[Intro: Zumbi]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, aye

[Verse 1: Zumbi]
The cityscape where I stay is gettin hot now
Unemployment is high and buildings is gettin chopped down
Gold teeth populating the block
Slurring slang day and night on the lookout for cops
Make the shots ring out like the Liberty Bell
No escape from the heat that's getting hotter than hell
Like the oven's on broil, with blood stains on the soil
Pimps donning the colors of crown royal
And little sister's got a baby on hip
And her momma never home so the cycle is sick
Young ballers on the court wanna play in the league
But got knocked in the spot for a quarter of weed
It's getting hot in here, baby leave on your clothes
Much more to living life than emulating them hoes
I try to speak truth in the form of my flow
But the temperature is rising it's harder to grow, fo' sho'

[Chorus]
Gotta keep my head up (yeah)
Even though I'm fed up (survival every day)
Gettin' hard to eat (right)
And all the drama in the street (it's gettin hot in every way)
Gotta keep my head up (yeah)
Even though I'm fed up (survival every day)
Gettin' hard to eat (right)
And all the drama in the street (it's gettin hot in every way)
[Verse 2: Talib Kweli]
Heads up, eyes open, rest in peace headquarters
Tunnel vision, most of us is rushing like a special order of Stolichnaya
The block is hot, the ghetto on fire
With more narc sales than Avon Barksdale from that show The Wire
We keep growing like hair when you die
Black butterfly on the rose that's preparing to fly
I paint a picture with the color of the orchid, it's vivid
Whatever kid I talk it, I spit it, I walk it, I live it
God blessed my every step, didn't need to go through a reverend
Your boy used to gouge an eye out just to get into heaven
We live between heaven and hell like John Constantine
Doing crimes then confessing like a teenage drama queen
We were leaning, now we're falling down like Michael Douglas
I spit it fast, I gotta get it out, they might unplug it
And try to drug us, so I stay aware and watch out for the set up
Never scared to go head up, got a plan to get my bread up, and

[Chorus]
Gotta keep my head up (yeah)
Even though I'm fed up (survival every day)
Gettin' hard to eat (right)
And all the drama in the street (it's gettin hot in every way)
Gotta keep my head up (yeah)
Even though I'm fed up (survival every day)
Gettin' hard to eat (right)
And all the drama in the street (it's gettin hot in every way)