Highest chart position was #82 in June 1983 (US chart) Didn't enter the UK chart as far as I know. In my opinion an underrated track with great lyrics.
Пікірлер: 488
@gumnentkilla5093 Жыл бұрын
This is what rap is supposed to be. Actual musicians and not a single "F" word. I remember picking up this on vinyl when it came out.......in 1983!
@BeverageGuzzler11 ай бұрын
So, you're against freedom of speech ? Which is what all music is supposed to be about. And are you conveniently ignoring the fact that this song contains both the B word and N word in it ? Also, another Hip Hop song from this same era that was released a year after this one had swearing in it, which contained the MF word, it's called "The Roof is on Fire" ( 1984 ) by Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three.
@Littlemouse8846 ай бұрын
You should check out some NZ rap & hop hop as it's still like that
@SMATF512 жыл бұрын
How is this not the most popular song in the history of hip-hop?
@emmettw.christian3rd.1453 жыл бұрын
Not totally true, actually the song New York New York has been sampled many times by various rap artists and singers so it gave an insight and an understanding about that part of New York and a lot of people that's not from New York had never been in New York know about that's my take so you say it's not one of the best songs in history I can partially agree with you on that but the song turned out it's several cash check out the dog pound check out that's all I know the dog pound and one other guy has sampled it but a bearish people that sampled it and a couple of them had did pretty good on the sales...
@ralphrichards2163 жыл бұрын
Factz Of Life
@sokratahmetovic46143 жыл бұрын
Well, there is also a very popular song The Message, by the same band/Gang.
@vasjaocvirk48332 жыл бұрын
It should be. I grow up with sex pistols and grandmaster flash.
@AAInventors2 жыл бұрын
We 're going to the 2nd week-end in 2022..looking for that Taï restaurant with waterfall on their walls. I 've been there once..
@gabrielmatthews94944 жыл бұрын
When Rap was Genuine, and actually teaching something culturally accurate. "Nobody loves me, nobody cares, I dream about life, but I'm living in a nightmare" true to this day.
@danavixen6274 Жыл бұрын
Hip Hop geniuses right here! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
@eugenedantzler44858 жыл бұрын
If you pay attention to the words... this song described many cities across America..... I love this song
@hanstun17 жыл бұрын
Not correcting grammar but ... describeS.
@TheSpecialTimes7 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. This exists from New york city to the smallest cities in India. When it comes down to it, it's survival. It's not all life and death , sometimes it's scraping together just a few dollars.
@Amidat4 жыл бұрын
@@TheSpecialTimes well not exactly.... not every city is a city of dreams... and the more crowded the city the more easy it is to get lost in the sauce - so small cities don't fit it either
@Amidat4 жыл бұрын
well most cities in America didn't have sky scrapers back then... most weren't overcrowded either.
@olevet754 жыл бұрын
@@hanstun1 hans ziz iz just a typo, relax..
@jaye50112 жыл бұрын
one of the top five songs of hip hop... i remember when it first came out... i was awe struck... the verses about the girl and the baby brought tears to my eyes... monumental piece of work...
@WarlordMoA5 жыл бұрын
this type of hip hop should make a come back in 2020, getting tired with modern music.
@camdenwyeth3164 жыл бұрын
@Nate-O- Nation Well where is it
@yandunker42733 жыл бұрын
Funk was even better ... when made well.
@TerryOnTuesday18 күн бұрын
I'm 55 this year, and planning on doing a tune in this style. Nothing much has changed.
@MrYuriniko5 жыл бұрын
"...In my opinion an underrated track with great lyrics." Absolutely agree!
@rachaelclarke10333 жыл бұрын
Totally agree 👍
@rachaelclarke10333 жыл бұрын
Agree wholeheartedly
@nowitsabadtime8 жыл бұрын
First ever trip to Manhattan, and got to see Breakdancing for the first time! It went mainstream about 1 year later.
@Amidat4 жыл бұрын
where in Manhattan? and what year? when it started it was mostly a Bronx thing. Though the Lower East Side and Harlem were places in Manhattan you would see
@themurderguns79734 жыл бұрын
NICE!
