Where It Started At (NY)

[Produced by Hi-Tek]

[Intro: Sample + Hi-Tek]
"Where do I start?"
Let's see, what they wan' hear?

[Hook: Dion + Jadakiss + Samples]
Let me see where I start at
(Uh)
Hood cats are part of where it started at
(No doubt)
We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed
(Yeah)
For the score, go to war like a Jarhead
(Hi-Tek!)
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
(Wooh! Eh-hah!)
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
("We're gonna take you all on a little trip to New York City")
("With her first 'Hello'—")

[Verse 1: Jadakiss]
Uh, got a lot of heart, best part is I'm clever too
Hand skills, hawk work, gun play, whatever, Duke
Ecstasy, oxy, Vicodin, powder
Ari, Haze, Diesel, Sour
Dust juice, loosies, turbans, kufis
Hand guns is petite, the shotties is doofy
Telling in is not nice, a lot of niggas got life
Everything is good in my bank except cocked dice
Harlems, Jordans, the hood can't afford them
So they bootlegged them, now everybody sport them
Dorms, cells, packages, mail
Warrants, bails, everything's real now

[Hook: Dion + Papoose + Samples]
Let me see where I start at
Hood cats are part of where it started at
We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed
For the score, go to war like a Jarhead
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
(Hi-Tek, Hi-Tek)
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
(Papoose, Papoose)
("With her first 'Hello'—")

[Verse 2: Papoose]
All I got is my word and my nuts
Man, I got Brooklyn in my balls
So you could see Bed-Stuy if you lookin' in my drawers
Always talkin' 'bout "you ballin'"—look, you want to ball?
Word on the streets—niggas ready to put you on the wall
You just a leg shooter, you aim your gun low
I shoot my TEC high—I keep a high TEC like the producer
Pap' rip the desi till that clip is empty
Man, I have black buried in the cemetery
Go 'head, get your fetti, but you better tell, homes
Messing with me, you'll get black-buried like a cell phone
Punks pay dues, not me—I pay attention
Call it "New York" 'cause we keep reinventin'

[Hook: Dion + Samples]
Let me see where I start at
Hood cats are part of where it started at
We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed
For the score, go to war like a Jarhead
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
("With her first 'Hello'—")

[Verse 3: Talib Kweli]
Who flipped the vocabulary? Shadow my adversaries
Bust 'em like a capillary, roaches and rats on every corner
When it's warmer, but New York is used to that already
Manhattan built those cemeteries where the blacks is buried (Yeah)
I take the Staten ferry, I walk the broad way (C'mon)
I talk to chicks along the way with John Forté
Used to do this all day, burning in the project hallways
Discussing strategies in the court case (Tell 'em)
I rock The North Face, cold like winter
I'm from Brooklyn like the Decept' and lowlife niggas, word
Fuck the talking, this a New York thing we aboard
But, all things considered, we all kings—what?

[Hook: Dion + Raekwon + Samples]
Let me see where I start at
Hood cats are part of where it started at
We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed
For the score, go to war like a Jarhead
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!
(My nigga, my nigga, what' up
Tek, you did it again, nigga
Word up, I love that)
("With her first 'Hello'—")

[Verse 4: Raekwon]
Ayo, yo, I rhyme for the streets, broke niggas rap on they feet
So angry as hell, we yell from the beats
Wise killers up in New York, who lay for a piece
Crime action get you trapped by the chiefs, no peace, see?
Proud and have the hood style and good talent
Most of us fell off from drug wars, tryna re-up; the law of wildin'
Can't get no rest, the vest is on, stress pilin'
Scheming on something green with eagles on it, Chef found it
While I take a trip back, our first little pack
Had to open doors, no time for broads, I was scopin' crack
Baggin' like a newborn, barely profit, beef pop off
We carry tommy guns and smoke trees and grab pockets
Pilgrimage life, real like with no money and no white
I had this white girl who work for me, wipin' pipe
Livin' by the sword, a hundred niggas daily
Who get all on board and kill for some paper, live on them acres, bo'

[Hook: Dion + Samples]
Let me see where I start at
Hood cats are part of where it started at
We hustle hard to keep the sharks fed
For the score, go to war like a Jarhead
New York! New York! New York! New York! New York!