or urban you could observe the difference
 But I prefer the place that gave birth to my existence