The Corner

By Common

On Be

Released on March 1, 2005

108K Views

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[Produced by Kanye West]


[Intro: Common]

Uh, uh, uh, uh-uh-uh

Uh, uh, uh, uh-uh-uh

Uh, uh, uh, uh-uh-uh

Uh, uh, uh, uh-uh-uh


[Verse 1: Common]

Memories on corners with the fo's and the mo's

Walk to the store for the rolls, talkin' straightforward to hoes

Got uncles that smoke, and some put blow up they nose

To cope with the lows, the wind is cold and it blows

In they socks and they soles, niggas holdin' they rolls

Corners leave souls opened and closed, hopin' for mo'

With nowhere to go, niggas rollin' in droves

They shoot the wrong way, 'cause they ain't knowin' they goals

The streets ain't safe, 'cause they ain't knowin' the code

By the foes, I was told: "either focus or fold"

Got cousins with flows, hope they open some doors

So we can cop clothes and roll in a Rolls

Now I roll in a Olds, with windows that don't roll

Down the roads where cars get broken and stole

These are the stories told by Stony and Cottage Grove

The world is cold, the block is hot as a stove

On the corners


[Chorus: Kanye West]

I wish I could give you this feelin'

I wish I could give you this feelin', uh-uh, uh-uh-uh

Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbin', killin', Dying

Just to make a living – huh?! (Huh?)


[Post-Chorus: The Last Poets]

We overstated, we underrated, we educated

The corner was our time when time stood still, in

Gators and snakeskins, in

Yellow and pink, and

Collared blue profiles glorifying them


[Verse 2: Common]

Street lights and deep nights, cats tryin' to eat right

Ridin' no-seat-bikes, with work to feed hypes

So they can keep sweet Nike's, they head and they feet right

Desires of street life, cars and weed types

It's hard to breathe nights, days are thief-like

The beast roam the streets, the police is Greek-like

Game at its peak, we speak and believe hype

Bang in the streets, hats cocked left or deep right

It's steep life, coming up where niggas is sheep-like

Rappers and hoopers, we strive to be like

G's with three stripes, seeds that need light

Cheese and recite, needs, it be strife

The corner, where struggle and greed fight

We write songs about wrong, 'cause it's hard to see right

Look to the sky, hopin' it will bleed light

Reality's a bitch, and I heard that she bites

The corner


[Chorus: Kanye West]

I wish I could give you this feelin'

I wish I could give you this feelin', uh-uh, uh-uh-uh

Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbin', killin', Dying

Just to make a living – huh?! (Huh?)


[Post-Chorus: The Last Poets]

The corner was our magic, 

Our music, our politics

Fires raised, as

Tribal dances and war cries

Broke out on different corners

Power to the people!

Black power! Black is beautiful!


[Verse 3: Common]

Black church services, murderers, Arabs servin' burgers

As cats with gold permanents move they bags as herbalists

The dirt isn't just fertile, it's people workin' and earnin' this

The curb-getters go where the cash flow and the current is

It's so hot that niggas burn to live

The furnace is–where the money move and the determined live

We talk shit, play lotto, and buy German beers

It's so Black, packed with action that's affirmative

The corners


[Chorus: Kanye West]

I wish I could give you this feelin'

I wish I could give you this feelin', uh-uh, uh-uh-uh

Uh-uh-ugh, on the corners, niggas robbin', killin', Dying

Just to make a living – huh?! (Huh?)


[Post-Chorus: The Last Poets]

The corner was our Rock of Gibraltar, our Stonehenge

Our Taj Mahal, our monument

Our testimonial to freedom, to peace, and to love

Down on the corner