@smurfunkown67744 жыл бұрын
LMAO
@KevinGloverpost246 жыл бұрын
Over 30 yrs and this is still applicable today. Grandmaster Melle Mel one of the best ever!
@juergensuess90416 ай бұрын
It's even over 40 years now, and still great!❤
@oxcart41728 жыл бұрын
That guitar piece is perfect!
@wilsonclaudio88204 жыл бұрын
Adoro
@wilsonclaudio88204 жыл бұрын
E quero conhecê-los
@urbanbader41133 ай бұрын
There's much guitar
@captainbeastazoid70842 жыл бұрын
Greatest rap song of all time in my opinion. Way ahead of it's time. Even better than The Message in my opinion
@TheAlmightyAss2 жыл бұрын
Message has that one verse though, sets it apart from everything else. Neon King Kong standing on my back...
@raymondflores6410 Жыл бұрын
Fair enough
@billydanzz Жыл бұрын
Agreed. You really understand the lyrics in the verses more when once you reach that middle-aged point in life. Then realize that these were kids barely in their 20's when they wrote these songs.
@matrixxs8 жыл бұрын
This was the cut , a master piece , hold value still till this day,
@umbleyoself36242 жыл бұрын
The bass licks are what got me hooked on this song when I was in my early teens...it rips even still 35+ years later.....theses guys, Sugar Hill and Curtis Blow cut a path for all other 80$ rappers that followed....what history! My fun teen years and fond memories. Thumping the bass grew poplar in the 80$ and it still sounds good to me.
@robhekkers5172 жыл бұрын
that's Doug Wimbish
@differentdrummer61629 ай бұрын
The bass turned my head - it still does.
@karoliinakivela249810 жыл бұрын
they were pioneers!! everybody copied them but they wont admit it!
@disasteraka4 жыл бұрын
EXACTLY, PIONEERS BEFORE THEY WERE CALLED LEGENDS.
@jemine53969 жыл бұрын
This song is telling some serious story behind... You should play it more often people!
@russelladams71346 жыл бұрын
Geminai Jamminay Yeah this is that real social commentary about life in New York city during the Reagan era. This song and The message are really the most powerful and most influential songs ever with Tupac's "Brenda's Got a Baby".
@Amidat4 жыл бұрын
@@russelladams7134 "the Message" was almost like a sequel to this
@omegawicked14 жыл бұрын
yessir
@yandunker42733 жыл бұрын
Ha, they made people believe this " Too much? Too many people". Not realizing that they have to die! In fact N.America and Europe is dying. 1.3 birthrate! In the 50ies the men did work raising three children, mother at home, but building a house, having a huge car, in the 70ies mother had to work too for keeping life standard or living as single. In the 90ies living on credit card and dept began. In 2020 they made fear of Covid and start with mass-vaccinations. ... and many people believe this scam.
@jemine53963 жыл бұрын
@@russelladams7134 Reagan was the greatest president ever tho.
@vanessacarlander29879 жыл бұрын
In my opinoion lyrics sharper than "the message" this one no.1
@MikeSwede16 жыл бұрын
You are No1 Vanessa.
@richardmanuel98125 жыл бұрын
Close
@zbigniewh.8471 Жыл бұрын
Good old times, my friends used to practice breakdancing in the 80's
@freakflagflies12 жыл бұрын
I wore out this cassette til it broke in a few places back then. Taped it back together with scotch tape. I hadn't heard it for a long time. So glad I found it.
@louisadrill70606 жыл бұрын
reading books gets everyone out of the ghetto.keep reading regardless of the internet
@DjTIMEJD4 жыл бұрын
Resources and money gets you out the Ghetto. Unfortunately both are scarce.
@louisadrill70604 жыл бұрын
both@@DjTIMEJD
@MrCozin-kd9mb8 жыл бұрын
I swear that when listened, this song I move to that time, same year of this release and I see everythings of 80's ambient. The clothes, the old technologies, builds, square cars, mainly Caprices taxi crossing the streets. Looks like so real.
@worldwidestreets86495 жыл бұрын
Yup, crazy how they were even using synthecisers back then, same shit they do nowadays, loud sound, the recipe is the same but nowadays it's a lot of dumb talk lol but it's amazing how timeless this is, the Blueprint 🙏🙏
@martin6841211 жыл бұрын
fühl mich wieder zurück in meine Jugend...haben das zeug ganzen tag gehört....aber die texte nicht wirklich verstanden...aber wir haben breakdance versucht....war geil...
