Geto Boys — Straight Gangstaism Radio

Yeah I take y'all way back [VERSE 1: Big Mike] Seven years old, I'm lookin up to the gangsters in the hood 'Cause to me and my cousins, yeah, they represented good Even when we played cops and robbers on the block Nobody wanted to play the cop, dig it 'Cause playing the cop wasn't a lick And if you played the cop, fool, you got dealt with I was a curious child I used to hang out by the ballroom and study the gangster style The way they talk, the way they walk, the way they act The way they wore that gangster hat Tilted, brim laid flat out Now that's what I'm talkin' about Yeah, cigarette in one hand, drink in the other Leanin' to one side, cooler than a mother With them old school nicknames Gillie Boy, Pokey, Big Joe, Goldie, and Lil Lane Yeah, true mack daddies Got his girl on his side, drivin' a '73 Caddy With a chrome-plated .357 Ready to send you climbing on a stairwell to heaven I was fascinated Yeah, I let 'em influence me, and my momma hate it But she still gave me love Cause my momma understood that it was in my blood See, it was a cycle And in a few mo' years she wouldn't have to worry about her Michael Cause I'll be makin' my own decisions Yeah, comin' up fast, clockin' cash, straight gangsterism [VERSE 2: Big Mike] Now it's '93 I got a name for myself Made a little wealth, played the cards I was dealt Didn't go for self, now I'm a G And damn it feels good, 'cause everybody know me Homies in the hood all got love 'Cause they saw me raise up from nothing but a scrub And hoes that I know From way back befo' They used to say no All wanna go To the hotel 'cause they claim that they interested And everybody talkin' about the shit that they wish they did But I surpassed all that They used to want to know if I was down, now they don't ask all that 'Cause they believin' what they seein' A young brother comin' up fast, yeah, straight G [VERSE 3: 3-2] Sittin' back as a youngster, peepin' out my folks Some were straight Gs and some went out smokin' dope I had to cope with it, be a man and stay strong Even though some folks didn't think that I'd live long I watched grandpa shoot dice at the liquor sto' Hittin' licks in the dough on Ju Man and Big Joe Walkin' out the do' with a gallon of Jack With them big old buds cause back then there wasn't no crack And matter fact, to this day I'm doin' things like grandpa in every way I got my hustle on, loc, I ain't frontin' Just a young fool in this world trying to have somethin' Yeah, that's the environment I know That's how I was raised and that's how I'm a go I don't know, will I ever be a cell mate But I do know I'm never goin' straight Gangstaism [Verse 4: Scarface] I wore my trench coat in school with my gangster hat This is old school game, now where the gangsters at Bumping Parliament on my eight-track Or Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits for the gangster tracks My pops made licks so he brought me weed I follow right behind him with my parsley seeds I've been around the game since the age of eight I had to get it on 'cause there's money to make Yo, I hit a lick back in 89 I guess the art of making money must've stayed in mind Yo, 'cause I just couldn't stop it So everything I'm buying now, I'm buying now to make a larger profit And you can squash that broke situation 'Cause big time hustling, is my everyday occupation Early to bed and early to rise I'm money hungry, yo, and you can see it my eyes I heard them say all money ain't good, mane But I don't see like that, it all spend the same But sometimes I gotta get what I ain't getttog So I come to this Straight Gangsterism