[Verse 1: J-Live] 

Yo, I grew up on the chill side 

The no big deal side 

Where staying alive was no problem 

The other east side 

Projects and condos 

Somewhere in between downtown and harlem 

It's not quite accurate to claim half 

Either side was ever either all this or all that 

Some projects apartments be decked out fat 

Some condos still packed with roaches and rats 

But if New York is a concrete Jungle 

My old earth kept me in the zoo where it wasnt so wild 

Who wouldn't want to find a way to make it safe for a child 

As a teenager I learned to escape for awhile 

But you know what they say being out of your element 

Whether giraffe, monkey, lion, or elephant 

In school they said I was on the right track 

But in the school of hard knocks I done got left back 

Nowadays no knocks get left 

My left knocks back 

Some say might makes right 

So my rights ain't light 

But whether giving beatdowns or getting down on beat 

You're not likely to see me or consider me street 



[Chorus:] 

But from the sidewalks I see how it's rough out there 

I see the extra large dosage of life ain't fair 

From the sidewalks I see how the gas don't last 

In the streets and you crash when you go too fast 

From the sidewalks trust shit is Just as real 

Even if your lifestyle ain't kill or be killed 

From the sidewalks Chris Rock got you gassed 

But I'm that smarter than y'all nigga that'll whoop your ass 



[Verse 2: J-Live] 

Yo, I love New York, I am New York 

The way I spin break beats, make beats and talk 

The way I eat, sleep, drink, fuck, spit, and walk 

The way I build and destroy cause that's how I was taught 

I'm feeling Philly for now, I don't get home sick 

I'm still close enough to the Yanks, Giants, and Knicks 

It's still city to city Just different bricks 

See I don't divide by places, man fuck that shit 

It's a different state, but similar state of mind 

See every city got the same theme underlined 

A battleground for the lives of the dumb and blind 

Ya heard? 

Please believe that it takes all kinds 

We all got to get over in our own way 

Place to stay, peace to lay, and a pay day 

I get mines the legit way 

But no telling what I do to protect mines 

So you best respect my 

Kindness for weakness, face for fear 

Common mistakes are made until the cards are played 

But don't step to my door thinking something is sweet 

Or we won't even have to take it all the way to the street 



[Chorus:] 

Cuz from the sidewalks, corners that I clean and own 

Never fuck with the sanctity of my home 

From the sidewalks, I rep from New York to Philly 

So from Broadway to Broad Street you got to feel me 

From the sidewalks, I know how to hold it down 

On my own when I come through and visit your town 

From the sidewalks, Chris Rock got you gassed 

But I'm that smarter than y'all nigga that'll whoop your ass 



[Verse 3: J-Live] 

Yo, from the sidewalks, I been watching Hip-Hop grow 

And vice versa from school battles to my own show 

I watch skills evolve and the necks up blow 

Motivated by the love for the art and the dough 

I seen people influenced by the next man's flow 

To the point that it controls where they content go 

But if there's 8 million stories and a handful of rappers 

We can't all be pimps, players, and gunclappers 

It sounds sexy coming out your stereo, right? 

But then you wonder why we still getting stereotyped 

Like we a whole generation of 

Want to be thugs and soon to be hoes 

Like that's Just how it go 

But everybody in the city ain't ghetto 

We all not slanging rocks and toatin' metal and 

Everybody in the ghetto ain't gangster 

Waiting for a reason to stomp, shoot, and shank ya, and 

Every gangster in the ghetto ain't stupid as you 

Advocating that bullshit the way that you do 

Like there's no consequences or repercussions 

Like we don't even think first, before we start bustin' 

But whatever's clever son, I let them tell it 

Why should I play the role of zealot Just for y'all to repel it 

I'd rather rep for the rest of us with real talk 

So I'm out like that 

J transmitting live from the sidewalks 



(From the sidewalks....) [x23]