From the first time I heard Rakim's 'New York', I could see the imagery, which was actually what partially inspired and motivated me to start taking pictures.
Ive always wanted to make a collage, a strip, with the lyrics dramatising the images - ala the New York Undercover style intro.
Still on my project list to put together.. but at least i have most of the images I need.
New York (Ya Out there?)
[Intro]
If you was born in New york City let me hear say "You know that"!
YOU KNOW THAT
(james brown echo)
I was born in New York City.city.city.city.city
[backbeat refrain]
New York
Ya ya ya out there
new york
no doubt no doubt no doubt
new york
no doubt no doubt no doubt
new york new york
Hey Yo
Once upon a rhyme
where the scenery sets
you see stress
Streets a matter of life and death
no regrets
Life's a test
to trife with
wit special effects
Neighbourhood's full of reps
Cities of Projects
where
the young cadets
get stripes from the vets
And comrades quest
to be the next to finesse
Collect debts
and select bets
with death threats
Object?
Cheddar to better your total net
Where
trends are set
for ways to express
the outfits
Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect
Avenues to check
boulevards to sweat
The smell of gunsmoke
more common than cigarettes
WE GOT
clints for wreck
WE LIKE
Pit's for pets
WE GOT
Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets
WE LIKE
much respect
sex
extra wet
AND
high-tech dialect you ain't catch yet
Da Bronx
Ya ya ya'll out there?
No doubt no doubt no doubt
Brooklyn
ya out there?
[Rakim]
Hey Yo
WE GOT
blocks and blocks of
Big Shots with
Big Knots
and
Big Props
yo
this is where the Bullshit stops
where hurts get got
if you snitch
you get shot
we get down and
we leave da town in a state of shock
WE LIKE
dangerous hang-out spots
and slick cops
place called Riker's Island
where kids get locked
a lotta
gear to rock
with
blocks of clothes shops
styles are top notch
this is the place to buy
so blast the box
the radio station is hot
ease your mind
staring at skylines from rooftops
flip scripts for chicks
and new Whips off the lot
quick to call the shot
politics with thick plots
In the Garden of Eden
the scenery we got
to make sure the core of the Big Apple don't rot
Where
seein' is believing
we be achieving a lot
Where
discjocks
created hip hop
check it out
Queens
ya ya ya'll out there?
no doubt no doubt no doubt
Manhattan
no doubt no doubt no doubt
New York city
Staten Island
new york new york
Long Island
New york ya ya ya'll out there?
[Rakim]
Hey Yo
we got five boroughs of ghettos
with many places to meet
you get lost in busy streets
the city that never sleeps
Mecca to Medina
the population increase
the desert and the oasis
New York, da Far East
with Gods and Sheiks
pretty Amazons for weeks
playah dons that fleece
families of black sheeps
icons that Teach
we ALL act unique
we got stats to reach
so we all have to eat
a mass of peeps
with their own masterpiece
the crafts elite
we be going past the peak
the latest technique
no other place get as deep
whose parks
release
some of the worlds greatest athletes
DJs and MCs and graffiti artistes
who use walls and subway trains for marquees
we go back
to b-boys, breakdancing, breakbeats
and it'll NEVER cease
and on that note
we say
peace
[refrain]
I think the swagger isnt what it used to be post September 11th and the recession, but this is still New York.
It bows to no one or nowhere else.
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