Talib Kweli, Rakim - Getting Up Anthem: Part I lyrics

Subway, subway surfing (New York City)
No fair to hold on (Hold on)
Some talk of sun and sand
And surf that pounds
Now meet the Kid Kahuna of the underground
(yeah, yo)

I come from a two fare zone
It seem like just yesterday
I had to take the two and the five to
The Junction and walk the rest of the way
You can catch a bus with a transfer
But waiting for that surface transit is a
Bitch I avoid it like a cancer
I’m heavy in the streets like crack
In New York in ‘86
I was riding the A with the R in my walk man
With thieves and ‘lo-lifes
I can tell you stories of
Fighting for my glory on the
Subway like the Warriors
Young mans rights of passage through
The belly of the beast
With the working classes
Homeless and the purse snatchers
We used to hop and never drop a token
Over the turnstiles Edward Moses
And run from the cops like Jesse Owens
Tracks stars riding in between the cars
The Bronx and Queens don’t seem that far
Looking at the map cause every
Single Ave we rep’
The people don’t look at each other
They starin’ straight ahead on this

Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on

I used to roll through the hood
A good ride keep my mental entertained
And find higher thoughts past
Levels never seen
Any cost through New York’s five
Boroughs on the train
Subway iron horse, slash ghetto limousine
Back when Hip-Hop was just bubblin’ in 3-D
That’s when a metropolis was
Covered in graffiti more color than TV
Just watchin’ while ridin’
Through the metropolitan rock and came
To a brother easy
Bucktown to Uptown, under and above ground
To my words feel like we off surface
Rap flow like the trains
Give you sidewalk service
Ride the track to the 3rd rail soft-circuit
Strong Isle the LIR, Ozone Park
A Train, BK, East New York
MTA Harlem 1-2-5th to get off
Then take the 4
5 or the 6 to the streets of the Bronx
Come on

Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway surfing, no fair to hold on

We call it subway surfing
A thug stay swerving
To the earth end through the
Suburbs it’s straight urban
B boy with the ghetto appeal it’s workin’
Ladies lookin’ lovely in the subway flirtin’
Money makin' Manhattan Do or Die Bed Sty
Brownsville never ran never will let’s ride
The strong island or the isle’s of Shaolin
Or the boogie down Bronx NY

I put my finger to the wind to
See if a train comin’ soon
It’s rush hour we pack ‘em in
Until there ain’t enough room
Or through the tombs riding
Under the surfaces
It’s a spray paint alternative
It’s Getting Up
With Uni markers and permanent
I was more than your average straphanger
You gon’ know what my name is when I bang it
With a piece so ill that
It’ll make the papers
Before the era of gaming these
People did it for real no controllers
Riskin’ life and limb to get famous

Subway, subway, no fair to hold on
Subway, subway, no fair, subway surfing
Subway surfing, hold on
Subway surfing, hold on
Subway surfing, hold on
Subway surfing, no fair to hold on