Yasiin Bey
Brooklyn
[Intro]
Hey, hey! Haha! Say what, say what?
Haha! Hahaha! Bust it, yo!
Sometimes, I feel like I don't have a partner
Sometimes, I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, this beautiful Brooklyn
Long as I live here, believe I'm on fire, hey

[Hook]
'Cause it's the B-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
L-Y-N is the place where I stay
The B-to-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
Best in the world and all USA
It's the B-to-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
L-Y-N is the place where I stay
The B-to-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
Place where I rest is on my born day

[Verse 1]
Bust it!
Sometimes, I sit back and just reflect
Watch the world go by, and my thought connect
I think about the time past and the time to come
Reminisce on Bed-Stuy when I was spry and young
I used to try and come to the neighborhood function
Throw on my Izod, say a little somethin'
When I was just a youngin', before the days of thuggin'
How me and Charlie Chims, and yo, what?! I'm only buggin'
Fast forward — 9, now I gotta team my seed
I must proceed at God's speed to perform my deed
Livin' the now space and time, 'round the nine-to-five
For as long as I'm alive, pah, I gotta strive
I ain't sittin roadside, that ain't part of the plan
I'm out here for my fam', doin' all that I can
I love my city! Sweet and gritty, inland to outskirts
Nickname Bucktown 'cause we prone to outburst
Philosophy redefine us, touch mine? I touch back
Walk the streets like ya sweet, and get beat like drum tracks
Catch no shakes, over Jakes (Woop-Woop!), we bust back
Bring the marty to your face with no place to run back
I'm from the slums that created the bass that thump back
This ain't a game, clown, play ya James Brown and jump back
What you want, Jack? Young cats stash they jums at
Draw they guns back, momma screams where she sons at
Tryin' to hunt that, recurrin' dream of high stakes
The fourth largest, first hardest, Brooklyn is the place
Settled by the Dutch many years ago
Three million strong, and here we go!
[Interlude]
Good morning, Vietnam!
(We live in Brooklyn, baby) (Wake up, wake up)
(We live in Brooklyn, baby) (Wake up, wake up)

[Verse 2]
Yo, sometimes, I sit back, reflect on the place that I live at
Unlike any place I ever been at
The home of big gats, deep-dish hammer rim caps
Have a mishap, push your wig back
Where you go to get the fresh trim at
Fulton and Jay got the Timb rack
Blue collars metro cardin' it
Thugs mobbin' it, form partnership, increase armament
Street pharmacists — deep consequence
When you seek sleek ornaments, you get caught
Rode the white horse and can't get off
Big dogs that trick off just get sent off
They shoebox stash is all they seeds gotta live off
It's real, yo, but still, yo, it's love here
And it's felt by anybody that come here
Outta-towner's take the train, plane and bus here
Must be somethin' that they really want here
One year as a resident, deeper sentiment
They shout out, "Go Brooklyn!" — they representin' it
Sittin' on they front stoop, sippin' Guinness's
Usin' native dialect in they sentences
From the tree-line blocks to the tenements
To the Mom and Pop local shop businesses
We travel all around the world in great distances
And ain't a place that I know that bear resemblance
That's why we call it 'The Planet'
Not a borough or a province, our style is uncommon
From Sumner to Tompkins to Lafayette Gardens
Wyckoff, Gowanus, in they army jacket linings
Yo, this goes out to my cats in Coney Isle
Friday night out in front The Himalaya, goin' wild
This goes out to Crown Heights and Smurv Village
The '90s, and all my yarda Trini Brownsvillers
Parkside tennis courts; 30's, 40's and the 50's
The cats out in Starrett City gettin' busy
To the Hook, to the East, to the Stuy
Bushwick and Canarsie
Farragut, Fort Greene and Marcy
My Flatbush posse, generals and armies
When it's time to form, just call me
And let this song be playin' loud and long, B
If you love Bucktown strongly
Raze it up!
[Verse 3]
Brooklyn — my habitat, the place where it happen at
Lives sway in the sharp balance of the battle axe
Irons is brandished at, thugs draw they hammer back
It's where you find the News Two crew cameras at
It's where my fam is at, the summertime jam is at
They play B.I.G. and get you open like a sandal back
Hotter than candle wax, hustlin', you can't relax
The crack babies tryin' to find where they mamas at
It's off the handle, black, with big police scandals that
Turn into action screenplays sold to Miramax
The type of place where they check your appearance at
And cats who know where all the hot 'Lo gear is at
The stompin' grounds where you find the pound smokers that
Be Blazin' John, that have your wave cap floatin' back
The doorstep where the dispossessed posted at
Dope fiends out on Franklin Ave. sellin' Zovirax
You big ballin'? Better keep your money folded back
'Cause once the young guns notice that, it's over, black!
"Brooklyn keep on takin' it!" — worldwide we known for that!
Flossy cats get it snatched like the local tax
The place I sharpen up my baritone vocals at
Where one of the greatest MC's was a local cat!