Rikers Island is New York City's main jail complex, as well as the name of the 413.17-acre (1.672 km2) island on which it sits, in the East River between Queens and the mainland Bronx, adjacent to the runways of LaGuardia Airport. The island itself is part of the borough of the Bronx, though it is included as part of Queens Community Board 1 and has a Queens ZIP code. The jail complex, operated by the New York City Department of Correction, has a budget of $860 million a year, a staff of 7,000 officers and 1,500 civilians to control an inmate population of 14,000. The official permanent population of the island, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, was 11,355 as of 2009.
The island is thought to be named after Abraham Rycken, a Dutch settler who moved to Long Island in 1638 and whose descendants owned Rikers Island until 1884, when it was sold to the city for $180,000. It has been used as a jail ever since.
The Rikers Island complex, which consists of ten jails, holds local offenders who are awaiting trial and cannot afford, obtain, or were not given bail from a judge, those serving sentences of one year or less and those temporarily placed there pending transfer to another facility.[citation needed] Rikers Island is therefore a jail and not a prison, which typically holds offenders serving longer-term sentences.
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Young Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.
Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B singles. His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. It also includes the singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" featuring T-Pain and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.
Cocoa Tea(born Calvin George Scott, September 3, 1959, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae/dancehall singer, songwriter, and DJ.
Cocoa Tea was popular in Jamaica in from 1985, but has become successful worldwide only since the 1990s. One of his most famous songs is "Rikers Island", which was later put into a dub version by Nardo Ranks entitled "Me No Like Rikers Island" (featured on Dancehall Reggaespanol) which was released the same year as the original "Rikers Island". He also gained fame with the song "Young Lover". He gained notoriety in March 2008 after releasing a song titled "Barack Obama" in support of the US Presidential candidate by the same name. Cocoa Tea's song "Jah Made Them That Way" from his 1984 album Rocking Dolly interpolates "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson and "Answer Mi Question" by Dillinger.
Well listen to me, you young hoods, this is some advice
You do the crime, you're payin the price
Cause if you're in the drug spots, sellin crack on the block
Snatchin chains, bustin brains, like a real hardrock
If you ever hear a cop say you're under arrest
Go out just like a trooper, stick out your chest
Cause you might have been robbin, you might have been whylin
But you won't be smilin on Riker's ISLAND
Just to hear the name it makes your spine tingle
This is a jungle where the murderers mingle
This ain't a place that's crowded but there's room for you
Whether you're white or you're black, you'll be black and blue
Cause in every cellblock, there is a hardrock
with a real nice device that's called a sock lock
Don't ever get caught in a crime my friend
Cause this bus trip is not to Adventure's Inn
They have a nice warm welcome, for new inmates
Razors, and shanks, and sharp edged plates
Posses will devour, punks with power
After the shower it's, rush hour
So watch your back before you get sacked
These a bunch of maniacs that's about to attack
If you're a hustlin pro, keep a low profile'n
Cause you won't be smilin on Riker's ISLAND
C-74, adolescents at war
Put your ear to the floor, you can hear the roar
They take you out of BC, they now found you a cage
All eyes are glued to you like you're up on stage
If you're soft as a leaf, don't get into a beef
And God be with you chief if you got gold teeth
Some try to be hard, front and say I'm God
Don't know a lesson say a blessin, you're gonna get scared
(Yo call the C.O.) That won't be necessary
He'll watch him beat you down, and take your commissary
Inside the lunchroom, you meet your doom
Someone is lookin at your sharper than a tablespoon
Use your hands like a man, don't go out like a chump
Never 'fess, bench press so that you can be pumped
If you don't got a game, you get beaten as lame
And scared as a mouse in a house of pain
So to all the jailbirds that listen to hip-hop
Move your pelvis like Elvis do the Jailhouse Rock
You might be coolin, you might be stylin
But you won't be smilin on Riker's ISLAND
If you're on a drug tip, don't be a Dumbo
Police investigate like Columbo if they think you're sellin jumbo
But don't get me wrong, it might be your thing
Whether smilin on the Island, or singin in Sing-Sing
The way you're takin pictures and you're givin a smile
