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Where survival becomes testimony, and testimony becomes art.

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Hip Hop the street game of lyrics

POETIC CINEMA ARCHIVE

The Black Knight Chronicles

A Washington Heights Testimony

This page is a living archive of spoken-word lyrics, street philosophy, and historical reflection from the perspective of a survivor of the Washington Heights drug-war era of the 1980s and 1990s.

Written under the voices of Benson (street name) and Vernon (heart name), these works blend hip-hop, poetry, memoir, and social commentary.

They document:

• the concrete jungle of Washington Heights
• the rise of street economies
• cross-cultural communities (Black, Dominican, Caribbean)
• the invisible war of drugs, poverty, and survival
• brotherhood, loss, music, and reflection

THE BLACK KNIGHT CHRONICLES

OpenMic Sessions — Poetic Cinema

Welcome to a living archive.

This page is part of Poetic Cinema, a project dedicated to documenting life, survival, and memory through music, poetry, and visual storytelling.

The works presented here come from a man who lived through the Washington Heights drug era of the 1980s and 1990s — a time that shaped neighborhoods, families, and entire generations.

These are not just songs.

They are records of experience.

Each lyric reflects the psychology of survival.
Each illustration captures a moment from memory.
Each title represents a piece of a life lived inside what many now call the invisible war of the streets.

This collection is known as:

THE BLACK KNIGHT CHRONICLES

A knight moves differently on the chessboard.

Not forward.
Not backward.

Sideways.

That is how survival happens.

FREE RECORD

OpenMic Session

To experience the voice of Poetic Cinema fully, one complete record is presented here for free.

This record represents the tone of the entire project.

Read it slowly.
Feel the rhythm of the words.
Imagine the sound behind them.

These lyrics were written from memory — from a time when Washington Heights was one of the most intense environments in New York City.

The remaining songs appear below as visual previews from the album.

Each one is a doorway into a larger story.

THE ALBUM IN VISUAL FORM

The following illustrations represent records from the Black Knight Chronicles.

These sketches are not random artwork.

They are visual scenes drawn from the lyrics themselves.

Each image reflects a moment, a feeling, or a psychological landscape from the era being documented.

Think of them as snapshots from memory.

Together they form a gallery of songs.

Born a Wild Animal

Survival in the concrete jungle.

911 on the Pager

The moment when brotherhood turns into grief.

Gangster Loves House Music

The nightclubs where the war paused for a few hours.

Crazy but Clean

Street trauma and the psychology of survival.

Dragon Fire Nights

Temptation, fireworks, and danger over Washington Heights.

OSB Block Testimony

Open-air markets and the underground street economy.

Sandwich Bed Dreams

From success to collapse and rebuilding again.

Cheap Therapy on Broadway

Street philosophy spoken outside corner stores.

Who Am I on This Block?

Identity, loyalty, and community beyond nationality.

Hip-Hop: The Street Game

The hidden systems behind the drug era and hip-hop culture.

Saturday Night Throwbacks

Memories of family, television, and simpler nights.

All One Under the Sun

A reflection on humanity beyond race, borders, and division.

COLLABORATION INVITATION

Poetic Cinema is an open artistic archive.

These lyrics are available for collaboration with:

• Music producers
• Hip-hop artists
• House music artists
• Spoken-word performers
• Documentary filmmakers
• Visual artists
• Cultural historians
• Scholars studying the era

If a record speaks to you and you can hear the sound behind it, the door is open.

The goal is simple:

Turn these stories into living works of art.

Music.
Film.
Performance.
Exhibits.

The archive is meant to move.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Washington Heights drug era of the 1980s and 1990s was one of the most intense periods in New York City's modern history.

Immigration waves.
Open-air markets.
Hip-hop culture rising.
Law enforcement pressure.
Entire communities navigating survival.

Many people wrote about the era from the outside.

Few documented it from the inside.

These lyrics are reflections from someone who lived through that time and now documents it through Poetic Cinema.

Not as glorification.

But as testimony.

COMING SOON

The Black Knight Chronicles — Lyrics Book

A full collection of the lyrics from this project will soon be released as a Poetic Cinema book.

The book will include:

• Complete lyrics
• Expanded storytelling
• Poetic Cinema illustrations
• Commentary on the era
• Historical reflections

A permanent artistic record of a generation that lived through a war many people still do not fully understand.

THE BLACK KNIGHT

Some people move like pawns.

Some people move like kings.

But a knight moves differently.

Sideways.

Unexpected.

That is how survival happens.

And that is how these stories were written.

