Brother, I know you could never win
I know you'll never win
Time and time again, you get hurt in the end
Oh yes, I did know
I was new to New York, I was new to New York
I was new to New York, I was new to New York
I said if you could make it here
I said if you could make it here
You could make it anywhere
You could make it anywhere
My dreams bigger than the city I was born in
I was wastin' talent, I was workin' in a store then
Livin' in my mama pad, givin' my mama cash
Hoes through the front so I could put 'em on they back
Everyone I ever known goin' up
When we were growin' up, we would dream of blowin' up
The homie said I get it, I'mma make 'em notice us
Cut us from a different cloth, now we need to sew it up
But where I hung, no one showin' us the ropes
Ain't nobody blunt, everybody blowin' smoke
We were sellin' drugs or we die of overdose
When you come up with less, that's when you go through the most
So, oh I'mma go out and get it, my homie said move
And I told him I'm wit it and two days later, I loaded the Civic
And drove all the way to the city, I was new to New York
I was new to New York, I was new to New York
I was new to New York, I was new to New York
I said if you could make it here
I said if you could make it here
You could make it anywhere
You could make it anywhere
Yeah, now where I'm from, they don't want you to win
They want you with a little but not more than them (Fuck 'em)
Now they ain't fuckin' with me anyways
'Cause I remind 'em of the dreams that they never chase
Wait, should I went to a community college
To graduate to a place with a community jobless?
Hell nah, my team gon' be runnin' thangs
We see the Statue of Liberty, bend her over and run a train
Small city, poorest of the size, it was crippled by the drugs and brutality
Yeah, I gotta leave, I got a fortune in my eyes
I'mma turn what I see into reality, yeah
Like I'mma run this shit, y'all gonna love this shit
I'mma show 'em that it's my time
I rise above it like the Freedom Tower
So get used to seein' me up on the skyline, I was new to New York
I was new to New York, I was new to New York
I was new to New York, I was new to New York
I said if you could make it here
I said if you could make it here
You could make it anywhere
You could make it anywhere
I went to live in five deep in a one bedroom with no windows
Sleepin' on the floor, we were dyin' to live though
We couldn't afford to be lyin' with bimbos
My little sister stole 'cause I was dead broke
I left home, I ain't have a plan
Not a dollar to my name or not a penny in my hand
Walkin' 'round Brooklyn lookin' for a scam
I'm tryna get a job just to get a little cash
I'm the man, I'm the man, ain't no one believe in me
They all sleep on me, tryna sell a dream to me
Where you could find anything but decency
We step over the homeless like don't speak to me
(On the train) Everybody eyes vacant
Lookin' at the ground surrounded by skyscrapers
(Uptown) The homies, they hustle for wild paper
(Downtown) Blowin' that money they die makin'
Slumlords ownin' the buildin' and double the rent
You can't make a livin' off little government checks
(Eastside) They makin' a condo out of the 'jects
Just look at Alphabet City to L-E-S
So we stress and we stress 'cause we can't make our ends
Meet, then we cheat 'cause we can't amends
Single mothers, how they gonna make us men?
If ain't nobody eat, then we can't break no bread
