(Man, I am ready Are y'all ready to get down?
Boy, I cannot wait to blow my horn in here tonight)

[ Mos Def, (Ces) ]
Ha
Geah
Shit is real (Hardcore nights in the city)
Word up, don't be out here slippin You might not get up
(Hardcore nights in the city) Times is rough
And if it ain't rough it ain't right
(Hardcore nights in the city)
So let's it get set tight
(Everybody's creepy)
Like this...

[ VERSE 1: Mos Def ]
First and foreMost, from the East Coast
We got it in a smash, so it's no need to boast
Bogart your block with the Brakalak bop
'll have your whole mass yellin out (Don't stop!)
This is the way it is and how it must get (done)
To make the interest run like a fat trust fund
And send you all off to the record store strollin
For the raw boom that have your speakers swollen
Hardcore nights in the city
Nobody's (sleepy), everybody's (creepy)
Stay on the top since I can't be slouchin
Too many heads crawlin, too many creeps (crouchin)
And when I slide by, I glide by
Easy, pa, this ain't no drive-by
So relax the lines in your face
Ease your hands off your waist
Unless you gonna pull out somethin you can taste
Cause straight up, you gon' be eatin it
Whatever assault you form, I'm defeatin it
Abusin, confusin and beatin it
Son, I know about these streets and shit
Don't test me
I don't let time stress me
Remain on the even kill, I'm in the realm of the real
Times across the land is gettin Steelier than Dan
And I be damned if I let any man disturb the program
Punks go on with they ( ? )
Yeah, when their straight line's the crookest way anywhere
So don't be swayed by these fools
Live your life right, baby pa, you know the rules
Never ever show disrespect to a gee
If it ain't in your heart, don't do it for free
Never sit nowhere where you can't see
And don't go nowhere where you ain't gotta be
And that's from Mos to you, on the real
Be alert out here, before your cap get peeled
And for all y'all herbs that be scopin
One eye rest while the other one's wide open

[ CHORUS: Ces, (Mos Def) ]
Hardcore nights in the city
Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy
(Word up, ain't nobody sleepin)
Hardcore nights in the city
Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy
(Better get ruff and ready)

[ VERSE 2: Ces ]
Hardcore nights in the city, I'm not feelin sleepy
I'm feelin kinda creepy
Straight from Medina, yo, my shit is meaner
Than any new gee that you heard or even seen-ah
It's 2 AM, I'm hoppin on the D
Nobody else on the platform except me
Some kids comin down the stairs
Actin iller, but I ain't scared
I'm prepared, kids can get stupid if they want
I roll up the bomb and serve them they fronts
Don't mistake me for a vic just cause I'm a female
I don't got a pump, I don't wear the Lee nails
So 'press on' and you get pushed on the tracks
This ain't romper room, you better learn how to act
Before I take my trey-eight to your door
So "Yo chill, everything cool sweetheart" - yeah, I thought so

Times is too critical and shit is too real
Before long I have to peel with my steel
To y'all muthafuckin herbs that be trippin
Y'all better watch your muthafuckin back cause I ain't slippin

[ CHORUS: Ces, (Mos Def) ]
(Word up)
Hardcore nights in the city
Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy
(Shit is too critical
It's too late in the day to be playin around)
Hardcore nights in the city
Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy
(Word up, aight?)

[ VERSE 3: DCQ ]
Well I'm cruisin in the Path down Atlantic Ave
Brothers wanna scope but they don't know the half
A punk step up, I'ma have to blow the staff
And show him I'm the master of the science and the math
It's so many thugs creepin on the daily
(Yo, we caught just his head up the block) Word really?
I just maintain and stay cool like the breeze
( ? ) fuckin thieves
Now we're approachin Eastern Parkway
Some brothers on the corner just lookin like they wanna
Reach for they gats and twist they caps back
Yeah, I pack my steels too, but I ain't livin like that
(Beep beep) goes my pager, yo, let's stop at this bodega
So I make this call and get somethin to drink
I hop out the ride, go step inside
I see some heads to my left with they eyes all wide
I pay it no mind cause I see it all the time
(Don't be fooled by the shades) don't mean I'm blind
I got a water and a stoge, a quarter for the phone
Yeah, it's my d callin to let me know she's home
I tell her that I love her and I sign off with a kiss
I hear a ( *tires screeching, gunshots* ) hey yo, what the fuck is this?
The guns rode by and at the blink of an eye
They was dead where they stand, what a fuckin way to die
Damn, I guess that's how shit be
If I was standin over there, it coulda been me
Either dead or badly fuckin hurt
That's why I stay on a-fuckin-lert
Out here in the streets

[ CHORUS: Ces (repeated) ]
Hardcore nights in the city
Nobody's sleepy, everybody's creepy

[ Mos Def ]
Word up
A very, very critical time
Don't be out here slippin
You might not get up
Word up
Don't be sleepin
You might not get up
This is another Urban service announcement from the UTD
Be alert out here before your cat get peeled
Word up
Be alert out here before your cat get peeled
Word up
Be alert out here before your cat get peeled
If you're in Brooklyn
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're troopin Uptown
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're in DC
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're in South Central
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're in Atlanta
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're in Chicago
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're in South Florida
Be alert out there before your cat get peeled
If you're anywhere be alert
Be alert out here before your cap get peeled
And that's on the real
Givin you shit that you can feel
The UTD for the nine-for
Another Urban Dynasty, word up