Empire State of Mind - Jay Z | Alicia Keys

Yeah

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]

Yea I'm out that Brooklyn, now I'm down in TriBeCa
right next to Deniro, but I'll be hood forever
I'm the new Sinatra, and... since I made it here

I can make it anywhere, yea, they love me everywhere
I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicano's

right there up on Broadway, pull me back to that McDonald's

Took it to my stashbox, 560 State St.
catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons with them Pastry's

Cruisin' down 8th St., off white Lexus
drivin' so slow, but BK is from Texas

Me, I'm out that Bed-Stuy, home of that boy Biggie
now I live on Billboard and I brought my boys with me

Say what's up to Ty-Ty, still sippin' mai tai's
sittin' courtside, Knicks & Nets give me high five

Nigga I be Spike'd out, I could trip a referee
Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from....

[Chorus: Alicia Keys]

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York,

New York

[Verse 2: Jay-Z]

Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game
Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous then a Yankee can

You should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a Crip though
but I got a gang of niggas walkin' with my clique though

Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we sellin' rock
Afrika Bambataa shit, home of the hip-hop

Yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back
for foreigners it ain't for, they act like they forgot how to act

8 million stories, out there in it naked
City, it's a pity, half of y'all won't make it

Me, I got a plug, Special Ed "I Got It Made"
If Jeezy's payin' LeBron, I'm payin' Dwyane Wade

Three dice cee-lo, three Card Monty
Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley

Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade
Long live the King yo, I'm from the Empire State that's

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]

Lights is blinding, girls need blinders
so they can step out of bounds quick, the sidelines is

lined with casualties, who sip to life casually
then gradually become worse, don't bite the apple eve

Caught up in the in-crowd, now you're in style
Anna Wintour gets cold, in Vogue with your skin out

City of sin, it's a pity on the wind
Good girls gone bad, the city's filled with them

Mami took a bus trip, now she got her bust out
Everybody ride her, just like a bus route

Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin
And Jesus can't save you, life starts when the church end

Came here for school, graduated to the high life
Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight

MDMA got you feelin' like a champion
The city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien

[Chorus]

[Bridge: Alicia Keys]

One hand in the air for the big city
Street lights, big dreams, all lookin' pretty

No place in the world that could compare
Put your lighters in the air

Everybody say "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"

[Chorus]