@patrickjakob106510 жыл бұрын
Ging uns nicht anders :-) War einfach nur eine geile Zeit^^
@yandunker42733 жыл бұрын
Ha, they made people believe this " Too much? Too many people". Not realizing that they have to die! In fact N.America and Europe is dying. 1.3 birthrate! In the 50ies the men did work raising three children, mother at home, but building a house, having a huge car, in the 70ies mother had to work too for keeping life standard or living as single. In the 90ies living on credit card and dept began. In 2020 they made fear of Covid and start with mass-vaccinations. ... and many people believe this scam.
@SSingh-nc8hb3 жыл бұрын
@@yandunker4273 I dont know too much about that. Just because in the western hemisphere demographic numbers are reducing does not mean this happens worldwide. Außerdem brickst du den deutschen Vibe hier haha :D Die homies haben es verstanden!
@@sactownloc9165 everyone knows. Dogg pound sampled this track to show respect and love for New York, but it was taken the wrong way by some
@pulp73510 жыл бұрын
Amazing song! Never lived in New York but visited a number of time. I love New York but I think it's easy to get a hint of something more lurking beneath all the glitz and the glamour.
@VelvetBulldozer3 жыл бұрын
Grew up with this song in Sweden back in the early 80's. Kind of the same situation today 40 years on in Stockholm. If New York was bad in the 70-80's what have we learned in the world several decades later? Other than the music, I guess not much. But music inspiration is great and often times for the good. Great rhymes my bros! Love you
@urbanfryk2878 Жыл бұрын
Cheers from Gothenburg!
@enebody12 жыл бұрын
The first Rap album I ever bought...no downloads, no itunes no ipods,and no internet and we still did the damn thing!
@chriscollins5707 жыл бұрын
So original to a genre! The electronic synapse and spot-on rhyme meter sends a resounding message to this old Country/Bluegrass fan. Few Rap/Hiphoppers can replicate this unique composition! Need to get subsidies for Brooklyn Bed Sty/Williamsburgers to vacation at Apache/Ute "Reservations" out west, and Kansas farmers to see what rough inner-city life in Detroit/West Baltimore is like. Then we come together more unified!
@daxterclark5092 Жыл бұрын
maybe...I doubt it though,unfortunately
@landybitz13 жыл бұрын
The lyrics are as relevant today as there were in 1983. Last verse is deep.
@omegawicked14 жыл бұрын
yes it was
@yandunker42733 жыл бұрын
Ha, they made people believe this " Too much? Too many people". Not realizing that they have to die. In fact NorthAmerica and Europe is dying. 1.3 birthrate! In the 50ies the men did work raising three children, mother at home, but building a house, having a huge car, in the 70ies mother had to work too for keeping life standard or living as single. In the 90ies living on credit card and dept began. In 2020 they made fear of Covid and start with mass-vaccinations. ... and many people believe this scam.
@jadedheartsz2 жыл бұрын
@@yandunker4273 quiet nazi
@eloelo6944 Жыл бұрын
@@yandunker4273 word up bro, didn't expect a comment like that randomly here though
@MaciejDamian-hc4te2 ай бұрын
Last verse is mental
@axiomist10768 жыл бұрын
Looking at New York from the bottom up - It's hard. Great song. Sugar Hill is a real hill, in Harlem.
@tunedtfin9174 жыл бұрын
Yeah but the sugarhill gang are from New Jersey but they started their carrer in the bronx thats why NY always shouts out Jersey in these songs
@dawnbell94333 жыл бұрын
I remember this, classic hip hop.Prophetic Visionaries.
@fatbuddy7193 жыл бұрын
Melle Mel doesn’t get enough credit for his contributions to hip hop. I only learned recently that he was the main MC and Grandmaster Flash was the DJ.
@luciusirving59263 жыл бұрын
Melle Mel is awesome though.
@stevenharris716 Жыл бұрын
The message & this one.. Two of the best most important beginnings of hip hop. Mel & Duke. Inspiration! R.I.P. Duke! There would be nothing without these guys! RESPECT!
