Respiration (feat. Common)

The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis

Shinin', like who on top of this?

People was tusslin', arguin' and bustlin'

Gangstas of Gotham, hardcore hustlin'

I'm wrestlin' with words and ideas

My ears is picked, seekin' 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, we New York, the narcotic

Draped 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 workin' class watches

Skyscrapers is collosus

The cost of livin' is preposterous

Stay alive, you play or die, no options

No Batman and Robin, can't tell between the cops and the robbers

They both partners, they all heartless

With no conscience, back streets stay darkened

Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened

My eagle talons stay sharpened, like city lights stay throbbin'

You either make a way or stay sobbin'

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 I can't recline

Blastin' holes in the night till she bled sunshine

Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine

Breathe out weed smoke, retrace the skyline

Heard the bass ride out like an ancient matin' call

I can't take it, y'all, I can feel the city breathin'

Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evenin'

Sigh before we die like the last train leavin'

Breathin' in deep city breaths, sittin' on shitty steps

We stoop to new lows, Hell froze the night the city slept

The beast crept through concrete jungles communicatin' with one another

And ghetto birds where waters fall from the hydrants to the gutters

The beasts walk the beats, but the beats we be makin'

You on the wrong side of the track, lookin' visibly shaken

Taken them plungers, plungin' to a death that's painted by the numbers with Krylon applied pressure

Cats is playin' God by havin' children by a lesser baby mother, but fuck it

We played against each other like puppets, swearin' you got pull

When the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes

Gettin' knowledge in jail like a blessin' in disguise

Look in the skies for God, what you see besides the smog is broken dreams flyin' away on the wings of the obscene

Thoughts that people put in the air

Places where you could get murdered over a glare, but everything is fair

It's a paradox we call reality

So keepin' it real will make you a casualty of abnormal normality

Killers born naturally like Mickey and Mallory

Not knowin' the ways will get you capped like an NBA salary

Some cats be emceein' to illustrate who we be seein'

Hard to be a spiritual bein' when shit is shakin' what you believe in

For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds need to be planted

I'm askin' if y'all feel me and the crowd left me stranded

My blood pressure boiled and rose, 'cause New York **** actin' spoiled at shows, to the winners the spoils go

I take the L, transfer to the 2, head to the gates

New York life type trife, the Roman Empire state

So much on my mind, I just can't recline

Blastin' holes in the night till 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 matin' call?

I can't take it, y'all, I can feel the city breathin'

Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evenin'

Sigh before we die like the last train leavin'

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

Mixin' down emotions, struggle I hadn't mastered

I choreograph seven steps to Heaven

In Hell, 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, just to touch home

From the crib I spend months gone

Sat by the window with a clutched stone, listenin' to shorties 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, creatin' plush homes

My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones

Surrounded by hate, yet I love home

Ask my God 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

A reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep

Deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep

A 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 till 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 matin' 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 leavin', peace