REFRAIN
It’s the P, the H, the I the L-A/ delphia is the place where I stay
The P-H the I the L the L Y / North, South, G-Town, and Westside
It’s the P, to the H, the I the L-A/ delphia is the place where I lay
The P-H the I the L the L Y / all day representing 2-1-5

VERSE 1
Now, I don’t know what you heard about the place
except the usual the Liberty Bell, and cheesesteaks
Ben Frank, T.O. , A.I. people
know a few famous facts about the place I call home.
But when it comes to the actual feel and flow
Philly’s foreign as Rome to someone who’s never flown.
From bike bound b-boys to really rich Republicans
that Green like Rock School kids or Rastafarians.
From fake thugs to gangsta’s from Boyz II to Men
to Musiq’s Neo Soulchild. This’s where the story begins.

It starts in a hood not unlike yours, in a time
where streetlights told the time, and sneakers hung from phone lines.
And man, in the Summer Summer Summertime
block parties weren’t hard to find
‘Cause I’m “West Philadelphia Born and raised.”
Well actually, I’s born in North, and moved when I was eight.
Never stayed permanently in one house, or block
neighborhood, or sect, my mom and pops moved a lot.
Roxborough, Fairmount, both West and North Philly.
Switched ups schools and learned real diversity
spinning all around this town, standing on unsolid ground.
I made my way to the center, and my home became the city.
(Train sound Effects)

Mom’s made sure my education was tight
while dad did his best to expose me to real life.
From corner store gun fights, to big city lights,
got my first transpass and became a child of the night.
From eight grade house parties, from clubs with hot shorties
getting thrown out the Abington Y like “Awww Lawdy!
Boy, now why you put that girl in the air?
Ahh-Uhh, you dancing to freaky, you need to get out of here!
That scene got old, and I soon got bored,
so I went some where I never went before,
called The Gathering, supposed to be Hip-hop Raw
I opened up the door and there guess who I saw

Bert the beatbox boomin, while brothas bustin battles
with more beef than a cheesesteak
B-boys boppin on the beatbreak
Linoleum surrounded by bohemians
watchin rappers spittin onstage with a dj.
Blacks, whites, asains, latinos alike united that night.
Feeling high as a kite, as if I just might/ take flight
to new heights if I grabbed that mic,
and if I gave into fright, I’d never known what it felt like.
So stepped into the spotlight, and let it Baptize me
and spit…something whack. “Eh, it was aight ‘b’”
And so I fell in love with the same chick Common Used to
She even introduced me toa few crews,
like Amani’s class where I learned to breakdance
or back at Temple with O’ we’d freestyle rap.
Got that gift of gab, and formed my own band,
six piece jazz geeks dubbed Second Hand
Sound-ed aight on Cd, performances hit or miss.
‘Cause my school’s acoustics Made me sound like this
And though we ain’t become rockstars like we thought we should
We had a lot of fun, and we got real good,
Which was important, ‘cause school was boring
I was either talking butt off or snoring.
And when that bell rang I couldn’t wait,
‘cause spending time with was my way to escape.

‘Cause man I love
Sitting at Rittenhouse with bands that jam.
‘And man I love
All the festivals at Penns Landing
‘And man I love
my Wawa, and I love Rita’s
‘And man I love
chillin at South Street eating Lorenzo’s eating pizza
‘And man I love
that I’ve never seen the Liberty Bell
‘And man I love
spitting on stage with Patti LaBelle
‘And man I love
Odunde and the B-boy BBQ
‘And I love
it all Philly…I love you

The city of brotherly love, the one that loves you back
that boo’s Destiny’s Child and has Santa Claus attacked
The only one I’ve known and grown to call home.
So now it’s time for I to say goodbye and be on my own.
Time to push the pedal to the metal and hit road,
can’t rest till I’ve spread my wings and flown.
And although, there’s so/ much I want to explore with you
It’s time for me to move onto bigger apples to chew.
But Philly, it’s not you it’s me, can’t you see,
I’ll come back to you eventually if its truly meant to be.
So its not truly forever, forever-ever, forever,
forever-ever? forever-ever? Never!
We’ll weather the weather like Shakira
whenever or wherever through whatever
whenever we’re together so never! Ever say never!
Cause’ no matter where I touch down,
this is always gonna be my, my hometown!

The P-to the H-the I- the L-A, best in world, in all USA.
The P-H, the I the L, the L, Y, represent my birthplace til I die
The P-to the H-the I- the L-A, to the rest of the world, there’s only one thing to say.
[Sample:] People Get Ready