Verse 1:
Walk with me down the cell block of any prison
See those who repented, let them know they're forgiven
And let a man tell you his story before he had a sentence
Before the handcuffs, before he made them bad decisions
He wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth
In fact, he had to sleep in the living room on the couch
With the roaches and rats, learned a little bit about the coke and the crack
Felt school was holding him back
His pops never stayed for his birth, moms loved him to d**h
He's the only one she'd pray for in church
But the streets are calling, mom ain't making a decent living
He wants to be one of them people balling
The girls making fun of him, ain't eating right and can't sleep at night
That's what the sound of gunshots have done to him
He needs some way to escape, now put yourself in his shoes
Now what's really the choice you'd make?
Hook: They say, it can't be that hard in the hood
Same folk never lived in the heart of the hood
They say, man n**uz just lazy
For no apparent reason man n**uz just crazy
Repeat hook
Verse 2:
This music's embedded in me, it's higher learning
My residency continues through the years but evidently
I do it for nothing, because on the radio this music they're pumping suggests
I should let my pa**ion take a rest
I don't seem to fit in, this dream that I'm living
Makes me want to go to far extremes just to get inside
The minds of the listeners, find myself wishing a
Change would come sometime soon, my mind's consumed
With hip-hop, can't get away
Like a pit locked on me, jaws tight at the height of this gridlock
Where the streets cage you, peeps hate you
Everybody trying to eat, limited seats at each table
I'm connected in the hood like free cable
Where snakes are up to no good and police chase you
Like we all got drug paraphernalia
Assuming we're just all thugs and failures
Hook
Repeat hook
Verse 3:
Some of y'alls political views, can only lead me to one a**umption
Y'all are a little confused
I'm gonna tell you what the streets have become
Everybody's hands inside the same cookie jar reaching for crumbs
My heart ticks with the beat of the drum
Nerves twitching in rhythm with feelings that's as deep as they come
My bloodline is traced back, to a slave that was raped and gave birth
To a baby in a haystack
Soon as his eyes were open they told him keep them on the prize
Until he realized the prize was stolen
A billion dollars a week for the war?
And not enough money to set aside for feeding the poor?
I see the picture real clear I'm not an ignorant heathen
And I ain't justifying nothing I'm just giving you reasons
And it ain't too many different options
Because even if we do stop the struggle isn't stopping