@weiesnbach8 жыл бұрын
Melle Mel, a fucking poet....
@johndavis67192 жыл бұрын
What do you think R.A.P. stands for you already awnserd the last part for yourself.
@unknownfilmmaker7772 жыл бұрын
You can feel the dusk and city lights in the music. Amazing song.
@Aerochalklate10 жыл бұрын
2:33 first time the wonderful word was used in a song in rap/music HISTORY. -_-
@trex495610 жыл бұрын
Great Song from the 80`s Thank`s
@eddiemuise47912 жыл бұрын
Living in Toronto now and still listening to this
@carlbowles18084 жыл бұрын
New York, new York and the message are my favorites. We had problems at least we didn't have Corona virus.
@bezoticallyyours832 жыл бұрын
No but there was the start of the AIDS outbreak in the 80s
@ronthompson3104 жыл бұрын
“A baby cries and a mother dies And the tears fall from the doctor’s eyes ‘Cause in this room, on this day The Good Lord has giveth and taketh away” Just wow…
@yandunker42733 жыл бұрын
Its not god. Too much? Too many people? NorthAmerica and Europe is dying. 1.3 birthrate! In the 50ies the men did work raising three children, mother at home, but building a house, having a huge car, in the 70ies mother had to work too for keeping life standard or living as single. In the 90ies living on credit card and dept began. In 2020 they made fear of Covid and start with mass-vaccinations. ... and many people believe this scam.
@chesterswingjr97963 жыл бұрын
@@yandunker4273 - The day the government made Mom go to work, is when North America started it’s down slide. This generation has no respect for their parents, authority, or anyone. They think there’re entitled to anything they want, and get offended by everything. This country is also being overrun with illegals by the millions, and the government is granting them benefits, drivers licenses, healthcare, and basically everything our veterans SHOULD be getting. This country is heading towards being a third world nation, and it’s getting their quick. And I agree with all the sheep believing this fake virus “epidemic”. It’s just a different strain of the flu, and the government controlled media has everyone believing their bullshit with highly inflated death counts. I know someone who died in a motorcycle accident, and they try listing his death as a corona virus death. Sheep, will be sheep!!!
@differentdrummer61629 ай бұрын
It's heart-stopping stuff. Makes me go cold all over.
@bradnobl10 жыл бұрын
Forgotten classic, the real NewYork.
@cityjamer90289 жыл бұрын
New York.. Electro was born there ;D And the Bronx can tell stories .. I LOVE THIS!!
@moserr115 жыл бұрын
This got me into breakin'
@worldwidestreets86495 жыл бұрын
Deep.... WORLDWIDE 🙏🙏🙏✊✊
@paulajones1142 ай бұрын
This IS my Favorite hip hop song OF ALL time's! It tells the story STRAIGHT!¡! SADLY STILL.
@marvinhagler47213 жыл бұрын
Havent heard this in YEARS...PEACE TO MELLE MEL
@DeRbEkartoffel11 жыл бұрын
I'm 16, german and I love oldschool origin-/ underground-/ alternative hip hop, it's everything I'm listening to all day, almost every day. Even if the most of todays youth doesn't know anything about good music,... don't judge too fast.
@latonyamsummers12 жыл бұрын
Woke up singing this chorus. Haven't heard it since I was 12 and had no idea it was this deep. Wow!
@solozoilpatrinosiciliano3 жыл бұрын
original genius first OG this is still bumbin in my head like it was yesterday this like never stop be for my better than everthing today is about the layrics and nessage behind only if new sound !!!old school is legandary never dies forever !!!
@lowbo47omsascotave Жыл бұрын
*Eastside Low Bottoms sh*t !* _Tappin' in from South Central LA_ The definition of "reality rap". 🤜🏾💥🤛🏾
@Able25918 жыл бұрын
Fantastic. One of The Best Hip-Hop Tracks.
@tmains53654 жыл бұрын
54 years ahead of their time. Please come back with conscious music to wake the world up!
@scottgreen56273 жыл бұрын
Mell hands down greatest mc . Greatest ever past and present. His lyrics are so deep and true.
@erlendsteren9466 Жыл бұрын
I heard this back in 1983, found it again . Fantastisk. Very good lyrics.
