[Nas] (Alicia Keys)
Nasty, yeah, yeah (New York, New York)
Hey, yo, black it's time again,
Yeah, yeah (New York, New York)
Come here, yeah, yeah (New York, New York)

Hey, yo black, it's time

[Nas]
If you knew my streets
You would know all everybody talk about is who got beef,
Who snitchin', who told police,
who came home, who still gone, who rest in peace.
Now they killin' over music, money, not drugs; rap replaced it.
Cuz thugs with no brains got no patience
New jacks I pistol whip 'em with the funky rhythm I be kickin'
Musician and flatten composition
A pain, I'm like Saddam Hussein
Still alive lookin' at his dead children's burnt remains
I burnt the game, learnt you lames a new lesson
Your crew's soft man, y'all need some new weapons
The P's breathe warriors and skullies and timmies
Around mixed, spics, niggaz and giddies
From my ghetto kings in deep thought we don't blink
But don't think we wastin' our time
It's a New York state of mind

(Alicia Keys)
New York, New York, New York,
New York City, whoa-oh-oh-oh
New York, New York, New York,
New York City, baby

It's like a jungle out here, so much struggle out here
And my dreams still unphased, greed's the cousin of death
Always feels like a race against father time,
In the streets of New York
(New York state of mind, New York state of mind)
All I see is street hos, and bullet holes in our peoples.
Only crime fills the brain
It's like I'm going insane
The revolution has to start, don't waste no time
In the streets of New York
(New York state of mind, New York state of mind)
C'mon

New York, New York, New York, New York, ohh, state of mind (New York City)
New York, New York, New York, New York, ohh, state of crime (New York City)
New York, New York, New York, New York, ohh, big dreams (New York City)
New York, New York, New York, New York, ohh, big schemes

Oh, it's like the game
Just ain't the same
Baby thugs and girls with no shame
Can't get away, get away, epidemic plague
Ev'ry hood in, every state
Don't have no reasons cuz relief is hard to find
In the streets of New York (New York state of mind)
In the streets of New York (New York state of mind)
In the streets of New York (New York state of mind)
In the streets of New York (New York state of mind)

[Rakim]
I'm from the home of a million legends and trend settin'
A lot of footsteps to follow, I been steppin'
Mind stressin', tryin' to find a record crime shreddin'
Time precious, I ain't had rest since nine-eleven
I live fast, hustle like today is my last
I get cash, the struggle's like a day on the Ave.
Crack bein' raw, gats squeezin off
Manhattan squeezin' off, from cats who tease with war
The eve of the Apocalypse, evil keep movin' politics
Every block is at risk, the metropolitan metropolis.
The opposite of Liza Minelli and Frank Sinatra
Alicia Keys, Nas and Ra, the gangsta's opera
So New York City walk with me, talk gritty
It's up to us New York, it's our city
Here the man come with the anthem, hands up
It's time, the thrill is back New York, let's stand up

[Alicia Keys]
New York, New York, New York,
New York City, whoa-oh-oh-oh
New York, New York, New York,
New York City, baby
New York, New York, New York,
New York City, whoa-oh-oh-oh
New York, New York, New York,
New York City, baby