[Verse 1]
Grew up in a place where you had to be hard
Childhood scraps in the back of the yard
Bro said beat his a** or I'm a beat yours
Didn't wanna but I knew it was out of street love
He was only trying to make sure I had heart
Ever since a kid always had a good heart
Never start sh** but I hit when it start
Got my liks in with some big kids in the park
Never backed down from a kid in a fair fight
But I backed down from an older kid one night
Dad seen that and never let me live it down
Wasn't no dad never known to be around
Kind of p**y for a dad lets a p**y raise a man?
I love my mom just spitting them facts
She did it alone had to wear both hats
In a mans world where being a man means tats
f** R&B we bumpin' Snoop Dogg
Fugees Luniz Biggie 2Pac
Goonies tooleys rule thee boombox
Cause soothing singing's usually too soft
Fellas in the hood ain't trying to doowop
Unless you sing of groupies you got
In a mans world loving a woman is soft
But earth is a woman so woman is rock
[Chorus]
I remember when I thought, R&B was fake as hell
Because the singer wasn't really singing to, his girl
But then I realized, the feel it creates is real
It's like lifes love spell, Queen come right here
And let me take them jeans off, please ma
Let's take it to the bed and get our creep on, week long
Ya know I got a shoulder you can lean on, be strong
Ain't just here for the cutty but the D long
[Verse 2]
Miseducated misconceptions spreaded like wildfire
To be a man you called a girl a b**h and got loud and riled
Like single parent families don't make up more than half of our homes
Like most of those ain't headed by our mothers no man in the throne
Neo-patriarchal systems visions are so p**y
Oops I meant so dick, cause p**y is so rich
And penis ain't even able to lead it rape beat it shameful
Conceited can't even please it believe it we need you lady
I'm far from righteous I've committed nights just like this
Wilted by guilty conscious filthy promise filled his momma
Treating my sons queen like nothing I k**ed my honor
I hope he's better to the mother of his son or daughter
I hope he don't project his insecurities upon her
I hope he breaks the cycle and takes the rifle to this fodder
Yeah when it comes to women I hope he's nothing like his father
He needs my growth so I can be a better role model
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
It's tough when all the love you've known has always been dysfunctional
Momma gave the whooping so step father wouldn't use a board
Never knew a man who'd treat his lady like a beauty queen
Much less a dad who'd treat his babies like they're human being
Exception being seeing Brady Bunch on grandmas tv screen
Reflection eternally escaped the hood Talib Kweli
Absent fathers tearful mothers angry grandmas broken homes
Molding martyrs here for others' thickened skin and swollen bones
Mental shots of cortisone to numb the pain depression swoll
Vodka shots a quarter O a blunt to flame suppressed the cold
Younger but the mental's old, finally sobered up the mind
Six years without a high that wasn't naturally inclined
Stopped committing many crimes and started trying to live my life
Now I'm out here getting mine and see the value in a wife
Young attempts to navigate the roadmap of relationships
A couple slips a few trips but R&B I'm making it
[Chorus]