Ice Cube — The Product

[Intro] (Are you ready?) (Fuck that, Ice Cube coming back at you with another motherfucking bomb) [Verse 1] I was told, 'cause I didn't witness the whole act In and out was the movement of the bozack It was hot and sweaty and lots of pushin' Then the nut came gushin' And it was hell trying to bail to the ovary With nothing but the Lord lookin over me I was white with a tail But when I reached the finish line, young black male! One cell made two, and two cells made fo' And so on, so now I'm a embryo Then I got a hunch That I'mma be on lockdown, for nine months Chillin', with my mother to guide me And nuttin' but a stomach to hide me From all that worry and bullshit Nine months later, I elbow pull and kick 'Cause my time is up and I don't care With one big push, I'm outta there June 15th, it's just my luck In 1969, a nigga is the product (Ghetto-ass nigga, you ain't shit And you ain't gon' never be shit!) [Verse 2] I learned how to walk and talk and all that They put me in school, but it don't matter 'Cause I'm sitting in history Learning bout a sucker, who didn't give a fuck about me They try to shape us But I know Uncle Sam is a motherfucking rapist So I stopped paying attention Ice Cube, headed, straight to detention Fuck that shit, I roam the hallways I'm sent home and I don't got all A's A high school dropout My father had beef so I tried to knock pops out But I got tossed, he's the boss I'm out of there and mad 'cause I lost Now being on my own is a factor So I become, the neighborhood jacker Gimme your car, run your jewels Making a living robbing fools And if I let my nine rang out You know, it'll make your brains hang out So what's your fate? Am I the nigga you love, or the one you love to hate? The wrong answer is said, the nigga fled I pump lead, now he's in a puddle of red And if you got a buck, you're shit out of luck Stuck up by the motherfucking product (Uh-uh motherfucker you gots to get a job If you wanna stay in my motherfucking house) (Many young men reject the traditional values That are important to their parents Church, school and family Have been replaced by street, turf, and gang) [Verse 3] Twenty-one now, and paid in full Feeling bad, from all the shit I pulled On people back in the day Plus, I got a little baby on the way So I'm trying to go straight I'm with my baby's momma, out on a date Til the punk ass cops ran my plate Now I'm on a bus upstate "Oh, the young nigga done caught a case!" (Eating in the mess hall, saying my grace) Sent to a concrete ho-house Where all the products go, no doubt Yo momma, I gotta do eleven Living in a five-by-seven Dear baby, your man's getting worn out Of seeing young boys getting they assholes torn out And then he got shanked with a spoon And he was supposed to get out soon Is it my fault, he was caught in production Where a young black life means nothin' Just because, I didn't want to learn your grammar You say I'm better off in the slammer And it's driving me batty 'Cause my little boy, is missing daddy I'm ashamed, but the fact is I wish pops let me off on the mattress Or should I just hang from the top bunk But that's going out like a punk My life is fucked But it ain't my fault, 'cause I'm the motherfucking product (He ain't shit)