Cheerin, the priveledge for a long long while
So keep your money pilin, keep profilin
Well listen to me, you young hoods, this is some advice
You do the crime, you're payin the price
Cause if you're in the drug spots, sellin crack on the block
Snatchin chains, bustin brains, like a real hardrock
If you ever hear a cop say you're under arrest
Go out just like a trooper, stick out your chest
Cause you might have been robbin, you might have been whylin
But you won't be smilin on Riker's ISLAND
Just to hear the name it makes your spine tingle
This is a jungle where the murderers mingle
This ain't a place that's crowded but there's room for you
Whether you're white or you're black, you'll be black and blue
Cause in every cellblock, there is a hardrock
With a real nice device that's called a sock lock
Don't ever get caught in a crime my friend
Cause this bus trip is not to Adventure's Inn
They have a nice warm welcome, for new inmates
Razors, and shanks, and sharp edged plates
Posses will devour, punks with power
After the shower it's, rush hour
So watch your back before you get sacked
These a bunch of maniacs that's about to attack
If you're a hustlin pro, keep a low profile'n
Cause you won't be smilin on Riker's ISLAND
C-74, adolescents at war
Put your ear to the floor, you can hear the roar
They take you out of BC, they now found you a cage
All eyes are glued to you like you're up on stage
If you're soft as a leaf, don't get into a beef
And God be with you chief if you got gold teeth
Some try to be hard, front and say I'm God
Don't know a lesson say a blessin, you're gonna get scared
(Yo call the C.O.) That won't be necessary
He'll watch him beat you down, and take your commissary
Inside the lunchroom, you meet your doom
Someone is lookin at your sharper than a tablespoon
Use your hands like a man, don't go out like a chump
Never 'fess, bench press so that you can be pumped
If you don't got a game, you get beaten as lame
And scared as a mouse in a house of pain
So to all the jailbirds that listen to hip-hop
Move your pelvis like Elvis do the Jailhouse Rock
You might be coolin, you might be stylin
But you won't be smilin on Riker's ISLAND
If you're on a drug tip, don't be a Dumbo
Police investigate like Columbo if they think you're sellin jumbo
But don't get me wrong, it might be your thing
Whether smilin on the Island, or singin in Sing-Sing
The way you're takin pictures and you're givin a smile
Cheerin, the priveledge for a long long while
So keep your money pilin, keep profilin
Woah momma, woah pappa,
You should have seen your little son.
The first time the youth, come a New York,
Them tellin' you, you must'nt skylark,
Learn a trade or go to school,
And don't you turn yourself in a fool.
But now him gone, a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island.
Him used to walk and screw up him face,
But now him spending 'nuff time up-state.
Dey used to tell 'im, understand,
But now dem find him with a M-1.
Inna 'im pocket, him have a million,
So, now him gone, a Riker's Island.
He never want go a Riker's Island,
But now him gone a Riker's Island.
Mmmm, oy.
Him used to chuck it, from Brooklyn to Bronx,
And a gwarn like a big top Ranks,
But 'nuff a him government response.
'Cause him gone, a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island.
Now him gone a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island.
No mamma, I wish you were around,
To see your youth how him going down
Him used to chuck it, from town to town.
Him used to shot people, all around,
Uptown, and downtown, and all around.
So, now him gone, a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island.
Now him gone, a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island, Oh no,
He never want go dere, no.
No, no, no, no...mmmm.
Dey used to tell him stop screw up him face,
But now 'im spending time somewhere up-state.
Dem used to tell 'im to understand,
Inna him pocket, dem find a million,
And now dem find him with a M-1.
So, now him gone, a Riker's Island.
He never want go a Riker's Island.
And now him gone, a Riker's Island,
He never want reach a Riker's Island.
But oh sister, he wish you were around,
To give him food, even change his gown,
He used to roam it from town to town,
But government have him under cell-bound.
'Cause, now him gone, a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island.
But now him gone a Riker's Island,
He never want go a Riker's Island.
The first time deh youth come a New York,
Dem used to tell him youth don't skylark,
Learn a trade or go to school,
And don't you make no one take you for fool.
But now him gone, a Riker's Island,
Yes him gone, a Riker's Island.
Dem used to chuck it from Brooklyn to Bronx,
And a gwarn like deh most top Ranks,
But 'nuff a him government response,
'Ca, yes him gone a Riker's Island.
He never want go a Riker's Island,
But now him gone a Riker's Island.
He shouldn't mix up with deh don man,
And now him gone a Riker's Island,