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

LYRICS

🎧 “Gangster Loves House Music”

Intro – Spoken (Benson voice)
Gangster… house music…
Yeah… the 90s…
Those floors shaking…
Bass in your chest like a second heartbeat…

Hook

Gangster… house music…
All the clubs, all the nights…
Bass on my face, lights in my eyes,
Sweat on the floor till the sunrise.

Gangster… house music…
Nothing to lose, just groove,
Stomping the blues from the streets away,
Letting the rhythm move.

Verse 1

Early 90s, those club doors swing,
Smoke in the air, bass like thunder rings,
Floor packed tight, bodies in motion,
Music hit deep like a wave in the ocean.

Most of the block was hip-hop proud,
Boom-bap blasting loud for the crowd,
But me… I slipped into house spots slow,
Where the rhythm took control.

Side to side, stomping the beat,
Closed eyes dancing, heart and feet,
Circle forming in the middle of the floor,
Soul getting lighter than it was before.

Hook

Gangster… house music…
Bass in the chest, lights in the night…

Verse 2

Some folks high, some folks free,
Some just dancing like they supposed to be,
No lyrics needed when the rhythm talks,
Just drums and bass on electric walks.

Maybe African rhythm in the bones we share,
Maybe city sweat in the midnight air,
Gangsters from the block, queens from the street,
Everybody moving to the same heartbeat.

Driving home when the night was done,
Sun creeping up, new day begun,
Still hear the bass in my memory long,
House music all night strong.

Bridge – Vernon voice

In the streets we carried the weight…
But in those house clubs…
For a few hours…
We were just human beings dancing.

No guns.
No blocks.
Just rhythm.

Hook (Final)

Gangster… house music…
From the streets to the floor…
Let the bass take the pain away,
Till you can’t feel it anymore.

Outro – Curator voice

History will remember hip-hop as the sound of the streets.

But on certain nights in the 90s…
The gangsters were dancing to house.

And for a moment…
the war stopped.

FEATURED WORKS PREVIEW

Below are short glimpses of pieces currently in the Poetic Cinema archive.

1. Born a Wild Animal

"I was born a wild animal
not in a forest
but in a jungle of concrete.

Sirens instead of birds
rooftops instead of trees.

Washington Heights raised me."

Theme: survival in the concrete jungle

2. 911 on the Pager (Walter)

"Beep… beep… 911
the pager stopped my heart.

Walter gone.

That’s when I learned
money can’t buy a soul."

Theme: loss, brotherhood, and grief

3. Gangster Loves House Music

"Gangster… house music…
bass shaking the floor.

For a few hours
the war stopped."

Theme: escape through music in the 90s club scene

4. Crazy but Clean

"They call me crazy.

But crazy survived
what sane people never saw."

Theme: trauma, survival, street psychology

5. Dragon Fire Nights

"Fireworks over Dyckman skies.

Sirens in the distance.

Dragons in the mind."

Theme: street temptation and internal battles

6. OSB Block Testimony

"Cars lined up on one-way streets.

Lookouts on rooftops.

Washington Heights open-air markets."

Theme: historical street economy of the Heights

7. Sandwich Bed Dreams

"From Woodcliff Lake mansions
back to Mom’s couch bed.

A fallen king
learning humility."

Theme: collapse and rebuilding

8. Cheap Therapy on Broadway

"Corner-store therapy.

Truth told for free
under neon lights."

Theme: humor, culture, and street philosophy

9. Who Am I on This Block?

"Dominican I am not.

But I stood with them.

Family made from the block."

Theme: identity and community

10. Hip-Hop: The Street Game

"Slave ships yesterday.

Cocaine ships today.

Same board.

Different players."

Theme: the hidden system behind the drug era

11. Saturday Night Throwbacks

"Channel 7 glowing.

Love Boat playing.

Mom’s crib warm."

Theme: nostalgia and lost love

12. All One Under the Sun

"Every shade.

Every language.

One human story."

Theme: unity and universal philosophy

THE BLACK KNIGHT

These works form part of the Black Knight Chronicles, a reflection on surviving the invisible war of the American drug era.

A knight moves differently on the chessboard.

Not forward.

Not backward.

Sideways.

That’s how survival happens.

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

“Black-and-white collage of life moments, where the images speak for themselves and tell a story of experience and memory.”

Helvetica Light is an easy-to-read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works well on almost every site.

