Sa-Roc — Reconstruction of the Heart

[Verse 1] Youngin, I remember hide and seek after lights out, tell the homies pipe down Y'all gon wake the house up, then we gon' have to fight now Batman, Batman, who gon' hit my left hand? 'Cause once they slap the palm it's on and poppin', finna scrap dance That was back when the crack had fractured the Black collective We was fragments of this establishment, disconnected Roc vernacular dope, in fact, 'cause that shit's infested With them dirty streets, festering rotten drеams, disinfectant 'Member rocking camouflagе, cutting through them back woods? Steady tryna camouflage red eye from them Backwoods Every exhale similar to status of them Black hoods In other words, they up in smoke, no Cheech to lighten that mood Fought like alley cats, streets like Alcatraz, this the Alamo Hate our native tongues, them boys preyed on the tribe like Navajo Don't know how in the hell we survived the daily violence, though. This is just a memory of every ghetto child I know, mercy [Chorus] Hands up in the air, but only if you feel like You ain't gotta think about it if it feel right See the home that made me came with bitter and the sweet Like my heart tryna imitate real life That's okay, I came out fine Found my greatness in all that grind Kept that faith and ain't stop trying To make my mark in every space that I find Oh Lord, I [Verse 2] I can still remember high school, that was when the homie died Killed before his nineteenth, seem like those were passage rites We was tryna fight the world, nature rather Cassius-like A gamble tryna beat the odds, tell 'em, "Hold up, pass the dice" Corner store, liquor store, Michelob, church Dope boys go missing when the pigeons go chirp Those boys fingers itching to pull a trigger on a perp Of course, if he tinted, no judicial courts work I remember summers on MLK Ave was like a shark tank They circling feminine assets like it's shark bait When us young women would pass, it'd raise their heart rate The denim had us looking like we copping squats, park bench They popping wheelies on Yamahas feeling kamikaze That's how young Mike ended up between the sheets, Ronald Isley But we keep playing with life and death like a childish hobby Caught between a rock and the hardest place in the valley, mercy [Chorus] Hands up in the air, but only if you feel like You ain't gotta think about it if it feel right See the home that made me came with bitter and the sweet Like my heart tryna imitate real life That's okay, I came out fine Found my greatness in all that grind Kept that faith and ain't stop trying To make my mark in every space that I find Oh Lord, I [Verse 3] I know you keep mentioning that I dwell in the past But I'm known for long memory like an elephant has Been prone to hold grudges like a devilish ex Betrothed to Black excellence like I'm Betty Shabazz My dude, I came up with Hueys and Ninas in class You ain't rocking with the familia, we'll immediately clash They'll market us 'til we popular then retreat with the cash And stock us with guns and roses for the people we slash My Lord, this love deep and complicated Split in half every time I sit and contemplate it They made us a mark just 'cause the darkest continent made us This ain't regular, shit has to stop, constipated But I was made from the concrete, raised on them front stoops Praised by them aunties, 10K on their front tooth Aged from them rough edges, saved by their blunt truth Engraved with the scars and stripes if you want proof, have mercy [Chorus] Hands up in the air, but only if you feel like You ain't gotta think about it if it feel right See the home that made me came with bitter and the sweet Like my heart tryna imitate real life That's okay, I came out fine Found my greatness in all that grind Kept that faith and ain't stop trying To make my mark in every space that I find Oh Lord, I [Outro] Mercy, mercy, mercy Have mercy