Released: March 1, 2005
Featuring: Kanye West The Last Poets
Songwriter: Abiodun Oyewole Common Kanye West Umar Bin Hassan
Producer: Kanye West
[Produced by Kanye West]
[Verse 1: Common]
Memories on corners with the fo's and the mo's
Walk to the store for the rose, talking straightforward to hoes
Got uncles that smoke, and some put blow up they nose
To cope with the lows, the wind is cold and it blows
In their socks and their soles, niggas holding they rolls
Corners leave souls opened and closed, hoping for mo'
With nowhere to go, niggas rolling in droves
They shoot the wrong way, cause they ain’t knowin' their goals
The streets ain’t safe cause they ain’t knowing the code
By the foes I was told, either focus or fold
Got cousins with flows, hope they open some doors
So we can cop clothes and roll in a Rolls
Now I roll in a Olds, with windows that don’t roll
Down the roads where cars get broken and stole
These are the stories told by Stony and Cottage Grove
The world is cold, the block is hot as a stove
On the corners
[Hook: Kanye West]
I wish I could give you this feeling
I wish I could give this feeling, uh-uh
Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbing, killing
Dying, just to make a living, huh?
[Spoken Word: The Last Poets]
We overstated, we underrated, we educated
The corner was our time when time stood still and
Gators and snakeskins in
Yellow and pink and collared blue
Profiles glorifying them
[Verse 2: Common]
Street lights and deep nights, cats trying to eat right
Riding no-seat-bikes, with work to feed hypes
So they can keep sweet Nike's, they head and they feet right
Desires of street life, cars and weed types
It’s hard to breathe nights, days are thief-like
The beasts roam the streets, the police is Greek-like
Game at its peak, we speak and believe hype
Bang in the streets hats cocked left or deep right
It’s steep life, coming up where niggas is sheep-like
Rappers and hoopers, we strive to be like
G's with three stripes, seeds that need light
Cheese and recite, needs and BE strife
The corner, where struggle and greed fight
We write songs about wrong ‘cause it’s hard to see right
Look to the sky, hoping it will bleed light
Reality's a bitch, and I heard that she bites
The corner
[Hook: Kanye West]
I wish I could give you this feeling
I wish I could give this feeling, uh-uh
Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbing, killing
Dying, just to make a living, huh?
[Spoken Word: The Last Poets]
The corner was our magic, our music, our politics
Fires raised as tribal dances and war cries
Broke out on different corners
Power to the people
Black power
Black is beautiful
[Verse 3: Common]
Black church services, murderers, Arabs serving burgers
As cats with gold permanents, move they bags as herbalists
The dirt isn’t just fertile, it’s people working and earning this
The curb getters go where the cash flow and the current is
It’s so hot that niggas burn to live
The furnace is, where the money moving, the determined live
We talk shit, play lotto, and buy German beers
It’s so black packed with action that's affirmative
The corners
[Hook: Kanye West]
I wish I could give you this feeling
I wish I could give this feeling, uh-uh
Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbing, killing
Dying, just to make a living, huh?
[Spoken Word: The Last Poets]
The corner was our Rock of Gibraltar, our Stonehenge
Our Taj Mahal, our monument
Our testimonial to freedom, to peace, and to love
Down on the corner
[Verse 1: Common]
Memories on corners with the fo's and the mo's
Walk to the store for the rose, talking straightforward to hoes
Got uncles that smoke, and some put blow up they nose
To cope with the lows, the wind is cold and it blows
In their socks and their soles, niggas holding they rolls
Corners leave souls opened and closed, hoping for mo'
With nowhere to go, niggas rolling in droves
They shoot the wrong way, cause they ain’t knowin' their goals
The streets ain’t safe cause they ain’t knowing the code
By the foes I was told, either focus or fold
Got cousins with flows, hope they open some doors
So we can cop clothes and roll in a Rolls
Now I roll in a Olds, with windows that don’t roll
Down the roads where cars get broken and stole
These are the stories told by Stony and Cottage Grove
The world is cold, the block is hot as a stove
On the corners
[Hook: Kanye West]
I wish I could give you this feeling
I wish I could give this feeling, uh-uh
Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbing, killing
Dying, just to make a living, huh?
[Spoken Word: The Last Poets]
We overstated, we underrated, we educated
The corner was our time when time stood still and
Gators and snakeskins in
Yellow and pink and collared blue
Profiles glorifying them
[Verse 2: Common]
Street lights and deep nights, cats trying to eat right
Riding no-seat-bikes, with work to feed hypes
So they can keep sweet Nike's, they head and they feet right
Desires of street life, cars and weed types
It’s hard to breathe nights, days are thief-like
The beasts roam the streets, the police is Greek-like
Game at its peak, we speak and believe hype
Bang in the streets hats cocked left or deep right
It’s steep life, coming up where niggas is sheep-like
Rappers and hoopers, we strive to be like
G's with three stripes, seeds that need light
Cheese and recite, needs and BE strife
The corner, where struggle and greed fight
We write songs about wrong ‘cause it’s hard to see right
Look to the sky, hoping it will bleed light
Reality's a bitch, and I heard that she bites
The corner
[Hook: Kanye West]
I wish I could give you this feeling
I wish I could give this feeling, uh-uh
Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbing, killing
Dying, just to make a living, huh?
[Spoken Word: The Last Poets]
The corner was our magic, our music, our politics
Fires raised as tribal dances and war cries
Broke out on different corners
Power to the people
Black power
Black is beautiful
[Verse 3: Common]
Black church services, murderers, Arabs serving burgers
As cats with gold permanents, move they bags as herbalists
The dirt isn’t just fertile, it’s people working and earning this
The curb getters go where the cash flow and the current is
It’s so hot that niggas burn to live
The furnace is, where the money moving, the determined live
We talk shit, play lotto, and buy German beers
It’s so black packed with action that's affirmative
The corners
[Hook: Kanye West]
I wish I could give you this feeling
I wish I could give this feeling, uh-uh
Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbing, killing
Dying, just to make a living, huh?
[Spoken Word: The Last Poets]
The corner was our Rock of Gibraltar, our Stonehenge
Our Taj Mahal, our monument
Our testimonial to freedom, to peace, and to love
Down on the corner