THE LYRICS BOOK

HIP HOP: THE STREET GAME OF LYRICS
Poetic Cinema Archive
This page presents a living archive of spoken-word lyrics, street philosophy, and historical reflection from the perspective of a survivor of the Washington Heights drug-war era of the 1980s and 1990s.
Written through the voices of Benson (street name) and Vernon (heart name), these works combine hip-hop storytelling, poetic testimony, and visual art to document a time that shaped an entire generation.
Each piece reflects moments of survival, culture, temptation, loss, and reflection.
The illustrations alongside the lyrics are Poetic Cinema sketches — visual scenes inspired directly from the emotional landscapes of the songs.
Together they form a living gallery of music, memory, and testimony.
FREE RECORD
FREE RECORD
One full record from the archive is presented here for visitors to experience the rhythm, tone, and voice of the Poetic Cinema project.
This record represents the spirit of the entire archive.
All additional songs appear below as preview excerpts accompanied by visual sketches.
These previews provide a glimpse into the larger body of work that continues to expand through Poetic Cinema.
FEATURED WORKS PREVIEW
FEATURED WORKS PREVIEW
Below are short glimpses of pieces currently in the Poetic Cinema archive.
Each work captures a moment, feeling, or psychological landscape from the era being documented.
Think of them as snapshots from memory.
Together they form a gallery of songs.
Born a Wild Animal
“I was born a wild animal
not in a forest
but in a jungle of concrete.
Sirens instead of birds.
Rooftops instead of trees.
Washington Heights raised me.”
Theme: survival in the concrete jungle
911 on the Pager (Walter)
“Beep… beep… 911.
The pager stopped my heart.
Walter gone.
That’s when I learned
money can’t buy a soul.”
Theme: loss, brotherhood, and grief
Gangster Loves House Music
“Gangster… house music…
bass shaking the floor.
For a few hours
the war stopped.”
Theme: escape through music in the 90s club scene
Crazy but Clean
“They call me crazy.
But crazy survived
what sane people never saw.”
Theme: trauma, survival, street psychology
Dragon Fire Nights
“Fireworks over Dyckman skies.
Sirens in the distance.
Dragons in the mind.”
Theme: street temptation and internal battles
OSB Block Testimony
“Cars lined up on one-way streets.
Lookouts on rooftops.
Washington Heights open-air markets.”
Theme: the street economy of the Heights
Sandwich Bed Dreams
“From Woodcliff Lake mansions
back to Mom’s couch bed.
A fallen king
learning humility.”
Theme: collapse and rebuilding
Cheap Therapy on Broadway
“Corner-store therapy.
Truth told for free
under neon lights.”
Theme: humor, culture, and street philosophy
Who Am I on This Block?
“Dominican I am not.
But I stood with them.
Family made from the block.”
Theme: identity and community
Hip-Hop: The Street Game
“Slave ships yesterday.
Cocaine ships today.
Same board.
Different players.”
Theme: systems behind the drug era
Saturday Night Throwbacks
“Channel 7 glowing.
Love Boat playing.
Mom’s crib warm.”
Theme: nostalgia and memory
All One Under the Sun
“Every shade.
Every language.
One human story.”
Theme: unity and humanity
COLLABORATION INVITATION
COLLABORATION INVITATION
Poetic Cinema is an open artistic archive.
These lyrics are available for collaboration with:
• Music producers
• Hip-hop artists
• Spoken-word performers
• Documentary filmmakers
• Visual artists
• Cultural historians
• Scholars studying the era
If a record speaks to you and you can hear the sound behind it, collaboration opportunities are welcome.
The goal is simple:
To transform these stories into living works of art.
Music.
Film.
Performance.
Exhibits.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Washington Heights drug era of the 1980s and 1990s was one of the most intense underground economies in modern New York City history.
Immigration waves.
Street markets.
Hip-hop culture rising.
Communities navigating survival.
Many stories from that time were told by outsiders.
These works come from someone who lived through the era itself.
Poetic Cinema preserves these moments not as glorification, but as human testimony.
UPCOMING BOOK
COMING SOON
The full collection of lyrics from this archive will be released as a Poetic Cinema book.
The book will include:
• complete lyrics
• Poetic Cinema illustrations
• expanded storytelling
• reflections on the Washington Heights era
A permanent literary and visual archive of the stories behind the music.
CLOSING STATEMENT
THE BLACK KNIGHT
These works form part of the Black Knight Chronicles, a reflection on surviving the invisible war of the American drug era.
A knight moves differently on the chessboard.
Not forward.
Not backward.
Sideways.
That is how survival happens.

“Poetic Cinema visual metaphor artwork”

“Poetic Cinema visual metaphor artwork��”

“Poetic Cinema visual metaphor artwork”

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