@genieknight68589 жыл бұрын
Love this song. Had it on vinyl. Been looking for years. Thanks brought back good times memories for me.
@moserr115 жыл бұрын
Folks this is hip-hop crawling out of the primordial sludge. And I was there to see it first hand. The 12 inch of this AWESOME.
@johndavis67195 жыл бұрын
It would be dope if New York Artists covered this song as a tribute.
@captainharris89803 жыл бұрын
I was there too. I heard it on KSFX out of SF of all places. A station that played primarily hard rock, but tossed in the occasional soul or new wave album, and of course, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
@Dropski8210 жыл бұрын
Found the full record diggin in my father in laws collection
@JohnStamps-zn4hs Жыл бұрын
I like New York New York better than the The Message, I still have all my Sugar Hill records, The Show Down The Sugar Hill Gang & The FURIOUS FIVE, and who can't forget THE WHEELS OF STEAL, FLASH Cutting It Up. Those's were the good old days.
@stefandee19708 жыл бұрын
very first rap i ever heard... love it...
@andreabeska30519 жыл бұрын
Eine echte perle best of 80s ever
@tomesirgendwer72493 жыл бұрын
Ja Mann!!!
@macreal652 жыл бұрын
This song is before its time. It is what America is going through right now! It's just more in our face! It's just not all relocated to NY anymore.
@michaelmueller74056 ай бұрын
grew up in an industrial city in Germany ... was the only one who was listening to that music when i was 15 .... they looked at me in a very strange way 🙃 but i loved every song from them. Had a friend who brought me some vinyl directly from NY then ... no official recordings as far as i remember .... no idea where he got them from ... but yes ---- i just loved that music .... beside computer games they taught me English ... still getting goosebumps these days when i listen to them again ... hahaha and the girls liked it too then ... knew all the lyrics when they finally played them in the clubs and they asked "oh u know all that?" ... worked well 😁
@urbanfryk28785 ай бұрын
Grüss Gott!
@FINYL72 Жыл бұрын
Grandmaster flash is a genius so many great songs
@celestinemeyers43264 жыл бұрын
Gotta pay homage to all the artists came from NYC the Meeca of hip hop.
@ABizzyBYT8 жыл бұрын
better than rappers delight
@michelhiddink58457 жыл бұрын
Sugar Hilll Records
@SuperMispi6 жыл бұрын
Of course
@aaronwaugh808712 жыл бұрын
i was 14 when this came out
@leslieraymond63727 жыл бұрын
Aaron Waugh me too
@KtotheL4 жыл бұрын
i still know every word of this song by heart. shame there is no video to accompany it. imho their best work...
@akira59524 жыл бұрын
listened billion times... ...and more.
@utahsaint3656 жыл бұрын
Classic Hip Hop. No swearing, just rapping about how it was, and still is...
@urbanfryk2878 Жыл бұрын
Oldschool rules! I had this tune on vinyl back in the days! We are not alone - at all! Cheers from Sweden! I'm 60 and alive and kicking - peace! Doug Wimbish!? A million thank's for upload phil x! God bless! And hot damn (!) give us more!
@3912James12 жыл бұрын
After all these years....I still love this rap song.
@kevinsadler72357 жыл бұрын
Now this is what I'm talking about! Nothing like that "Good Old-School" there baby! It's Very Intellectual. And you can Understand Every Word!! Now what y'all younguns know about this?!!
@ixglocTV2 жыл бұрын
Bought this in 1983 when I understood Latin better than English HAHA
@ClintTorres6072 жыл бұрын
My gen. Bought the ep. Relistened recently. So good. Very deep.
@jaybrown10595 жыл бұрын
Sugarhill New York, newyork
@robertbweltzien Жыл бұрын
That's how it was for many in NYC in the early eighties. I grew up there in the sixties and went back in the 2000s for med school. I don't plan on ever returning.
@worldwidestreets86495 жыл бұрын
New York still keeps the history alive, amazing to still see kids Flippin and dancing on the trains.... 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️🗽🗽🗽
@FELIPE2MOURA8 жыл бұрын
what a vibe...amazing
@simonemax61753 жыл бұрын
These are the roots 😍
@cariocabassa Жыл бұрын
They really were the pioneers of these Street Tales....
