Geto Boys — Street Life

[Verse 1] Up early in the morning lacin' up my British Knights Throwin' up my Deuce sign, fuckin' with the street life Never knew no better cause my mommy never taught me Going out to get the shit that mommy never bought me Only ten years old and I can't stay away from trouble But you don't give a fuck 'cause you ain't never had to struggle And everybody's tellin' me it's gettin' greater later I need to get my shit right now, 'cause it ain't shit in my refrigerator And I done struggled for my whole life Seeing my mama laid up with a different nigga every night And when you see me you can spot a crook Because I'm roamin' through her motherfuckin' pocketbooks I'm going out to get my papes 'Cause she don't give a fuck about me anyway, uh And my daddy's doing two terms And all she ever does is sits around and get shermed My mama never hugs me I'm callin' Deuce my family, because these niggas say they love me I'm steady dustin' chumps off And ready for the battle if the shit would ever jump off So send my ass to Hell It's either being covered up with some dirt or locked in a cell Anyway, that's what it looks like If I don't hurry up and get my ass up out the street life [Interlude] You know the streets is all I know This is my way of survival You know I've been dealt some bad cards, you know? But I gots to play them What else am I to do, look for a job But until then let my family starve and be broke? So I resort to the streets as a source of income You know what I'm sayin'? I'm stuck here [Verse 2] I step out on my old block And everyone's throwin' up the deuce to little J-Rock And all my little homies that I hang with Are either jackin', or mixed up with this gang shit See it through reality Never leavin' the gang 'cause it's the street life mentality My homies got a proposition Broke a nigga off some change and said he'd help in my position So now I'm rollin' with the OGs Puttin' in work on the jack for some OZs And maybe in a year or two I'll be able to roll in a Benz like the gangstas do Makin' hoes ride dick 'Cause this poor, broke, desolate clique ain't hittin' on shit I gotta lock my crew down And sew this whole motherfucker up like the Jews town Develop us a strong clique Break my pops off some dope while he rot, pops would like that shit Seeing his little nigga on his own two Doing shit I heard my pops used to do A real nigga to this crime thang And had it going on 'fore his time came I gots to get my shit right Until my shit gets right, I'm rollin' with the street life [Interlude] You know what upsets me? Is when whitey sits back in they lavish homes and BMWs And tell me the streets ain't the place to be See it from my perspective Poverty stricken Livin' on welfare and government's cuttin' that shorter every year I'm shortin' on education 'cause I'm Black The corner doesn't promise me a good life But at least it shows me promise [Verse 3] Finally after shit got right I'm wanting out of the gang because I'm searchin' for a new life But I remember what was said You come in alive, the only way you leave out is dead So I'm kinda fucked on both ends I thought I had friends, but I ain't got no fuckin' friends 'Cause if they were my friends, they'd let me break Outie five thousand, fuck this shit, I'm packin' my .38 But, fuck, I gotta stay down Until It's time for me to punch it out and just lay it down And that's a motherfuckin' shame Tonight I gotta steal another ride with my little gang So slowly I walked up to it With no hesitation, I broke the window and jumped into it Unhooked his shit and was headed off I opened up the door, that's what set it off A nigga came out with a Glock, jack And put a slug in my motherfuckin' back And my so-called friends Want me out of the gang 'cause they don't know if I'll walk again Now tell me what's that Deuce like Fucked up myself for good 'cause I was wrapped up in the street life