Respiration

Escuchela
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 The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis
 Shining, like who on top of this?
 People was hustling, arguing and bustling
 Gangsters of Gotham hardcore hustling
 I'm wrestling with words and ideas
 My ears is picky, seeking what will transmit
 The scribes can apply to transcript, yo
 This ain't no time where the usual is suitable
 Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
 The indisputable (what?), We New York the narcotic
 Strength in metal and fiber optics
 Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
 For profits, thirsty criminals take pockets
 Hard knuckles on the second hands of working class watches
 Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living is preposterous
 Stay alive, you play or die, no options
 No Batman and Robin (what?)
 Can't tell between the cops and the robbers
 They both partners, they all heartless
 With no conscience, backstreets stay darkened
 Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened
 My eagle talons stay sharpened, like city lights stay throbbing
 You either make a way or stay sobbing, the shiny apple
 Is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat
 You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat
 Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down
 Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ averages
 My narrative, rose to explain this existence
 Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance
 So much on my mind that it can't recline
 Blasting holes in the night 'til she bled sunshine
 Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
 Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
 Yo, don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call?
 I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathing
 Chest heaving, against the flesh of the evening
 Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
 Escuchela, respirando como yo
 Ojos sinceros, escondiendo pena y temor
 El silencio de mentira, tocando al hogar
 Escapando sentimientos entre ella y yo
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 Yo, on The Amen, corner I stood lookin' at my former hood
 Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good
 Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, I couldn't mask it
 Mixing down emotions, struggle I hadn't mastered
 I choreograph seven steps to Heaven (what?)
 Inhale waitin' to exhale and make the bread leaven
 Veteran of a Cold War, it's Chica-I-go for
 What I know or what's known
 So some days I take the bus home (yeah), just to touch home
 From the crib, I spend months gone
 Sat by the window with a clutched dome
 Listening to shawties cuss long
 Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong
 Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord but didn't have a touch-tone
 It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
 Some of this land I must own, outta the city, they want us gone
 Tearin' down the 'jects, creating plush homes
 My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones
 Surrounded by hate, yet I love home
 Asked my guy how he thought travelin' the world sound
 Found it hard to imagine he hadn't been past Downtown
 It's deep, I heard the city breathe in its sleep
 Of reality, I touch, but for me, it's hard to keep
 It's deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep
 Of reality, I touch, but for me, it's hard to keep
 So much on my mind, I just can't recline
 Blastin' holes in the night 'til she bled sunshine
 Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
 Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
 Yo, how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call?
 I can't take it, y'all! I can feel the city breathin'
 Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evenin'
 Kiss the odds goodbye, I'm on the last train leaving