[Hook] Now everybody say the city dead But I don't give a f** what a hater ever said ‘Cause these cats is only in this sh** for shine So f** them motherf**as, we don't need ‘em on our side Now my people, yeah, we about to have a run We blast these motherf**as from the shadow of a gun I don't care if y'all ain't f**in' with the squad I ain't scared of any man, I don't fear no one but God [Verse One] There ain't no way around it no more, the city faded ‘Cause ain't nobody pa**in' the torch so we gotta take it We used to be the front of this music culture but lately We all been dickridin' and chasin' Jiggy and Mackey Who's the king? Ain't nobody, f** it, the throne is vacant The kingdom burn to the ground and the castle there for the taking This culture was created from struggle, the early 80s Late 70s breakin', Fort Apache, Reagan Started floodin' ghettos with crack, AIDS and the weapons And instead of education, our pathway was to Heaven now Know this sh** is tired and pa**é, we mention it The way it used to be but f** it, cla** is session, learn something We bumpin' Bambaataa on Planet Rock Same time, Warhol was f**in' with Basquiat When Big Daddy Kane had Madonna all on his co*k There were who*es on 42nd, Giuliani had ‘em locked [Hook] [Verse Two] Yeah, I remember, radio broke records When New York City was still a cultural mecca I don't think that Rick Rubin'll ever pose for the camera But them labels had another agenda They been pimpin' the artists for years, f**'em Even when artists run and we used to set all the trends But now we follow what's comin' Or they regurgitating the same sh** that we done with And we sellin' all them lies to the public So f** it, ain't showin' ‘em any love We told ‘em that they are dumb We takin' shots at you b**hes You lookin' like sittin' ducks, agh This compromise is like a threesome, yeah The only way it work is if everybody gettin' f**ed I'm livin' up in the neighborhood that they gentrifyin' While racial tensions are everywhere and intensifyin' They show us violence on TV and they desensitize us Then they call us sociopaths because we never cryin' It's d**h defyin', the lies that we livin' We findin' the peace in the d** that we can't find in religion, amen But the city expensive, we all get evicted It's no wonder that we strugglin' in it [Bridge] Now everybody say the city dead But I don't give a f** what a hater ever said ‘Cause these cats is only in this sh** for shine So f** them motherf**as, we don't need ‘em on our side [Verse Three] I heard they said the city is dead and I had to side ‘Cause Jesus had to die on the cross so he could rise Blame it on the media or blame it on the times Or blame it on them old cats that ain't lettin' go of they shine Who's the king? Now I don't mean any disrespect to the legends Who's the king? If you don't pa** us the torch, we gon' burn you with it Who's the king? I got respect for your run but the sh** is finished You k**in' your legacy like when Jordan played for the Wizards Put a spell in ‘em, if they ain't f**in' with us, to hell with ‘em The only industry where you fail if you sound intelligent Posted at the spot, I'm with Grin and with all my brethren, aye Like f** it, we gon' build a new crib if they don't let us in Who's the king? ‘Cause Fort Apache the squad homie, we reppin' Our team is full of entrepreneurs and not expenses And everybody with us contributin', no exceptions We doin' all this sh** till the d**h of us, I told ‘em… [Outro] Everybody wanna be the king of New York (Yeah, I wanna be the king of New York) There ain't no throne Everybody fightin' over a f**in' foldin' chair (It's my crown! It's my crown! It's mine!) It's the empire of dirt (It's mine! It's all mine! I love it!) We need to build a community, we need to support each other We need to make sure the media cannot ignore The community that we built like they been doin' We need to develop and cultivate our own sound And we need to hold these older artists accountable (Everybody worship me! Everybody love me!) Make sure they f** with us and help nurture us (It's about me, I want it all, I want it all for me) The way they do in other regions (I refuse to give it to anybody else) These young stars that keep poppin' off without the co-signs The go-aheads of these other motherf**as in their cities man (I need all the hoes! I need all the hoes! I need all the hoes!) But instead you got these old watch motherf**as Clingin' onto the shadow of the runs they had 15 years ago I'm sick of that sh**, f** all these motherf**as I respect what they did, I respect they contribution to Hip-Hop f** them, their time is done You get mad that I'm talkin' about you, really? A lot of motherf**as out there doin' sh** A lot of cats ain't scared to step outside I be wonderin' sometimes like is it ego? Are y'all bank accounts just not full? You just can't let go of your glory days? It's aight, Fort Apache