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Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
Vocals
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
Songwriter
Dana Stinson
Dana Stinson
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Tatsuya Sato
Tatsuya Sato
Engineer
Dana Stinson
Dana Stinson
Producer
Chauncey Mahan
Chauncey Mahan
Recording Engineer
Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro
Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro
Mixing Engineer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Life's a battle, mean streets eat you alive
Blocks'll have you, tryin' to maintain your course
Through the potholes and gravel
Hot holes and what have you, tryin' to clock dough
Foes tryin' to pop shots through you by code
Pigs tryin' to grab you and lock up your soul
Through the hot apple, nighttime shots crackle
Fiends tryin' to gaffle you
Not only coke heads but the feds in the Mercury Topaz
After you, up the avenue
Tryin' to give you big numbers, you got math to do
Tryin' to make you miss summer, shit, that ain't cool
I caught smaller cases tryin' to get cap or two
Up against the wall, tryin' to pass through
Ghost-like, hear the cries from the tortured souls
Most nights, I hold my toast tight, and it goes like
[Verse 2]
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
N-Y-M-P the realest
Marcy, Brooklyn
[Verse 3]
Yo, I come through, gettin' money, sittin' on twenties
**** throwin' me shade, but ain't shit sunny
Hot shells only thing **** could get from me
Cocktails thrown in your living room, kaboom
I'm so confrontational
They shoulda never let me go on probation yo
I'm a hustler except that
No correctly facilities can correct that
I took a step back, I viewed myself
Seen where my head was at
It's where the dough is homey, gotta get that
Gotta get away, some try but head back
Street smart **** got left back
Some died, they left stacks
Me, I ball right, and on top of that I'm dog nice
Jigga been cold as fuck before ice
Not before Christ, but a long fuckin' time
Get your mind right ****
[Verse 4]
N-Y-M-P the realest
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
Marcy, feel me
[Verse 5]
I looked death in the face years back
I held tears back, I gathered myself and stared back
I'm from where you don't crack, the weak don't live
You gotta bounce back homey, the streets don't give
I take and rape villages, who gon' stop him?
Not Rudy Guiliani, not Hillary Rodham
Still I still pop him
Shit I grassy knoll and hilltop him
It's all political now
I think big when I spit at you now
Between my dog and the figures, the four gonna getcha
Between life and death, they killed my spirit
So what little life I got left, y'all can expect me to ball
I taught myself, teacher said I was a lost cause
'Cause I used to roam them halls
Still I spit knowledge, dropped out of high school, skipped college
Who woulda thought I'd make it big, like Ms. Wallace?
[Verse 6]
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
N-Y-M-P the realest ****
Marcy, New York, Brooklyn, feel me
N-Y-M-P the realest
Written by: Dana Stinson, JAY-Z
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