Released: April 24, 2007

Songwriter: Joell Ortiz

Producer: Hecks

[Intro]
Yo, do me a favor
Accidentally step on your white sun glasses
We don't wear those over here, this is hip hop (that's right)
This is Carhartt jackets
Timberland boots, unlaced
This is Champion hoodies, chicken wings and french fries
RIP pieces on the handball court
This is us still fightin' police brutality, this is hip hop

[Verse 1]
I ain't tryin' to bring New York back
I'm just a breath of fresh air, that good old New York rap
Slick talk to the track, c'mon, who brought that to the game?
Graffiti all on the train, get up your name
I don't feel how I used to feel
I'm in my 20's so a new Nas joint used to give me the chills
In the barber shop tryin' to cop a new hot tape
Them Rob Lowes is crazy, the doo wop's great
It's hip hop… and yes, I'm a fan first
If you from the south, finger snap till your hands hurt
If you from the west, W's in the air
If you from the East Coast, act like you from here
The good old two-step, the classic head nod
The thirsty iced grill, who wants to get robbed?
That was the energy in the club
On the real, that was the energy that I loved

[Hook – x2]
Aww, man, this is hip hop
Hands up if you forever a fan of hip hop
I wake up hip hop, go to sleep hip hop
Dream about hip hop, ‘cause I am hip hop

[Verse 2]
I ain't tryin' make you dance I just rip beats
But the soul in my voice give you quick feet
I don't know what it's like to not dig deep
When I'm holding this mic I don't just speak, pipsqueak
The tides come in and the Earth shakes
200 hundred mile an hour winds, I'm your worst fate
Birthdate: July 6th 1980
How can your age even matter when you rhyme this crazy?
Aww, man, I gotta thank the Lord
‘Cause with this pen in my hand, I don't think that hard
It just happens, wrist action, classic in the makin'
I kick back and just laugh, I'm happy, I'm amazin'
Look at me, gaze into my eyes, see the poverty?
Now understand why me and this music just gotta be?
It's something that's inside of me
And I can't shake it, so I embrace it, and let y'all taste it

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
Somethin' happen to may body when that track smokin'
Y'all swim more wilder than me, I be backstrokin''
I'm the best and my fans'll second that notion
I'll be the last man standing with my back broken
Crack open a couple of 40's, celebrate Mijo
My competition, man, they squared in the H3
I run circles around them like a skate key
And turn your little buzz into "Yo, whatever happened…?"
So don't play, B, I ain't talking shit
I just got a awful gift that'll make your office doors just stiff
They won't open, so no braggin'
And no boastin' while I'm hungry
Matter of fact, don't do that when I got a lot of money
Yup, I'm feelin' myself, that sound right
You gotta step in that ring like, "Listen, I'll pound Mike"
You gotta step on that court like, "I could hold down Mike"
The way I step on that stage and have the whole crowd like…

[Hook]

Joell Ortiz

Joell Ortiz is a Brooklyn-based rapper of Puerto Rican descent, who was born on July 6, 1980.

His first big break came in March 2004, as a feature in The Source’s “unsigned hype column”; the second was winning the 2004 EA Sports Battle, which scored him a deal with Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Records. This success was short-lived, as Dupri voided the contract to sign rapper Sonny, which produced beef between Joell and Jermaine.

Joell’s first major studio release was the 2007 The Bodega Chronicles