[Intro]
From the desert to the docks (yeah)
From the palm trees to the blocks (uh)
From the subway to the Sandias
We salute the ones who taught us how to talk
[Verse 1]
Albuquerque raised
But my cousins on that L.A. pavement
Uncles in the Bronx
Turned basements to brave statements
Taped over old sermons
Recorded over mom’s old playlists
Y’all taught us how to aim these words
Now every bar stay dangerous
Hand-me-down hoodies
CD cases with the names scratched
Rewind every line
Learned timing from the train tracks
Windows rattled
Whole barrio on the same track
Y’all gave us the language
We gave it our own slang back
[Chorus]
This that thank you from the Duke City
From the West and the East
Y’all built me
Every legend on the shelf
Helped heal me
So we spit till the sky turn filthy
(Thank you)
For the pain and the game you gave us
(Thank you)
Every track that the OGs laced up
Hands up if the struggle ever saved us
This that thank you from the streets that raised us
[Verse 2]
I remember cousin blasting stories
Out a cracked speaker
Whole clique quiet
Every bar made our backs straighter
Y’all survived summers
Winters, raid after raid
We just kids in the cul-de-sac
Trying to channel that rage
Albuquerque alleyways
You could taste the dust
But them coastal storytellers
Taught us who to trust
Taught us when to duck
Taught us never fold
How to turn a bad hand
Into ten rings of gold
Graff on the walls
Same script, different slang
Same sirens at night
Same hunger pangs
From the pier to the projects
To this desert slang
We the echo of your echo
Let the chorus sang
[Chorus]
This that thank you from the Duke City
From the West and the East
Y’all built me
Every legend on the shelf
Helped heal me
So we spit till the sky turn filthy
(Thank you)
For the pain and the game you gave us
(Thank you)
Every track that the OGs laced up
Hands up if the struggle ever saved us
This that thank you from the streets that raised us
[Bridge]
If you ever wrote a verse
Just to stay alive
If you ever turned your trauma
To a battle cry
From the ocean air
To this dry night sky
We salute every line
That kept us in our right mind
[Chorus]
This that thank you from the Duke City
From the West and the East
Y’all built me
Every legend on the shelf
Helped heal me
So we spit till the sky turn filthy
(Thank you)
For the pain and the game you gave us
(Thank you)
Every track that the OGs laced up
Hands up if the struggle ever saved us
This that thank you from the streets that raised us