I've lived in this city for all my life

Traveled 5 boroughs both day and night

Seen the flyers advertising homes for cash

Seeing grandmas picking through the trash

Got a new bank on every corner

Mom and pop shop nowhere to be found

Working 6 days tryna hold it down

And we drown and we drown and we drown

I'm a native New Yorker whatever that means

I know the guy on the corner he's been tryna holla since I was a teen

I don't take shit from no one, I've been through a lot

So when you come to my hometown, ya better respect my spot

Now Everybody wanna write that they a Brooklynite

Trendy bars and movie stars and Apple stores in my sight

How quickly you've forgotten when no one wanted my life

Couldn't get nobody to my borough on a school night

How many parties did I have to say I couldn't go, ma said the city ain't safe and she know so

1987 getting robbed on the front door, now check the block they about to have it rezoned

I'm a native New Yorker whatever that means

I know the guy on the corner he knows the guy that sells all the weed

I don't take shit from no one, I've been through a lot

So when you come to my hometown, ya better respect my spot

I came from immigrants, there's a difference, we like respect and we like discipline

Most of my folks, they barely let us in, stayed on the coast to become citizens

But I do not appreciate that the minute we're onto something great

It seems like the rug gets pulled, the map redrawn, the landlord's kicking you out before dawn

I'm a native New Yorker whatever that means

I know the guy on the corner, he's a whole lot nicer than he seems

I don't take shit from no one, I've been through a lot

So when you come to my hometown, ya better respect my spot

Ya better respect my spot, what I Tell ya?

Ya better respect my spot, what I say?

Ya better respect my spot, what I Tell ya?

Ya better respect my spot, what I say?

Ya better respect my spot

Ya better respect my spot

Ya better respect my spot

I'm a native New Yorker whatever that means

I know the guy on the corner, he's always gonna call me a queen

I don't take shit from no one, I've been through a lot

So when you come to my hometown, ya better respect my spot