6PM In New York – English Lyrics

• By: Drake
• Album: If You’re Reading This It's Too Late

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the rhythmic flow of '6PM In New York' to explore contemporary English slang and the nuances of urban storytelling. This song is a perfect study in how mood and setting are used in modern songwriting to create a vivid sense of place.

[English]

6PM In New York - Drake

Yeah, yeah oh you gotta love it

Oh you got, oh you gotta love it

I heard what circulated, let's get to the bottom of it

I told 1da send me something and I got it covered

Somehow I always rise above it

Why you think I got my head in the clouds on my last album cover?

The game is all mine and I'm mighty possessive

Lil Wayne could not have found him a better successor

Every shot you see them take at me? They all contested

Allen Iverson shoe deal, these niggas all in question

Last night I went to sleep, wanted more

Tried to decide what direction I should go towards

Some nights I wish I could go back in life

Not to change shit, just to feel a couple things twice

28 at midnight, wonder what's next for me

Longevity, wonder how long they'll check for me

Prolly forever if I stay in my zone

I speak on this generation but can't change it alone

I heard a lil lil homie talking reckless in Vibe

Quite a platform you chose, you shoulda kept it inside

Oh you tried, it's so childish calling my name on the world stage

You need to act your age and not your girl's age

It gets worse by the annual my career's like a how to manual

So I guess it's understandable man

Oh you gotta love it, you gotta love it cheer

I know rappers that call Paparazzi to come and get 'em

To show they outfits off, guess they need the attention

I remember when it used to be music that did it

But then again times have changed man, who are we kiddin'?

I'm managed by my friends that I grew up with

I'd rather give that 15% to people I fuck with

If me and Future hadn't made it with this rappin'

We prolly be out in Silicon tryna get our billions on

But here we are, yeah

Lately I feel the haters eatin' away at my confidence

They scream out my failures and whisper my accomplishments

Niggas alter my message like we have words

And stories bout my life hit the net like a bad serve

Bitter women I'm overtextin' are PMSing crazy this year

Fucking with my image

I've been tryna reach to you so I can save 'em this year

Fuck it I guess I gotta wait til next year

And I heard someone say something that stuck with me a lot

Bout how we need protection from those protectin' the block

Nobody lookin' out for nobody

Maybe we should try and help somebody or be somebody

Instead of bein' somebody that makes the news

So everybody can tweet about it

And then they start to RIP about it

And four weeks later nobody even speaks about it

Damn, I just had to say my piece about it

Oh you gotta love it

But they scared of the truth so back to me showin' out in public

That's a hotter subject

I've been whippin' Mercedes and niggas try to budget

I gotta make it back to Memphis to check on my cousins

Shout out to Ashley, Biama, Julia, Ericka, Southern America

Part of my heritage, pardon my arrogance, part in my hair again

That's that comeback flow, comeback flow

Once I start it's apparent

I wanted a girl whose ass is so big that's partly embarrassin'

But fuck all the blushing and fuck your discussions

And fuck all the judgement

Your content so aggressive lately, what's irkin' you?

Shit is gettin' so personal in your verses too

I wanna prove that I'm number one over all these niggas

Bein' number two is just being the first to lose

My city dictated music, nobody seein' us

Winter here already but somehow I'm heatin' up

Been observin' the game and felt like I've seen enough

Let's drop a tape on these bitches then we'll see what's up

Yea, boy you rappin' like you seen it all

You rappin' like the throne should be the three of ya'll

"Best I Ever Had" seems like a decade ago

Decadent flow and I still got a decade to go

Oh please, take at ease, where's the love and the peace

Why you rappin' like you come from the streets?

I got a backyard where money seems to come from the trees

And I'm never ever scared to get some blood on my leaves

Phantom slidin' like the shit just hit a puddle of grease

I cook the beef well done on the double with cheese

Special order for anybody that's comin' for me

Fuck it you probably flinch if somebody sneeze

You see they got me back talking like it's just 40, Oli, and me

Cuttin' all loose ends, I be the barber for free

I'm almost at four minutes going off on the beat

Feel like I'm in the Malibu that had the cloth on the seats

Man, oh you gotta love it

And on top of that it's getting harder to eat

Rappers downgrading houses

Putting cars on the lease

To think labels said they had a problem marketing me

And now it's everybody else that's getting hard to believe

Man

Oh you gotta love it

And head to toe I'm Prada covered

I know your girl well, just not in public

Blame the city, I'm a product of it

Young nigga from the city

You gotta love it

You gotta love it

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
circulated /ˈsɜːrkjuleɪtɪd/ C1	verb - to move or travel around a circuit or system
possessive /pəˈzesɪv/ C1	adjective - demanding someone's total attention and love
successor /səkˈsesər/ B2	noun - a person or thing that succeeds another
contested /kənˈtestɪd/ C1	verb - to oppose or challenge
longevity /lɒnˈdʒevəti/ C2	noun - long life
reckless /ˈrekləs/ B2	adjective - without thinking or caring about the consequences
annual /ˈænjuəl/ B1	adjective - occurring once every year
manual /ˈmænjuəl/ B1	noun - a book of instructions
accomplishments /əˈkʌmplɪʃmənts/ B2	noun - something that has been achieved successfully
arrogance /ˈærəɡəns/ C1	noun - having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance
heritage /ˈherɪtɪdʒ/ B2	noun - property that is or may be inherited
aggressive /əˈɡresɪv/ B1	adjective - ready or likely to attack or confront
judgement /ˈdʒʌdʒmənt/ B2	noun - the ability to make considered decisions
dictated /ˈdɪkteɪtɪd/ B2	verb - to lay down authoritatively
decadent /ˈdekədənt/ C2	adjective - luxuriously self-indulgent

Key Grammar Structures

• Lil Wayne could not have found him a better successor

  ➔ Modal perfect (could + have + past participle)

  ➔ Used to express a past possibility or a logical conclusion about a past event. Here, "could not have found" implies it was impossible for a better situation to exist in the past.

• Some nights I wish I could go back in life

  ➔ Wish + past tense for hypothetical desires

  ➔ The verb "wish" is followed by the past tense "could" to express a desire for a reality different from the present or an impossible action.

• If me and Future hadn't made it with this rappin'

  ➔ Third conditional (If + past perfect...)

  ➔ Used to describe a hypothetical situation in the past. "Hadn't made it" refers to an event that did not happen, showing how it would have changed the present outcome.

• And four weeks later nobody even speaks about it

  ➔ Present simple for habitual/general facts

  ➔ The use of "speaks" (present simple) highlights a recurring pattern or a general truth about how society treats news.

• I'm almost at four minutes going off on the beat

  ➔ Gerund phrase as a predicate

  ➔ The gerund "going off" functions here to describe the action Drake is performing simultaneously with reaching the four-minute mark.

• To think labels said they had a problem marketing me

  ➔ Infinitive of exclamation/commentary

  ➔ The phrase "To think..." is an introductory infinitive phrase used to express disbelief or irony about a past statement.

• I'm a product of it

  ➔ Noun complement after linking verb

  ➔ The noun phrase "a product of it" functions as a subject complement following the linking verb "am" to define the speaker's identity.

• I'd rather give that 15% to people I fuck with

  ➔ Would rather + bare infinitive

  ➔ Used to express a preference. "Would rather" indicates that the speaker chooses one action (giving money to friends) over another.