R. Kelly

Featuring: Strings

Songwriter: R. Kelly Strings

Producer: R. Kelly

[R. Kelly]
Gotham City for the ghetto, ghetto...
Gotham City for the ghetto, ghetto...

[R. Kelly talking]
Uh yo yo, everybody's talkin' about the good ol' days, the good ol' days
Everybody's talkin' about the good ol' days (I remember)
Ha, I remember when me and my brother used to sit up on the porch
In the summertime and just talk about.. just makin' it
Know what I'm sayin' bein' successful and followin' after dreams
And uh.. I believe that's every kids dream, ya know what I'm sayin'
To rise and be somebody but damn sometimes we just get caught up...

[Verse 1: R. Kelly]
I ain't got no money and I ain't got no friends
Looks like my world is comin' to an end
No food on the table, no clothes on my back
No shoes on my feet and I just barely gotta used Cadillac
Now ain't that ghetto for ya
But some how it's got to change yeah, ghetto for ya
So I took this remix and rearranged Gotham City, city of love
(City of love), a city of peace for everyone of us (For everyone of us)
Cause we all need it, can't live without it (Can't live without it)
Gotham City for the ghetto, yeah

[Verse 2: Strings]
Gotham City for the ghetto, that's what I'm talkin' about...
Ghetto fabulous, to a nigga health be hazardous
If you wanna test wrath in us, for the respect
S-T-R-I-N-G-S, yes, fuck the rest
Give me the best, why should I have to settle for less
When I could push V-12's in finesse
Wha-wha whew and all that mess
You can try to hold me back but I
Keep on truckin' till I hit the sky
Even if you wanted to ya can't deny
Gotta feed baby girl, do or die

[Verse 3: R. Kelly]
We keep talkin' about escalating (Escalating), well who's gonna go first
Guess I'll be the one to step up
If you don't follow me it would be the worst
Every time something goes down, somebody's cryin' ghetto tears
Hope I'm not rainin' on your parade
But this is not what's keepin' it real is, now ain't that ghetto for ya
But some how it's got to change yeah, ghetto for ya
So I took this remix and rearranged a Gotham City
City of love (Uh huh, uh, huh, uh huh)
A city of peace, for every one of us, oh yeah (That's right)
Cause we all need it, can't live without it, oh yeah yeah
A Gotham City for the ghetto

[Verse 4: Strings]
Uh, uh, uh check it out
Now motherfucker wanna act surprised
Cause you afraid to change and scared to rise
That's why ya ass gettin' left behind
Nigga outta sight, nigga outta mind
Cause ain't nobody gonna stop the dream
Talk that shit, lock my cream
Negativity ya got to let it go
Havin' Gotham City free ya soul

[R. Kelly]
And we all need it, hey hey hey
Gotham City for the ghetto (Gotham City for the ghetto)
Yeah (That's right) uh hmmm
Callin' on Heaven
Send yo love down to the ghetto, uh hmm
Talkin' about a land where, oh yeah
Where there will be no more cryin'
No more cryin' no, oh yeah
A place where we can all just get along, yeah
And children will sing ghetto love songs (Sing y'all and smile)
And a land where, city of love
And a land where, for every one of us

Robert Kelly is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer from the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, where he first started performing under the “L” subway tracks as a teenager. This led into his first album, Born Into the 90’s, being released in 1992 as a collaboration between R. Kelly and Public Announcement. R. Kelly wrote and produced the entire album, which contained the #1 R&B hits “Honey Love” and “Slow Dance,” along with the Top 10 R&B hits “She’s Got That Vibe” (#7) and “Dedicated” (#9). The following year, Kelly went on to become a solo act.

In 1993, he released his first solo album, 12 Play, featuring the hits “Bump N' Grind” and “Your Body’s Callin'.” He released a self-titled album in 1995 featuring the hits “Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)” and “You Remind Me of Something,” while his 1998 double album, R., featured a string of hits, including “I Am Your Angel” with Celine Dion, “When a Woman’s Fed Up,” and his Grammy Award-winning song “I Believe I Can Fly” from the Space Jam soundtrack.

The success of these albums led to him becoming an in-demand producer in the ‘90s, writing and producing #1 hits for Aaliyah (“Back & Forth”), Janet Jackson (“Any Time, Any Place (Remix)”), Changing Faces (“G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T”), Maxwell (“Fortunate”), and Michael Jackson (“You Are Not Alone”).

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