I'ma take you back to day one, livin' in New York slum It's to the dumb, only break bread with some Moms left at 15, had no dreams To day, I'm sellin' to my cousin who's a fiend
No one to guide me but my older did we know the dirt we did fell back on my mother But didn't care back then, why she left like that Now my parents became the street and best like that
Some nights I pray to God and ask Him to pull my 'Cuz times is hard like the [Incomprehensible] leave you scarred Street wise with no for authority and shit A chronic hustler of crack, a typical
by Madu, who strung out on a glass dick But now and then I blessed her with a hit So she don't have to trick, it's amongst kids today krills, stack dough and every thing's okay
It's the emancipation the self devised guidelines of self preservation and starvation It's the emancipation the self devised guidelines of self preservation and starvation
My life in world wasn't about diamonds and pearls It was rough growin' up the boys and girls After Daddy left, was a mess, Momma stressed But I give her an award, 'cuz damn, she tried her
Holdin' the household, barely had money to fold time, cherished our little shit like gold I can't front, was still if, we cared for me But him and Mommy breakin' up was a nightmare to me
Yo, is for the younger fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers Success is nothin' if it ain't influential to We gotta make the best out of this situation If not for us, for the generation
We break the chain and deal with the pain For all our people that was in vain For all our peoples that was framed For all our peoples that's the name
the emancipation proclamation Under the devised guidelines of self preservation and starvation It's the proclamation Under the self devised guidelines of self preservation and
Let me show, I gotta love L.O.D., they put me the wing And then I teamed up the most beautiful thing In the world, L.O.D. we all, we got I'ma fans and my mans it like it or not
I know it hurts, havin' to do everyday Police all over my back, feel like bustin' them I'm on my road to the riches, I stay away from snitches And them and keep my mind on business
Life was tough so I aggressive like a pit The only time I felt relaxed was when the was lit Thinkin' me and my team can be like the Gambino Muscle in the hustle scene, respected Nino
It gets deeper the words of Proverbs New thoughts emerge as I cop the on the curb the herb strengthen my brain like spinach And heavy shine, flooded with ice boost my self image
Stick 'em, my is so real, it hurts Like when I saw my bein' driven off in a hearse Like I saw my mother bein' driven off in a hearse Like in school the roach crawl out my shirt
Like on Thanksgiving when we got free from the church Back then it was DJ Red and Kool Herc Rockin' pinstripe Lee's and in shirts Back L.O.D. was puttin' in work
the cradle to the grave We all in the struggle, we gon' struggle, we gon' strive to stay All my real people what I'm talkin' about Watch each other up, my life is nothin' without my niggas, word up