The Bronx & Queens In The Summer (Outro) Lyrics

Young nigga growin' up way back

Had a fire for the streets, graffiti, and rap

In the car with my pops, whole neck coulda snapped

First time I heard rhymes over those boom baps

See pops was in the Bronx, ma duke was in Queens

I grew up on the train spendin' time in between

That was part of my journey, back when New York was dirty

Hat low wit two box cutters in my certy

Queens was my residence, AQ

Marine Terrace, right by the water, the greatest view

Since elementary school at 122

Wit' Yvellis, Tanashia, the whole Queensbridge crew

Used to take the Q 19 A, to the 40 side

To see my classmates, we was shorty's on the rise

They was learnin', growin' up double time

Their environment was 10 times more grimey than mine

I was a little shy guy, girls flirted all the time

I just blushed and wrote my little rhymes

In back of the classroom, should've been paying attention

Hated school from day zero never pretended

And that never changed, but Queens in the summer

Gave me some of the best flashbacks as a young black boy in the come up

Got ass for the first time, gave birth to my first rhyme, got stopped by the cops wit their gun up

Thought I knew it all, didn't know shit

Drinkin' liquor, smokin' weed to the roach clip

QP's, Gertz mall nigga oh shit

Watchin' all the drug dealers, these niggas was so lit

Benz's Beamers, with the baddest divas

In the passenger seat, trunk rumblin' full of speakers

Insecurity struck, I need to shake that

Gettin' fresh went on my to do list asap

Big Gary from Merrick Blvd got hit

They shot him in the face but he lived, holy shit

I was only 13, he dated my older cousin

But it was obvious that broke is something he wasn't

Foreign cars, fly clothes, big chains

He took a bullet, two inches from his brain

From that point forward it wasn't the same

I ain't gettin' shot up or locked up, fuck that drug game

My big brother used to sneak into the window

Four in the morning, with paint on his hands

Or bruises from the mosh pit when he used to see bands

At CBGB, thought it was creepy, could not understand

He'd come through, wake me up, fuck, I had to stay up

Spray paints stains talkin' bout he just hit the layup

What the fuck is that?

He'd be like stupid, that's where they park the train overnight on the tracks

And breaking down all the bands I never heard before

Leeway, Agnostic Front, and Murphy's Law

Shit sounded like devil music, too loud, found it confusing

Too young to understand I guess

Quiet dude introduced to the terror

At the height of the gun buckin' and crack era

We used to listen to Shan and Marley

Verse Krs and Scot la rock on the radio and block parties

Mom's couldn't keep me straight, had to vacate

Sent me to my pops, Teller ave and 168

Building 1230, first floor

Apartment 1F, up the hill from the corner store

Them kids uptown used to test me, on those blocks

Thought I was soft til I knocked a couple out they socks

Took a, couple of L's, a couple of brawls didn't go well

But fuck it I came out of my shell

There was Mike Livingston, white boy Sean

We shot hoop through a milk crate, tied to the gate, there was nothing wrong

Little kids, nothing but love among us

Those drug infested blocks would soon take our innocence from us

But there was nothing like the Bronx in the summer

Gave me some of the best flashbacks as a young black boy on the come up

Fordham Rd, Skate Key, Loews Paradise, Grand Concourse, it was crazy

Comin', out of the building to play in the street

Empty, crack vials crumbling under my feet

Purple top, red top, crews, holdin' heat

TNT jumpin' out of unmarked cars for the sweep

It wasn't all bad, wasn't all pain

A lot of lessons that made me strong, I'll never change

The Bronx ignited my heart full of flame

A Mets fan, sittin' wit the bleacher creatures, at the Yankee game

I never forget the stones that sharpened my tools

Cafeteria battles, Stevenson High School

It was Soundview vs Castle Hill vs Bronxdale vs Bronx River that shit was mega real

Felt like forever we was rhymin

Then cut class, cross the street, Stevenson Commons

Til I dropped out, stayed sippin' Balantine

West Farms Rd, to Burnside and Valentine

Mott Haven projects, Patterson had the heart of lions

I get inspired, reflecting back on those times

Rest in peace my brother Ing

We called each other cousin's, he was into the street thing

He introduced me to killers and street kings

The kept a lot of those easy to reach things

Some of the sharpest minds I've ever met in my life

Told me ain't nothin free lord, everything got a price

Look a man in the eye, whether you're wrong or right

Keep them loud mouths at be, you'll be aight

I wasn't on the same rhythm

Some of them got murdered, some still in the system it inflated my wisdom

Up in the Bronx, by the D and the 4

Birthplace of the rhyme, punchline, and metaphor

Home of nameless as well as the famous

You'll find a Kool Herc, Fat Joe, and a Larry Davis

What I've learned is nothing short of amazing

One day it was heaven, next day, the devil's play pen

Just a part of, the education, that built my hunger

The Bronx and Queens in the Summer