N.Y. State Of Mind - Clean Album Version

Yeah, yeah

Ayo, Black—it's time, word (Word, it's time, man)

It's time, man (Aight, man, begin)

Yeah, straight out the f- dungeons of rap

Where fake n- don't make it back

I don't know how to start this s-, yo, now

Rappers, I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm

I be kickin', musician inflictin' composition

Of pain, I'm like Scarface sniffin' -

Holdin' an -, see, with the pen I'm extreme

Now, - holes left in my peepholes

I'm suited up with street clothes, hand me a 9 and I'll defeat foes

Y'all know my steelo, with or without the airplay

I keep some E&J, sittin' bent up in the stairway

Or either on the corner bettin' Grants with the cee-lo champs

Laughin' at - heads, tryna sell some broken amps

G-packs get off quick, forever - talk sh-

Reminiscin' about the last time the task force flipped

- be runnin' through the block -

Time to start the revolution, catch a body, head for Houston

Once they caught us off-guard, the - was in the grass, and

I ran like a cheetah, with thoughts of an assassin

Picked the - up, told brothers "Back up," the - spit

- was hittin' -, one ran, I made him back-flip

Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look

Gave another squeeze, heard it click, "Yo, my - is stuck"

Tried to - it, it wouldn't shoot, now I'm in danger

Finally pulled it back and saw three - caught up in the -

So, now I'm jettin' to the buildin' lobby

And it was full of children, prob'ly couldn't see as - as I be

(So, what you sayin'?) It's like the game ain't the same

Got younger - pullin' the -, bringin' fame to their name

And claim some corners, crews without - are goners

In broad daylight, stick-up kids, they run up on us

- and -, MAC's in fact

Same - will catch you back-to-back, snatchin' your cracks

In black, there was a snitch on the block gettin' - knocked

So hold your stash 'til the - price drop

I know this -head who said she gotta - nice -

And if it's good, she'll bring you customers and measuring pots

But yo, you gotta slide on a vacation

Inside information keeps large - erasin' and their wives basin'

It drops deep as it does in my breath

I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death

Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined

I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind (state of mind)

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

Be havin' dreams that I'm a gangsta, drinkin' Moëts, holdin' -

Makin' sure the cash came correct, then I stepped

Investments in stocks, sewin' up the blocks to sell -

Winnin' gunfights with mega-cops

But just a - walkin' with his finger on the -

Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger

I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin'

Give me a s-, I'll have - undressin'

Thinkin' of cash flow, Buddha and shelter

Whenever frustrated, I'ma hijack Delta

In the -, my blend tape plays, b- are strays

Young - is grazed, each block is like a maze

Full of black rats trapped, plus the Island is packed

From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back

Black, I'm livin' where the nights is jet-black

The fiends fight to get -, I just max, I dream I can sit back

And lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn

Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, homes

I got so many rhymes, I don't think I'm too sane

Life is parallel to Hell, but I must maintain

And be prosperous, though we live dangerous

Cops could just arrest me, blamin' us, we're held like hostages

It's only right that I was born to use mics

And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes

I'm takin' rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow

My rhymin' is a vitamin held without a capsule

The smooth criminal on beat breaks

Never put me in your box if your - eats tapes

The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps

That's where I learned to do my hustle, had to scuffle with freaks

I'm a addict for sneakers, 20's of - and - with beepers

In the streets I can greet ya, about - I teach ya

Inhale deep like the words of my breath

I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death

I lay puzzled as I backtrack to earlier times

Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind (state of mind)

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind

New York state of mind