Take It There

Take it there

Take em there

[VERSE 1]

I used to live Uptown, 2-1-9th Street

White Plains, everything was concrete

On my block up on the hill

Barnes Ave., yo, everything was chill

Till night fall, that's when they come out

(The freaks y'all) Watch the kid with the gun out

Now many people tell me New York City is horrific

It is kinda... scary, but let's be realistic

This is the part that started this music

When other people out there in the world couldn't do it

Party people had to wait to see

The DJ's go forth and back

We used to rock off these breakbeats

Way before they called it rap

Matter of fact, now that I think back

Hip-hop was the start of somethin big

The way we took this art straight from the parks

To where you live

[CHORUS]

Now this story had to be told

About how we came in from the cold

Played my hand and refused to fold

We made somethin new out of what was old

And what we make no man can break

So I took my time cause it was mine to take

Now low and behold, I heard my tape just sold

1'000'001, son, now I'm draped in gold

I took it there

[VERSE 2]

Now years ago when I was 9

Pops said, "It's time to rise and shine"

He said, "New York City ain't the place to stay"

We packed the ride and left and headed for L.A.

Took us west straight through the country

See, California is the place to see

So daddy put us inside his Cadillac

We hit the West coast, I thought we'd never come back

Now I'm walking green grass, 3 years went past

Palm trees, ocean breeze, where the summers last

You see ah, that's the life that I lead

It taught me home is just a place where you lay your head

Now get packed, we're makin tracks and stretch across the map

And there's nothin in this world could ever hold us back

And I still hold my body in a b-boy stance

And rock on the mic to make the world wanna dance

It's fly for the clubs, hardcore for the thugs

When Ak is on the mic it's definitely all love

[CHORUS]

[VERSE 3]

'82 was the year

We touched down in Chi-town, I see it all so clear

Motel hell, livin life so poor

Six of us in the studio, we slept on the floor

Vice Lords swingin swords, G.D.'s bust they gats

Latin Kings on the corner with the baseball bats

But life this way could only get you so far

When I hopped the train I rode on the last car

And all I did was puff cheeba, it took my thoughts deeper

Dropped out of school, found a job so I could keep a

Roof over my head, shoes on my feet

Many nights I didn't eat, I learned to hustle in these streets

They say it's all about money sellin crack to these junkies

But now I got somethin that they can't take from me

I'ma push my tape just like it's cocaine

Let these rap fiends shoot me up in they vein

They play my jam out in the park

Gimme ghetto gold, keep your Billboard chart

When I walk through the [Name] I get love and respect

Keep one ear to the ground, greet my fam with a pound

Feels good comin out y'all, book my first world tour

LP's in the store, I spit it if you want it raw

[scratching of]

(You better recognize who you're talking to)

[Prince Poetry:] (Crushing the competition that I stomp from east to west)

(Who you're talking to)

(Crushing the competition that I stomp from east to west)

[The RZA:] (Let's get it on, ock)

(Crushing the competition that I stomp from east to west)

[The RZA:] (Now watch the spot get blown)