[Verse 1: Punch] Yeah, uh, let's go deep inside the mind of a project veteran Raised with nothing on the block with his brethren A fifth of hennessy, swisher filled up with medicine Devilish grin, inhale deep, let the devil in Compelling stories between him and his men Feel like a rap cypher except way more liver With intimate details, shades of a grey writer Hit a plight of a ghetto survivor Deuce five in his waist, impatiently waiting Trying to get richer, priors hanging over his head Serving as reminders Ain't nothing funny, his stomach turn And his eyes burn, soul on ice So far from Christ, he had to fight Any disagreement, he take flight No thinking twice, anything further and the slug's ‘gon fly Project mind, the choice, his life or mine That's a very thin line, tell momma I tried Hood got ‘em sprinkling lines, Mary don't get ‘em high Something to justify the stress in his lifetime Like why his lil mama cute face, nice thighs Strip on the side and set n***as up for a time Project bread, baby was three when her daddy died Shot seventeen times and he almost survived That's where she hang her whole pride That's really where she tried to hide All the pain deep inside, the project mind [Verse 2: Jay Rock] Started off flipping on a mattress, pissy Slapboxin' won't sock him until he hit me Streetlights come on, runnin' through them hallways Dope spots open, sherm heads all day Crackheads speaking with they teeth missing Pushin' shopping carts with cans in them Dope dealers keep pitching, and while she keep b**hing She at the county building, they cut off her GR How she gonna feed the children? He got a chip on his shoulder, keep a pistol let his clip show Rob the dice game because he piss poor, all the homies know it's him Desperate time equals desperate measures Walk away all you see is stretchers n***as in the kitchen with the yay tryna stretch it So we can buy Benzs and bag bad b**hes Cause growing up n***as never had riches n***as will die trying to get that cash, k** ‘em [Verse 3: Punch] The project mind is hustle by design Too many spots in the hood set up across state lines Extend the brand, franchise expansion Guerrilla marketing plan, ensure the hood's advancement Groomed in criminology, equivalent to a Ph.D Doctorates degree at any Ivy League college Skull and Bone fraternity, oh forsaken We promise to gang ban eternally d**h before dishonor [Verse 4: Jay Rock] n***a respect for your honor, they f** n***as, no condoms My n***a got life for powder, pop shots it's problems f** your sign, n***a we rivals Broke n***as is plotting cut-throat conniving Smoke n***as for iron, prey on the weak Predators lurking, you better not sleep n***a All red bandanas, we deep n***a Gorillas and the miss bananas be the clips Concrete jungle come and take a trip, the wildlife Wild days and wild nights National Geographic images capture hazardous High definition camera sh**, if you flash better blast it quick Or be labeled a b**h, n***as is gone, project sh** Better watch who you with the paperwork said he snitch Plug tiles on that relationship [Verse 5: Punch] You could tell a project n***a by the scars on his neck and face Clothesline caught him running from Jake Runaway slave confined to a hundred and eighth Central Compton Avenue to Imperial My pops told me that the saga continues from Milk and cereal to candle light visuals Gangsters turn spiritual prayers never make it past the ceiling Sherm sticks numbs the feelings of the k**ings, that's the ritual Visiting room at capacity, little homie in critical He never got a visual on who shot him Him and his men, same n***as Who did is sitting, plotting they revenge in the hospital Knowing it was him he proceeds to squeeze on the rifle Says “spark the beef” rifle techs, hollow tips, vest Concrete jungle tribal wars, survival of the 'jects Ignorance is vexed, welcome to my consciousness [Bridge: BJ The Chicago Kid] Well, it's the project mind Well, it's the project mind Well, it's the project mind State of emergency [Outro] This was no-no place for me not to go So guess this is the same mentality the Bloods and Crips have As far as not being able to go on certain avenues because one is red and one is blue So if they saw you up in here, you know you would stab me This was one of the projects, that was the strongest out of all the projects And it was called this right here, The Nickerson Gardens This was a first for me And actually if I had took my fear away Could come...could come into the famous Nickerson Gardens Now I still won't come up here at night…