Streets of New York (song)
| "Streets of New York" | ||||
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| Single by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo | ||||
| from the album Wanted: Dead or Alive | ||||
| A-side | "Streets of New York" | |||
| B-side | "Poison" | |||
| Released | July 19, 1990 | |||
| Format | 12-inch single, cassette single, CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1990 | |||
| Genre | East coast hip hop, golden age hip hop, hardcore hip hop | |||
| Length | 4:20 | |||
| Label | Cold Chillin', Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Nathaniel Wilson | |||
| Producer(s) | Anton, Kool G Rap, Large Professor | |||
| Kool G Rap & DJ Polo singles chronology | ||||
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"Streets of New York" is the first single from American hip hop duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's 1990 album Wanted: Dead or Alive. It was released as a single with "Poison" as a B-side and later also featured on the compilation albums Killer Kuts (1994), The Best of Cold Chillin' (2000), Greatest Hits (2002) and Street Stories: The Best of Kool G Rap & DJ Polo (2013).
Driven by the piano and saxophone sample of the Fatback Band's "Gotta Learn How To Dance", "Streets of New York" is a hardcore hip hop song about the social issues in New York City's ghettos, such as alcoholism, domestic violence, drug abuse, gambling addiction, gun violence, homelessness, police corruption, poverty and prostitution. In a 2014 interview, Kool G Rap recalled his inspiration for the song:
I've seen things like a blind man playing saxophone driving through Harlem when I was young. That just comes from my involvement in New York City. All this shit you would've seen, especially in the 70s. You would see dope fiends on the corner, dudes with puffy hands from shooting so much dope. I've seen that shit a lot, man. I've seen dudes with no eyes in their sockets. I've seen a chick with a fucking slit across her throat. I was always a part of the streets. You know how many dudes around me did shit, killed people and got killed? I wasn't detached from the streets at all.
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Wikipedia