[Intro: Joell Ortiz]
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Uhh, look around in my neighborhood (aquA¡© en el barrio, tA¨¬ sabes)
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See how we live, see right there on that corner
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That's where they sell the drugs (la manteca broder)
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Run the numbers and, play dominoes, whistle at the fly ladies
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You know, I'm Latino, hahahahaha (pa que sepa)
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[Joell Ortiz:]
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The dope gets sold by the bodega
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While y'all call it dope, we call it the manteca
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We don't look for lotto numbers in the newspaper
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We play it right over the counter by the Now & Laters
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Sit down on milk crates and play dominoes
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A¢®Capicu! Slam it down, tell 'em adios
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Another round of beers before we go upstairs
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And watch a fuzzy TV on some of the oldest chairs
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Relax, take a bath and get nice and clean
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Come out just in time for dinner, you know rice and beans
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A little chicken, maybe tostones, it's up to Ma
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She might be tired keepin this house all up to par
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Sometimes I look out the window and see some nice wheels
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I got a thing for rims, they give me slight chills
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Round here you get killed over a ice-grill
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Guns pop but the O.G.'s carry knives still (word)
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[Chorus: Joell Ortiz (La Bruja)]
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(Latinooooo) I'm that and I'm proud
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If you don't know us let me tell you about (Latinooooos)
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We got beautiful women (la-la-la la-la-la la-la)
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And they all seem to know their way around the kitchen
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I'm (Latinooooo) yeah we stick together
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We had hard lives so our skin is thick forever
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We (Latinoooooos) I'm that and I'm proud (la la la la la la laaaa)
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If you don't know us let me tell you about
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[Joell Ortiz:]
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See e'ry block got a different crew
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This kid I knew got paralyzed cause of his tattoo
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And he wasn't in a gang
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Just some young punk tryin to come up and get a name
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Put a bullet in his brain, it's a shame
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But yo, on a better note
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Latina women look so good from head to toe, get 'em and never let 'em go
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Baseball is big in my town
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So is boxing, a hundred he don't see the ninth round
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These young girls is fresh, they like to get piped down
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Babies havin babies, guess who on the WIC line now?
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Guess who got welfare? Guess who on Medicaid?
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Guess who left they kid with their girl for eleven days?
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Without callin, cause he's ballin
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One year from now he'll have a child support warrant
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It happen all the time in my community
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That's the difference between someone like you and me - I'm
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[Chorus]
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[Joell Ortiz:]
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Big Chino got a truck, and a bike, and a boat
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But Chino got a gun cause his life full of coke
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And Chino havin fun, he don't like bein broke
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But Chino gon' be done, FBI is no joke
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And I don't want Chi' to get knocked
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When the truck around he buy ice cream for the block
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See where I'm from the kids look up to the hustlers
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Even if they're family with some of the customers
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My abuela used to tell me to stay off the corner
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You heard what happened to Mrs. Rivera's daughter?
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See she had got caught in the crossfire right there in broad day
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Shot her in the back tryin run in the hallway
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By my buildin all you hear is, "Oye
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Ten cuidado la policia esta en la esquina de Broadway"
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There's action all the time in my neighborhood
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But see we all mind our business like a neighbor should
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See this one right here is for all my Latinos around the world
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Around the world man, there's so many of us man
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Be proud of who you are man, I love y'all niggaz
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Joell Ortiz
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[Chorus: w/ ad libs]
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[Joell Ortiz & La Bruja:]
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Latinooooos
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-----------------
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Latino
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Joell Ortiz |