Rhapsody In Blue
Jean-Yves Thibaudet Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop Lyrics

Yo, the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse yo
The situation is dire and serious in Brooklyn

Yo, this is Wyclef Jean the Refugee Allstars up in here
I am Wyclef Jean of the Refugee Allstars

The CNN for the world
We report the truth from everywhere

Yo what's this I hear about the police in Brooklyn?
What is happening with the police in Brooklyn?

Turn this jam up yo
Louder, please!

Yo this is the type of jam that be getting No Airplay
This song is not for the radio

I want the whole world to hear this joint right here (apocalypse baby)
I want everyone to hear this song

One, two ; watch out for the man in blue
The police are dangerous

Three, four; I keep it raw and hardcore
I am keeping it gritty and real

Five, six; you're beating us with nightsticks
The police are using violence against us

Seven, eight; I'm forced to pack a thirty-eight
I need to carry a gun for protection

Nine, ten; you put me in a pen
The police arrested me

if I could do it all again, I'd probably bust your chin
If I could go back in time, I would fight back against the police

I'm from a land of black bats, alley rats and cats
I come from a rough neighbourhood

Scratch up my car, set me up for the carjack
Someone vandalized my car and tried to steal it

Under pressure, I've got a legal gat
I have a legal gun for protection

Two straps, a total of sixteen caps
I have two guns with sixteen bullets

Say something positive? More positivity
We need more positivity in the world

More positivity, more police brutality
The police use violence against us no matter what

Thugs get angry, the violence increase
Violence begets more violence

You want peace, make Wyclef chief of police
I would create peace if I was in charge of the police

Riding through the hood it's the same old story
The same things happen in the neighbourhood all the time

It's either you play ball or you drug dealy-dealy
You either become a sports star or a drug dealer

Standing on the block when the spot gets hot
Hanging out on the street corner when things get intense

Guaranteed to get set up, by a crooked cop
The police will frame you

So I'm sittin back, rhyming on instrumentals
I am writing music

Anything I touch, it turns monumental
I make amazing music

Me and Jerry Wonder, we keep it credible for the streets
I work with my friend Jerry to make honest music for the neighbourhood

At the same time we've gotta eat
We need to make money

When we commercialize it's to enterprise
When we make our music more mainstream, it's for business reasons

We're guaranteed to sell a hundred mil before we die
We will sell 100 million records before we die

But Jerry is broke, that's the situation
My friend Jerry is poor

Nine-seven, it's like no more eviction
In 1997, we didn't get evicted

No more war milk, no more government cheese
No more government assistance

Police keep on shooting at our bulletproof Bentleys
The police still target us even when we have protection

Hey yo, back on Earth, the party's still at the Tunnel
Back in reality, the dance club is still open

on the West side of the river, what man quiver
On the west side, nothing scares me

Rats get fed to the alligator
Nature is cruel

Gun blasts equivalent to the bombs in Pearl Harbor
There are many gunshots and it's like war

Rescue choppers, Brooklyn turned to Hiroshima
The situation is like a disaster zone

I'm driving to Jersey to escape the terror
I'm driving to New Jersey to be safe

I was on the highway pushing a black Viper
I was driving a fancy car

A car pulls up, is he a jack or a sniper?
Is it a thief or someone trying to kill me?

A blue Range Rover, he says pull over
A police officer in an expensive car pulls me over

I didn't know he was a DT undercover
I didn't know he was a detective

I screamed out my lungs, 'This is discrimination!
I protested loudly

He said, 'You just robbed a gas station'
He accused me of a crime

'Who me? Not me! It couldn't be,
I denied it

I was at the Grammy's with L-Boogie, didn't you see me on TV?'
I was at a music awards ceremony with L-Boogie

'B.S.!, you're all in the same gang'
He didn't believe me

He ran me off the road, like he was Roscoe Pe-col-trane
He was a reckless driver

I stayed calm, gave him a hell of a show
I acted confident and tried to convince him

Cause if it's ever time to go, all I gotta press is turbo
I have a fast car to escape danger

Heard him on his walkie, road block on 280 West
I overheard him talking on his radio

Things got serious, that's when I bust a left
I turned left and made a quick escape

U-Turn, my tires burn, my concern, was the truck
I made a U-turn and was worried about a truck

comin head-on collision waited a second, changed position
I avoided a collision by changing my position

Close one heh, I almost went up in a blaze
I almost crashed and burned

Running from what appeared to be a masquerade
It seemed like a strange situation

You know the story, it's the same old math
This is a common problem

In Brooklyn, police put a plunger up a man's ass!
The police are capable of horrible things

Police brutality needs to stop!!!
The police need to be more humane

I'm out!
I'm finished

Wyclef Jean, CNN...CNN...CNN! (Where Brooklyn at?! Where Brooklyn at?)
I am Wyclef Jean and this is CNN. Where is Brooklyn?

Can't forget Jersey though baby!
Don't forget about New Jersey!

Police brutality is all around the whole world, we really need to chill all of that out...
Violence by the police is a global problem and we need to stop it