Respiration

Spotlight to savages, Nasdaq averages
Escuchela, la ciudad respirando
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
Yo, on the amen, corner I stood lookin' at my former hood
Breathe out, weed smoke, retrace the skyline
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine

Blastin' holes in the night 'til she bled sunshine
The shiny apple is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat
The beast walk the beats, but the beats we be makin'
Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, I couldn't mask it
No Batman and Robin, can't tell between the cops and the robbers
But havin' children by a lesser baby mother but fuck it
So, keepin' it real will make you a casualty of abnormal normality
Some of this land I must own, outta the city, they want us gone
Places where you could get murdered over a glare
Escuchela, la ciudad respirando
From the crib I spend months gone
Shinin', like who on top of this?
Blastin' holes in the night 'til she bled sunshine

It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
So much on my mind, I just can't recline
[Foreign content]
Of reality I touch but for me it's hard to keep
Hard knuckles on the second hands of workin' class watches
I take the L, transfer to the 2, head to the gates
The beast crept through concrete jungles
My circumstance's between Cabrini and love Jones
That said 'Crime in the city', right?

The indisputable, we, New York, the narcotic

And on the first car in small letters it said

Escuchela, la ciudad respirando
Skyscrapers is colossal, the cost of living
For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds need to be planted

Gettin' knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise
Communication with one another and ghetto birds where waters fall

Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong
And hell, waiting to exhale and make the bread leavened
You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat

Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
We played against each other like puppets, swearin' you got pull
Veteran of a cold war, it's Chicago for
I'm asking if y'all feel me and the crowd left me stranded
Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evening
Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance
It just took up the whole car?
Escuchela
I'm wrestlin' with words and ideas
Big, big, you know, some block silver letters
Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evening
You on the wrong side of the track, lookin' visibly shaken
With crime unapplied pressure, cats is playin' God

New York life type trife the Roman Empire State
What I know or, what's known
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine

Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good

So much on my mind that I can't recline

Is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene
Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evening
They both partners, they all heartless
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
It's a paradox we call reality
So, some days I take the bus home, just to touch home

From the hydrants to the gutters
Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
People was tusslin', arguin' and bustlin'

Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Surrounded by hate, yet I love home
All you see is and then you know

Yeah, yeah, it was a whole car and shit
I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin'
When the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes
Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
Thoughts that people put in the air
Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep
Tearin' down the 'jects creatin' plush homes

Taken them plungers, plungin' to death that's painted by the numbers
Not knowing the ways'll get you capped like an NBA salary
Deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
Mixin' down emotions, struggle I hadn't mastered
Is preposterous, stay alive, you play or die, no options
Actin' spoiled at shows, to the winners the spoils go
I choreograph 'Seven Steps To Heaven'
Sat by the window with a clutched dome listenin' to shorties cuss long
I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin'

Blastin' holes in the night 'til she bled sunshine
We stoop to new lows, Hell froze the night the city slept
But everything is fair
Hard to be a spiritual being when shit is shakin' what you believe in
Strength in metal and fiber optics
Yo, don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis
Look in the skies for God, what you see besides the smog
My eagle talons stay sharpened, like city lights stay throbbin'
My narrative, rose to explain this existence

The scribes can apply to transcript, yo
Breathin' in deep city breaths, sittin' on shitty steps
This ain't no time where the usual is suitable
Yo, how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
It's deep, I heard the city breathe in it's sleep
Killers born naturally like Mickey and Mallory
Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened

My blood pressure boiled and rose 'cause New York niggaz
Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord but didn't have a touch-tone
So much on my mind, I just can't recline

Gangstaz of gotham hardcore hustlin'

You either make a way or stay sobbin'
Found it hard to imagine he hadn't been past downtown

Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Some cats be emceeing to illustrate what we be seeing
My ears is picky, seekin' what will transmit
For profits, thirsty criminals take pockets
I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathing
Ask my God how he thought travellin' the world sound