Backbone: One time Uh for these freaky hoes I lust But I'm still flickin ashes a lot of other motherf**ers snort dust But that's they thang A lot of us fall victim somehow But that's that game Won't try to explain From books to bricks Now I see crooks and tricks Caught up in the mix Of everyday in every way but the right I control the substance my people fiend for at night Lord knows I do wrong Sound like the same old song A lot of n***as singing Homeboys conceal your weapons Cuz ain't gon be no smoking section in heaven No more be buckin your luck Seven eleven on the first roll Don't let the streets rock and roll your soul Swats GA by way of Cascade Heights Gunshots roadblocks sidewalks and ice Khujo: Sold me out for 3.5 grams of neighborhood clout Now what the fuss be 'bout I'm back home from the bullsh** Puttin in work Meanwhile others dug ditches and covered themselves in dirt One squirt And you locked down forever Can't run from reality Luring you closer and closer away To the same old traps Now you never learn from your mistakes So now you wear this a** whoopin with pride What side you on? It wasn't no I in team Only in your dreams Saturated with schemes Yea you right, God gon deal wit ya Fallin from his grace Rookie cop moves cause shifty game And 30 days I'm blessed in the hole But that's till I go to the state federal Penitentiary Yea I could did my time standin on one feet But see I f**ed up royally Thought I was slick Them herpes-havin a** crackers changed my big check to six Times wit Dean Whitaker's sermon of the day But when I go to sleep I don't dream no more I just lay A wise man knows his limitations Concrete, concrete like Greg Street Chorus: Sufferin from a severe case of inner-city blues I ain't got no clues to which directions I need to choose This opportunity to gain is all I got to lose Cuz I just can't settle for these streets shorty I refuse Gipp: That's the sh** I like Lord got the door Shot down to the pavement Remove yo hat under the ceiling Of this building A rebuff from the usher of sorts Deacons leading hymns rooted stems Most strive for the diamonds and overlook the gems Got skimp wit yo bags Boulders become shoulders to depend on Which way to explore Reform, refrain, we gain inflame Every thought you walk through the trails is hell Airborne for one Clone me Replace me wit me Another nation inside a nation Out the land of Scots Suction cups to test tube Layer of skin Supply the crust And we'll mix the fruit Gunshows supplied me in the hour of need Watch em bleed Aryan Nation be the dealer Now who's the k**er Yup yup that's the sh** I like That's the sh** I like T-Mo: Uh puttin forth the effort to make a change Not doin a lot of talkin bout it what's yo game? You slippin you can't never do that That's when you get jacked For yo life over your emotions runnin wild Like salamanders swimmin in southwest creeks Feelin incomplete Another story Livin ???? you had it Now you lost - it wasn't worth it look what it costed Yo life young n***a Didn't go out without a fight behind the gun trigger Better think fast or get swept off yo feet n***a it hurts to see these d** deteriorate The minds of knuckleheads that grow up to be base heads Don't say I didn't tell you cuz you gon see in the future I hope I don't have to shoot you If you switch Went from hardcore to beggin like a b**h Revolutions good to bad Hoods to rags real n***as to f*gs What's the news? But I refuse to lose Chorus Cee-Lo: Well I woke up this mornin with the same frustration from situations like these Got a call about some work from one of them temporary agencies No high school diploma or any college degrees I can't enlist but they'll draft me if there's a war overseas Oh please Of course I can slice some OZs But see I'm one of those aspirin MCs And uh bills are due so at times I'm doubtful and everyone disagrees But I'd rather struggle on my feet than to live on my knees So my uniform tight workin all night at Mickey D's Got about 90 dollars and some change after the government Get they fees These minimum wages ain't enough to feed my babies Purposely these limitations on black folks opportunities So I quit cuz I'm tired of being one of those overworked Underpaid employees Stop carin at all went on and did a few small burglaries It seems like my faith done turned into forgotten memories And I ain't gettin away with nothing because I know He always sees But see right now I need to see how I can get this here dope sold I done stuffed in my pocket as many rocks as it can hold They gonna get high so I'm gonna get my money even though it's freezin cold Now how many times you done heard this story told? Believe it or not, there's some very intelligent junkies But dependencies is eating away at they souls like disease Anyone can turn into somebody who covets and envies Unequal economics can easily make you some enemies And the crime rate never drops so the cops ride around in threes I knew he would have k**ed me if I did anything but freeze They found the rest of the dope in some nearby shrubberies In a dimlit room being questioned by these authorities And they gave me some time in correctional facilities And now my woman's gotta take on a man's responsibilities