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Harlem StreetsImmortal Technique

Released: November 18, 2003

Songwriter: Immortal Technique

Producer: Southpaw

[Verse 1]
Yeah, Harlem streets stay flooded in white powder
Like those motherfuckers runnin' away from the Twin Towers
Gunshots rock the Earth like a meteor shower
Bowlin' For Columbine, fear givin' the media power
Innocence devoured like a chicken spot snack box
Government cocaine cooked into ghetto crack rock
Corrupt cops' false testimony at your arraignment
Check to check, constant struggle to make the payments
Workin' your whole life, wonderin' where the day went
The subway stays packed like a multi-cultural slave ship
It's rush hour, 2:30 to 8, non stoppin'
And people comin' home after corporate sharecroppin'
And fuck flossin'! Mothers are tryin' to feed children
But gentrification is kickin' them out of their buildin'
A generation of babies born without healthcare
Families homeless, thrown the fuck off the welfare

[Chorus: Sample]
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"

[Verse 2]
It's like Cambodia, "The Killing Fields" uptown
We live in distress and hang the flag upside down
The sound of conservative politicians on television
People in the hood are blind, so they tell us to listen
They vote for us to go to war instantly
But none of their kids serve in the infantry
The odds are stacked against us, like a casino
Think about it: most of the Army is black and Latino
And if you can't acknowledge the reality of my words
You just another stupid motherfucker out on the curb
Tryin' to escape from the ghetto with your ignorant ways
But you can't read history at an illiterate stage
And you can't raise a family on minimum wage
Why the fuck you think most of us are locked in a cage?
I give niggas the truth, 'cause their pride is indigent
You better off rich and guilty than poor and innocent
But I'm sick of feelin' impotent watchin' the world burn
In the era of apocalypse, waitin' my turn
I'm a Harlem nigga that's concerned with the future
And if you're in my way it'd be an honor to shoot ya
Uproot ya with the evil that grows in my people
Makin' them deceitful, cannibalistic, and lethal
But I see through the mentality implanted in us
And I educate my fam about who we should trust

[Chorus: Sample]
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"Homicide Harlem—blaow! What's the problem?"
"—blaow!"

Immortal Technique

Immortal Technique is an American rapper and urban activist of Afro-Peruvian descent. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, NY.

Most of his lyrics are focused on controversial issues in global politics. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely commentary on issues such as class struggle, poverty, religion, government and institutional racism.

Immortal Technique has voiced a desire to retain control over his production, and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music.

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