(Man, I am ready

Are y'all ready to get down?

Boy, I cannot wait to blow my horn in here tonight)



[Mos Def (Ces)]

Ha

Geah

Shit is real

(Hardcore nights in the city)

Word up, don't be out here slippin

You might not get up

(Hardcore nights in the city)

Times is rough

And if it ain't rough it ain't right

(Hardcore nights in the city)

So let's it get set tight

(Everybody's creepy)

Like this...



[VERSE 1: Mos Def]

First and foreMost, from the East Coast

We got it in a smash, so it's no need to boast

Bogart your block with the Brakalak bop

'll have your whole mass yellin out (Don't stop!)

This is the way it is and how it must get (done)

To make the interest run like a fat trust fund

And send you all off to the record store strollin

For the raw boom that have your speakers swollen

Hardcore nights in the city

Nobody's (sleepy), everybody's (creepy)

Stay on the top since I can't be slouchin

Too many heads crawlin, too many creeps (crouchin)

And when I slide by, I glide by

Easy, pa, this ain't no drive-by

So relax the lines in your face

Ease your hands off your waist

Unless you gonna pull out somethin you can taste

Cause straight up, you gon' be eatin it

Whatever assault you form, I'm defeatin it

Abusin, confusin and beatin it

Son, I know about these streets and shit

Don't test me

I don't let time stress me

Remain on the even kill, I'm in the realm of the real

Times across the land is gettin Steelier than Dan

And I be damned if I let any man disturb the program

Punks go on with they [?]

Yeah, when their straight line's the crookest way anywhere

So don't be swayed by these fools

Live your life right, baby pa, you know the rules

Never ever show disrespect to a gee

If it ain't in your heart, don't do it for free

Never sit nowhere where you can't see

And don't go nowhere where you ain't gotta be

And that's from Mos to you, on the real

Be alert out here, before your cap get peeled

And for all y'all herbs that be scopin

One eye rest while the other one's wide open



[CHORUS: Ces (Mos Def)]

Hardcore nights in the city

Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy

(Word up, ain't nobody sleepin)

Hardcore nights in the city

Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy

(Better get ruff and ready)



[VERSE 2: Ces]

Hardcore nights in the city, I'm not feelin sleepy

I'm feelin kinda creepy

Straight from Medina, yo, my shit is meaner

Than any new gee that you heard or even seen-ah

It's 2 AM, I'm hoppin on the D

Nobody else on the platform except me

Some kids comin down the stairs

Actin iller, but I ain't scared

I'm prepared, kids can get stupid if they want

I roll up the bomb and serve them they fronts

Don't mistake me for a vic just cause I'm a female

I don't got a pump, I don't wear the Lee nails

So 'press on' and you get pushed on the tracks

This ain't romper room, you better learn how to act

Before I take my trey-eight to your door

So "Yo chill, everything cool sweetheart" - yeah, I thought so

Times is too critical and shit is too real

Before long I have to peel with my steel

To y'all muthafuckin herbs that be trippin

Y'all better watch your muthafuckin back cause I ain't slippin



[CHORUS: Ces (Mos Def)]

(Word up)

Hardcore nights in the city

Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy

(Shit is too critical

It's too late in the day to be playin around)

Hardcore nights in the city

Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy

(Word up, aight?)



[VERSE 3: DCQ]

Well I'm cruisin in the Path down Atlantic Ave

Brothers wanna scope but they don't know the half

A punk step up, I'ma have to blow the staff

And show him I'm the master of the science and the math

It's so many thugs creepin on the daily

(Yo, we caught just his head up the block) Word really?

I just maintain and stay cool like the breeze

[?] fuckin thieves

Now we're approachin Eastern Parkway

Some brothers on the corner just lookin like they wanna

Reach for they gats and twist they caps back

Yeah, I pack my steels too, but I ain't livin like that

(Beep beep) goes my pager, yo, let's stop at this bodega

So I make this call and get somethin to drink

I hop out the ride, go step inside

I see some heads to my left with they eyes all wide

I pay it no mind cause I see it all the time

(Don't be fooled by the shades) don't mean I'm blind

I got a water and a stoge, a quarter for the phone

Yeah, it's my d callin to let me know she's home

I tell her that I love her and I sign off with a kiss

I hear a [tires screeching, gunshots] hey yo, what the fuck is this?

The guns rode by and at the blink of an eye

They was dead where they stand, what a fuckin way to die

Damn, I guess that's how shit be

If I was standin over there, it coulda been me

Either dead or badly fuckin hurt

That's why I stay on a-fuckin-lert

Out here in the streets



[CHORUS: Ces (repeated)]

Hardcore nights in the city

Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy



[Mos Def]

Word up

A very, very critical time

Don't be out here slippin

You might not get up

Word up

Don't be sleepin

You might not get up

This is another Urban service announcement from the UTD

Be alert out here before your cat get peeled

Word up

Be alert out here before your cat get peeled

Word up

Be alert out here before your cat get peeled

If you're in Brooklyn

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're troopin Uptown

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're in DC

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're in South Central

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're in Atlanta

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're in Chicago

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're in South Florida

Be alert out there before your cat get peeled

If you're anywhere be alert

Be alert out here before your cap get peeled

And that's on the real

Givin you shit that you can feel

The UTD for the nine-for

Another Urban Dynasty, word up