JAY-Z - Where I’m From lyrics

Uh huh, ge ge ge ge-geah
Ye-ye yeah, ye-ye yeah (Brooklyn)
How real is, this?
How real is, this? (Brooklyn)
Uh huh huh (Brooklyn)
Respect this here, check!

I'm from where the hammers rung
News cameras never come
You and your mans hung in
Every verse in your rhyme
Where the grams was slung
Niggas vanish every summer
When the blue vans would come
We throw the work in the can and run
Where the plans was to get funds
And skate off the set
To achieve this goal quicker
Sold all my weight wet
Faced with immeasurable odds
Still I gave straight bets


So I felt I'm owed something and you nothing
Check i'm from the other side where the
Other guys don't walk too much
And girls from the projects wouldn't fuck us
Said we talked too much
So they ran up to Tompkins and
Sought them dudes to trust
I don't know what the fuck they thought
Those niggas is foul just like us
I'm from where the beef is inevitable
Summertime's unforgettable
Boosters in abundance
Buy a half-price sweater new
Your word was everything
So everything you said you'd do you did it
Couldn't talk about it if you ain't live it
I'm from where niggas pull your card
And argue all day about
Who's the best MCs, Biggie, Jay-Z or Nas?
Where the drugs czars evolve
And thugs are at odds
At each other's throats for the
Love of foreign cars where cats catch cases
Hoping the judge R-and-R's
But most times find themselves
Locked up behind bars, is that all?
I'm from where they ball
And breed rhyme stars i'm from Marcy, son
Just thought I'd remind y'all

Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Brooklyn so where you from?)

I'm from the place where the
Church is the flakiest
And niggas been praying to God
So long that they atheist
Where you can't put your vest away
And say you'll wear it tomorrow
'Cause the day after we'll be saying
"Damn, I was just with him yesterday"
I'm a block away from hell
Not enough shots away from stray shells
An ounce away from a triple beam
Still using a hand held weight scale
You're laughing, you know the place well
Where the liquor stores and the base dwell
And government? Fuck government!
Niggas politick theyselves
Where we call the cops the A Team
'Cause they hop out of vans and spray things
And life expectancy so low we
Making out wills at eighteens
Where how you get rid of guys
Who step out of line, your rep solidifies
So tell me when I rap
You think I give a fuck who criticize?
If the shit is lies, God strike me
And I got a question:
Are you forgiving guys who live just
Like me? We'll never know
One day I prayed to you and
Said if I ever blow, i'd let 'em know
The stakes
And exactly what takes place in the ghetto
Promise fulfilled
Still I feel my job ain't done
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice

Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Brooklyn so where you from?)

Check, I'm from where they
Cross-over and clap boards
Lost Jehovah in place of rap lords, listen
I'm up the block
Around the corner and down the street
From where the pimps
Prostitutes and the drug lords meet
We make a million off of beats
'cause our stories is deep
And fuck tomorrow
As long as the night before was sweet
Niggas get lost for weeks in the street
Twisted off leek and no matter the weather
Niggas know how to draw heat
Whether you're four feet or Manute size
It always starts out with three
Dice and "shoot the five"
Niggas thought they deuce was live
Then I hit 'em with trips
And I reached down for their money, pa
Forget about this
This time around it's platinum
Like the shit on my wrist
And this Glock on my waist
Y'all can't do shit about this
Niggas'll show you love
That's how they fool thugs
Before you know it
You're lying in a pool of blood
Where I'm from

Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice
(Mentally been many places but
I'm Brooklyn's own)
Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son
Ain't nothing nice (Brooklyn)