[Chorus]
You named them hustlers, k**ers, fiends, ex-cons
I called them cousins, aunts, pops, moms
To you? Hoodlums, crackheads, gunmens
To me? Just neighbors, cla**mates, young friends
[Verse 1]
Hardened at a tender age
Learned every trick, every trade
Shoulda been looking at the books
Instead of mastering the cooking and the jooks
With all I've grown to see
With no help with wealth what else I was gon' be?
I know them deeds in my head is foul
But when that belly growl its yelling now
...its yelling now
Best goons in the next room
Sun down in gun town, catch wreck soon
Stale living got me risking a fresh tune
Rolls out the ghetto to peddle, let's bloom
Won't be surprised if guys ran up shootin'
Stunnin' work, from the dirt, can't uproot me
The truth, I never tire of tellin' it
Under this roof, not a desired dwellin'
Strips hard after discharge flying shellings
Another petty fight, every night is yelling
Childhood memories of wild hood felonies
Quick shrug if you get good sellin' these
[?] true rhyme, you prone for fakin'
No pork, afford to walk home to bacon
Speak for streets but hearts are aching
Betta stop asking and start taking...
...When that belly growl its yellin' now
Breathe heated moments frozen in poem
No need for team I goes it alone
If you came to frame me I pose with the chrome
Coke that is broken, it's the woes of my home
Known to stem then from when we had shackles
Never planned to be a family tree of bad apples
Befuddled, how come my struggle extendin' hard?
Is it payback from way back, offendin' god?
True fact occurred to me, life's harsh
It's too black and dirty to whitewash
To be a model citizen take a lot of groomin'
And in the hallways there's always a body loomin
Blessed cops ain't k**ed me young
Reppin' blocks not knowin' where we really from
For that savoured gravy we holdin' biscuits
Thought drug traffickin was our road to riches
Not just wordplay, serious sentences
Laid back style, still hearing the emphasis
Do notes, never netted by blue coats
My anatomy is live reality I don't do hoax
No petty minds, it's heavy lines with few quotes
We'll see who drinks, who sinks, who floats
[Chorus]
You named them hustlers, k**ers, fiends, ex-cons
I called them cousins, aunts, pops, moms
To you? Hoodlums, crackheads, gunmens
To me? Just neighbors, cla**mates, young friends
[Outro - Dialog]
You know it hurts me that my people are not seeking themselves first. If black women and men knew who they really are you couldn't find a ghetto in America. Trust me. We don't know because we've been robbed of our knowledge. We've been robbed of our greatness. Of our great people and what they contributed to this world. We've been robbed of it. Unless one seeks it you'll never know
[Production by Preservation]