Streets of New York Lyrics
In the streets of New York
Dope fiends are leanin' for morphine
The TV screens follow the homicide scenes
You live here? You’re takin' a chance
So look and I take one glance, there’s a man inside an ambulance
Crowds are gettin' louder
I wonder how the people wanna go fight for the white powder
People hangin' in spots
They waited 'til the blocks got hot and got raided by the cops
I’ll explain, the man sleepin' in the rain
His whole life remains inside a bottle of Night Train
Another man got his clothes in a sack
'Cause he spent every dime of his rent playin' blackjack
And there’s the poor little sister
She has a little baby daughter named Sonya and Sonya has pneumonia
So why’s her mother in a club pullin' zippers?
Yo, that’s her job, Sonya’s mommy is a bar stripper
Drug dealers drive around lookin' hard
Knowin' they’re sendin' their brothers and sisters to the graveyard
Every day is a main event, some old lady limps
The pushers and pimps eat shrimps
It gets tirin', the sight of a gun firin'
Then there's desire for the sound of a siren
A bag lady dies in an alleyway
She’s seen the last of her days inside the subways
More and more down the slope, the kid couldn’t cope
So he stole somebody’s dope and a gold rope
Now my son’s on the run
He’s a wanted one, had fun then was done by a shotgun
Upstairs, I cover my ears in tears
The man downstairs must have drank too many beers
'Cause every day of his life, he beats his wife
'Til one night she decides to pull a butcher knife
Blind man plays the sax
A tune called “The Arms on My Moms Show Railroad Tracks"
Many lives are cut short
That’s when you’re livin', in the streets of New York
[Verse 2]
Baby needs new shoes
But his papa uses all the money for booze
A young girl is undressed in the back seat of a Caddy
Callin' some man daddy
Three men slain inside a apartment
All you could see was the sparks when it darkened
Daylight broke, cops roll on the scene
The drug war, daily routine
Gamblin' spots, just a poor man’s jackpot
You winnin' a lot, you get shot
The drug dealin' fanatics, but you don’t want no static
'Cause they got crack addicts with automatics
Shoot-outs for a desire for territory
A kid got caught in the crossfire
A tired mother can’t take no more
She grabbed a bottle full of sleepin' pills and took about 24
Human beings are layin' on the pavement
'Cause they’re a part of a mental enslavement
The cop snipers, little babies in dirty diapers
This type of life is makin' you hyper
People scoutin' a torched-out building
And got killed when the cold air filled in
Is Hell really suggested?
No more persons arrested, a child molested
A little kid says "Yo, I got a color TV, CD player and car stereo
And all I want is a castle, I also got a .38, don’t give me no hassle"
One kid heads straight for the top
And gets stopped and popped by a crooked cop
Look behind you when you walk
That’s how it is, in the streets of New York
About
“Streets of New York” was released as a single from Kool G Rap & DJ Polo’s sophomore album, 1990’s Wanted: Dead or Alive. It reached #3 on the US Rap Chart in late 1990.
A jazzy piano and sax sample compliment Kool G Rap’s dark rhymes about the ghettos of New York City. The main sample comes from the intro of The Fatback Band’s “Gotta Learn How to Dance”.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Producer Large Professor talked about the track with Complex:
G Rap is dope, because he would come to the studio with ideas already in mind. He’d come in with the rhymes written already. So we would formulate the beat right there. I would start putting drums in, and he would be like, ‘Yo, I got this rhyme that would go good to that.’ ‘Streets of New York’ was one of those songs. That was one of the strongest songs, the one that everyone was feeling. G Rap is the master of painting a picture with his lyrics.
- 1.Streets of New York
- 7.Erase Racism
- 8.Kool Is Back
- 9.Play It Kool
- 10.Death Wish
- 11.Jive Talk
- 12.The Polo Club
- 13.Rikers Island
