I'ma take you to day one, livin' in this New York slum It's deaf to the dumb, only break with some left at 15, had no American dreams To day, I'm sellin' to my cousin who's a fiend
No one to guide me but my brother Little did we know the dirt we did back on my mother But didn't care back then, that's why she left that Now my parents became the street and it's best like
Some nights I pray to God and ask Him to my cord 'Cuz times is hard the [Incomprehensible] street'll leave you scarred Street wise with no respect for authority and A hustler of crack, a typical bitch
Raised by Madu, who strung out on a dick But every now and then I her with a hit So she have to trick, it's prevalent amongst kids today Hustle krills, stack dough and every okay
the emancipation proclamation Under the self devised guidelines of self preservation and It's the proclamation Under the self guidelines of self preservation and starvation
My life in this wasn't about diamonds and pearls It was rough up around the boys and girls After Daddy left, shit was a mess, stressed But I her an award, 'cuz damn, she tried her best
down the household, barely had money to fold Christmas time, cherished our shit like gold I can't front, Daddy was if, we cared for me But him and Mommy breakin' up was like a to me
Yo, this is for the younger fathers and mothers, and brothers Success is if it ain't influential to others We gotta make the out of this terrible situation If not for us, for the younger
We gotta break the chain and deal with the For all our that was slayed in vain For all our that was falsely framed For all our peoples livin' the name
It's the emancipation Under the self devised guidelines of preservation and starvation It's the emancipation the self devised guidelines of self preservation and starvation
Let me show, I gotta L.O.D., they put me under the wing And then I teamed up with the beautiful thing In the world, L.O.D. we all, we got I'ma and my mans keep it like it or not
I know it hurts, havin' to do dirt Police all over my back, like bustin' them jerks When I'm on my road to the riches, I away from snitches And them bitches and keep my on business
Life was tough so I aggressive like a pit The only time I relaxed was when the blunt was lit me and my team can be tight like the Gambino Muscle in the hustle scene, respected like
It gets deeper than the of Proverbs New emerge as I cop the squat on the curb the herb strengthen my brain like spinach And shine, flooded with ice might boost my self image
Stick 'em, my is so real, it hurts Like when I saw my pops bein' off in a hearse Like when I saw my mother bein' off in a hearse Like in when the roach crawl out my shirt
Like on Thanksgiving we got free food from the church Back then it was DJ Red and Kool Herc pinstripe Lee's and in Tigra shirts Back then L.O.D. was puttin' in
From the to the grave We all in the struggle, we gon' struggle, we gon' strive to alive All my real know what I'm talkin' about Watch other backs Word up, my life is without my niggas, word up