@bufflowsouljah2256 Жыл бұрын
dope lyrics..relates to the times today.
@401Rob6 жыл бұрын
2018 and I Still know all the words . Crazy
@stevenharris7163 жыл бұрын
Hip hop the way it's supposed to be! These guys are still the best even after all these years....
@dartenyagranger298 жыл бұрын
Grandmaster Flash - New York New York.
@gsomase24333 жыл бұрын
learned the whole song in like 10 min its a good song im a teen..... at 12 i learned this in music class
@daxterclark50924 жыл бұрын
Classic from my high school days!!
@deutscheskind96295 жыл бұрын
I feel the 80'👍
@urbanfryk99076 жыл бұрын
Great memories from back in the days!
@dvharris7513 жыл бұрын
Im proud the be the third person to comment. This track is not just a song it is a PIECE OF MUSIC HISTORY. The youth of today have no clue about songs like this. Songs like this is what built rap music.
@djlarryb6812 жыл бұрын
I live in Northwest Alabama and I use to pick up stations out of Memphis, Tn. and this is where I heard this. Love this song! Very deep song. Too Much Too Many People!
@ralphrichards2163 жыл бұрын
SKOL ..😎 Listening N Minneapolis
@keithfrance61912 жыл бұрын
This song still has relevance in today's society !
@wcstandsforme12 жыл бұрын
I still have all these albums on 12'.
@RaptureMusicOfficial5 жыл бұрын
Very underrated indeed! For me it's a clear #1 hit! Like The Message!
@casakoen5 жыл бұрын
New York New York, big city of dreams And everything in New York ain't always what it seems You might get fooled if you come from out of town But I'm down by law and I know my way around Too much, too many people, too much (aha-ha) Too much, too many people, too much, Raaah! A castle in the sky, one mile high Built to shelter the rich and greedy Rows of eyes, disguised as windows Looking down on the poor and the needy Miles of people, marching up the avenue Doin? what they gotta do, just to get by I'm living in the land of plenty and many But I'm damn sure poor and I don't know why Too much, too many people, too much Too much, too many people, too much! A man's on a ledge, says he's gonna jump People gather round, said, "He won't he's just a chump" ?Cause he lost his job, then he got robbed His mortgage is due and his marriage is through He says he ain't gonna pay no child support Because the bitch left him without a second thought He got nothing to eat, no shoes on his feet She even left his clothes out in the street He keeps hearing noises when he's at home He always hears voices when he's all alone His wife took the kids, the car and the crib In this man's world, so much for Women's Lib New York New York big city of dreams But everything in New York ain't always what it seems You might get fooled if you come from out of town But I'm down by law, and I know my way around Down in the Village, you might think I'm silly But you can't tell the women from the men sometimes They're sugar and spice and everything nice But when you get ?em home ain't no telling what you find Right next door is a little old man I seen him eating dog food out of a can He says, "I got to eat, when I can't afford meat I barely can stand, on my own two feet I got a bad habit and I just can't break it Something?s on my mind and I just can't shake it I need some time, and I want some space I gotta get away from the human race? Too much, too many people, too much (aha-ha) Too much, too many people, too much! Raaah! Staring at a skyscraper reaching into heaven When over in the ghetto I'm livin' in hell Just play ball or be an entertainer 'Cause niggaz like me can't read too well Nobody loves me, nobody cares I dreamed about a life but I'm livin' in a nightmare Paranoid schizo, set back, snowbound Bad news psycho, heart attack, breakdown! Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, Huh, Hee, HUH! If only I could sleep just ten more minutes I might find the strength to make another day If I didn't have to get up and do my thing I would probably sleep my whole life away I messed up a nice dream, somethin' bout ice cream Whipped cream, fruits and a cherry on top Now I gotta get up and face the world, huh The pressure is on, It ain't never gonna stop I sho' gotta learn to use my mind I don't want to be kissing nobody's behind Just standin' on line lookin' like a jerk Gotta get off my butt and do a full day's work I ran into a pothole, got into a car crash Should?a been thinking and tried to fake whiplash A crowd gathered round, they're callin' me fat Who you lookin' at with a face like that? New York New York big city of dreams Everything in New York ain't always what it seems You might get fooled if you come