Released: October 19, 1999
Featuring: Prince Po
Songwriter: Lee Stone Prince Po Pharoahe Monch
Producer: Lee Stone
[Verse 1: Pharoahe Monch]
My mom is in the bedroom, crying again
Sister's on the street corner, lying again
Just heard about another one of my niggas dying again
I'm trying again to make moves
I'll be damned if we go hungry
Ever since my pops passed, the responsibilities belonged to me
This song you see is like an ode to God
That he blessed my last breath to be Allahu Akbar
And this city is hard, tenement buildings are barred
Incarcerated and scarred, no sentiment for when it becomes time for war
I'm trying to score like Bernard King
My vocal box sling verbal cocaine like the government
I told you I'd hurt the music
Travelling back, busting shots at (*gunshots*) before Christ was persecuted
Mathematically, we live at right angles
Fuck the Star Spangled, the mayor's the fallen angel
Dangling from moon crescents, I persevere, breathe the air
Inhale the effervescence of life
This street game is stifling I'm trifling, upholding a rifle
Peering from behind the eyes of God, we at odds with ourselves
What is it worth when this barren metropolis prevail?
Scale the walls of hell, trail of a octopus
[Chorus: Pharoahe Monch]
I've seen it all through the eyes of a needle
Depletion of the planet, brainwash of the people
Niggas'll never learn (Shit) we just concerned about
Who's fucking who, when time is of significance
Ghost, we disregard the most magnificent
Eat of the fruit that is poisonous and lethal
Stuck in the crux of the spell with the evil
Credits about to roll and hell is the sequel
[Verse 2: Prince Poetry]
Incarcerated Scarfaces in all places
Crack sales rise, failed lives, cops and robber car chases
Y2K fuck up, you're left faceless
Hustlers bury money in Garcia Vega cigar cases
Give the drummer some pianos, guitar basses
Trumpet in tune, Pharoahe and Prince legitimate reasons for why they thumping
Hi, I'm the most endangered species
By all means, survival is what I teach these
First time offenders catching seven to fifteen
Now my vision of life is hell and heaven on split screen
Bust your shit like Mitch Greene (Snitch), I switch scenes
Bring drama to that ass, that's how we on it in Queens (What?)
Stray bullets continue shattering dreams, battering spleens
I'm gathering schemes, had only cream just as bad as a fiend
Take food from a table and get drunk to your death
Now feel it in your heart from the love in my breath
[Chorus: Pharoahe Monch]
I've seen it all through the eyes of a needle
Depletion of the planet, brainwash of the people
Niggas'll never learn (Shit) we just concerned about
Who's fucking who, when time is of significance
Ghost, we disregard the most magnificent
Eat of the fruit that is poisonous and lethal
Stuck in the crux of the spell with the evil
Credits about to roll and hell is the sequel
My mom is in the bedroom, crying again
Sister's on the street corner, lying again
Just heard about another one of my niggas dying again
I'm trying again to make moves
I'll be damned if we go hungry
Ever since my pops passed, the responsibilities belonged to me
This song you see is like an ode to God
That he blessed my last breath to be Allahu Akbar
And this city is hard, tenement buildings are barred
Incarcerated and scarred, no sentiment for when it becomes time for war
I'm trying to score like Bernard King
My vocal box sling verbal cocaine like the government
I told you I'd hurt the music
Travelling back, busting shots at (*gunshots*) before Christ was persecuted
Mathematically, we live at right angles
Fuck the Star Spangled, the mayor's the fallen angel
Dangling from moon crescents, I persevere, breathe the air
Inhale the effervescence of life
This street game is stifling I'm trifling, upholding a rifle
Peering from behind the eyes of God, we at odds with ourselves
What is it worth when this barren metropolis prevail?
Scale the walls of hell, trail of a octopus
[Chorus: Pharoahe Monch]
I've seen it all through the eyes of a needle
Depletion of the planet, brainwash of the people
Niggas'll never learn (Shit) we just concerned about
Who's fucking who, when time is of significance
Ghost, we disregard the most magnificent
Eat of the fruit that is poisonous and lethal
Stuck in the crux of the spell with the evil
Credits about to roll and hell is the sequel
[Verse 2: Prince Poetry]
Incarcerated Scarfaces in all places
Crack sales rise, failed lives, cops and robber car chases
Y2K fuck up, you're left faceless
Hustlers bury money in Garcia Vega cigar cases
Give the drummer some pianos, guitar basses
Trumpet in tune, Pharoahe and Prince legitimate reasons for why they thumping
Hi, I'm the most endangered species
By all means, survival is what I teach these
First time offenders catching seven to fifteen
Now my vision of life is hell and heaven on split screen
Bust your shit like Mitch Greene (Snitch), I switch scenes
Bring drama to that ass, that's how we on it in Queens (What?)
Stray bullets continue shattering dreams, battering spleens
I'm gathering schemes, had only cream just as bad as a fiend
Take food from a table and get drunk to your death
Now feel it in your heart from the love in my breath
[Chorus: Pharoahe Monch]
I've seen it all through the eyes of a needle
Depletion of the planet, brainwash of the people
Niggas'll never learn (Shit) we just concerned about
Who's fucking who, when time is of significance
Ghost, we disregard the most magnificent
Eat of the fruit that is poisonous and lethal
Stuck in the crux of the spell with the evil
Credits about to roll and hell is the sequel