Empire State Of Mind Lyrics - Jay-Z

Artist: Jay-Z (feat. Alicia Keys)

Album: The Blueprint 3 (2009)

Yea

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]

Yea I'm out that Brooklyn, now I'm down in TriBeCa

right next to Deniro, but I'll be hood forever

I'm the new Sinatra, and... since I made it here

I can make it anywhere, yea, they love me everywhere

I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicano's

right there up on Broadway, pull me back to that McDonald's

Took it to my stashbox, 560 State St.

catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons with them Pastry's

Cruisin' down 8th St., off white Lexus

drivin' so slow, but BK is from Texas

Me, I'm out that Bed-Stuy, home of that boy Biggie

now I live on Billboard and I brought my boys with me

Say whattup to Ty-Ty, still sippin' mai tai's

sittin' courtside, Knicks & Nets give me high five

Nigga I be Spike'd out, I could trip a referee

Tell by my attitude that I'm most defiinitely from....

[Chorus: Alicia Keys]

Newww Yooorrrkkkk, I'm becomin' where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

out of Neww Yooorrrrkkk

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York,

Neeeew Yooorrrkkkk

[Verse 2: Jay-Z]

Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game

Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous then a Yankee can

You should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a Crip though

but I got a gang of niggas walkin' with my clique though

Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we sellin' rock

Afrika Bambataa shit, home of the hip-hop

Yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back

for foreigners it ain't for, they act like they forgot how to act

8 million stories, out there in it naked

City is a pity, half of y'all won't make it

Me, I got a plug, Special Ed "I Got It Made"

If Jesus payin' Lebron, I'm payin' Dwayne Wade

Three dice cee-lo, three card molly

Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley

Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade

Long live the Kingdome, I'm from the Empire St. that's

[Chorus:]

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]

Lights is blinding, girls need blinders

so they can step out of bounds quick, the sidelines is

lined with casualties, who sip to life casually

then gradually become worse, don't bite the apple leaf

Caught up in the in-crowd, now you're in style

End of the winter gets cold, en vogue, with your skin out

City of sin, it's a pity on the wind

Good girls gone bad, the city's filled with them

Mami took a bus trip, now she got her bust out

Everybody ride her, just like a bus route

Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin

And Jesus can't save you, life starts when the church end

Came here for school, graduated to the high life

Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight

MDMA got you feelin' like a champion

The city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien

[Chorus:]

[Bridge: Alicia Keys]

One hand in the air for the big city

Street lights, big dreams, all lookin' pretty

No place in the world that could compare

Put your lighters in the air

Everybody say "yeaaaa, yeaaa, yeaaa, yeaaaa"

[Chorus:]