from out of town But I'm down by law and I know my way around On 42nd Street, lookin' for some action Women standing on the corner selling satisfaction One young punk just leaning on the fence Tryin' to make a dollar out of fifteen cents Really is a prankster, tried to be a gangster Real big wheel when a gun is in his hands Just did a stick-up, just got picked up One dead punk, killed by the man New York New York big city of dreams And everything in New York ain't always what it seem You might get fooled if you come from out of town But I'm down by law and I know my way around Too much, too many people, too much (ha ha ha ha) Too much, too many people, too much! Huh! A baby cries and a mother dies And the tears fall from the doctor's eyes Because in this room, on this day The Good Lord has giveth, and taketh away, huh! The gift of life really means a lot And in the ghetto your life is all you got So you take to the streets, trying to exist In the trash and slime of a world like this What you watch on TV tells you what life is supposed to be But when you look outside the only thing you see Is the poverty stricken reality, Heh! Abandoned places, angry faces Much hate and hunger throughout the races You say, "I'm grown and I'm on my own So why don't everybody just leave me alone!" Now you stay at home, talking on the phone Doin' ninety miles an hour in the fifty mile zone They never took the time to tell you ?bout sex So you had to learn about it in the discotheques Nine months later, the baby is there And the Nigga that did it said, "I don't care!" You don't have enough money to help feed two So you have to choose between the baby and you The sky was crying, rain and hail When you put your baby in the garbage pail Then you kissed the kid and put down the lid And you tried to forget what you just did, Huh! The muffled screams of a dying baby Was enough to drive the young mother crazy So she ran in the rain trying to ease the pain Huh huh, And she drove herself insane New York New York big city of dreams But everything in New York ain't always what it seem You might get fooled if you come from out of town But I'm down by law and I know my way around Too much, too many people, too much (haha ha ha) Too much, too many people, too much! HUH! New York New York big city of dreams But everything in New York ain't always what it seem You might get fooled if you come from out of town But I'm down by law and I know my way around Too much, too many people, too much (haha ha ha) Too much, too many people, too much
@beatricerosso47662 жыл бұрын
Thank you, I was able to get the lyrics 🌠
@gunnyakdo16538 жыл бұрын
lyrics are true and awesome
@JW-fm8or3 жыл бұрын
40 years later nothing's changed
@louielucifer12 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this post. Awesome song who's lyrics expressed the disorders of the times back in the day. Unfortunately things haven't changed almost 30 yrs later.
@pussyfunk-stopputtingthepu26522 жыл бұрын
This was back when rap still had some funk ... Real electric guitar, real drums coupled with a few drum machine sounds, real bass guitar; after that, it became all about ''sample this, sample that'', and repeat it over and over again ... most especially in the early 1990s (even Run DMC and the like did it)
@pussyfunk-stopputtingthepu26522 жыл бұрын
Cow Boy is dead since 1989, and Kidd Creole became a simple car park attendant - in New York of course - after the ''GrandMaster Flash'' adventure was over ... Just to show you how life is cruel in the music/show-business industry, after the fame has passed (anyways life IS cruel, period; in the showbusiness or not, in New York or anywhere else). Not too long ago, he got mad at a bum who insulted him, calling him a fag, something like that; or they say the bum made homosexual advances, it remains obscure what was the reason, actually; but one thing is for sure : Kidd Creole stabbed him. He is now in jail, and will probably never get outta there ... Sad ending, huh !?
@chilblain12 жыл бұрын
Original rap was conscious as hell. Like rock n roll this product has been bought and sold. Vegas Comfort. This bass playing is apex.
@JurgenSpeck Жыл бұрын
My first breakdance experience in the 80s in school !!!
@mrflynn012 жыл бұрын
Still relevant in 2022!!!
@josecaraballo522410 жыл бұрын
Great song!
@kevinfleming65173 жыл бұрын
It's alot of rapper's from New York and Good But I THINK THAT HE'S THE BEST
@ContentScientist2 жыл бұрын
This song has some of the most dope, relevant, and truth about the Black Experience. Unbelievable, how this song gets NO RESPECT and NO CREDIT.....