Ghettos Of The Mind

Ghetto of the Mind...

I catch a body at a party, sort of herbal with the verbal

Look above and see the vultures fly around in a circle

Baggin' while you're lollygaggin', raggin', tow-taggin'

Assassin with the millimeter roars of a dragon

Here stood the black hood, thirsty for the end

And for the love of money, kind of funny, new friends

Public housing, a thousand in a tent

So I'm forced to sell hell just to pay the rent

Killin' my own people, I put 'em out of order

Just like the liquor store scene on every corner

I'm tryin' but the kids keep cryin', and the bullets keep flyin'

Look, a boy, he's on the curb just dyin'

Finally the cops come dumb to the slum

Pull out a gun and arrest the wrong one

Wax all the Puerto Ricans and blacks

So they can never relax

I dwell, might as well learn the facts

Pete Rock and C.L. can radio a shack up

Sparkin' off and have 'em all callin' for backup

"Watch another crime and you're gonna do time"

All this you'll find in the ghettos of the mind

Ain't that somethin'?...

Listen to cats and rough rats war under the window

When the ghetto forts flarey, never was a Tom and Jerry

Livin' ain't cheap, my survival is deep

In this part of town where the city never sleep

A Barney Miller roller, you can bet the car's stolen

Or static with your BM, only when you see them

Speakin' on your baby's mom, a best for the drama

Always tryin' to make a movie, little stark-ravin' looney

Stressin' it, but you know the ghetto keep ya busy

A place that when I die it would never even miss me

Crack phials in the aisles as one pimp smiles

Dope piles workin' hookers by the miles

But still my pop's got three jobs to stable

A family household and food on the table

So as we pray for all our souls to keep

Somebody's on the project roof, ready to leap

I want to stop the pain or the bad situation

But backwards wisdom I can't afford to give 'em

Self savior is much braver with the conscious behavior

Designed in the ghettos of the mind

Ain't that somethin'? C'mon...

It's like that y'all...

I could never look forward to an early retirement

But still I maintain in a hostile environment

Hustlin' the concrete jungle for loot

My parents hated blood money so they gave me the boot

Take a risk 'cause the peer pressure has the edge

It was a blessin' when I saw my life dangle on the ledge

The streets coulda swallowed me whole

But the pain was all gone when I got to see my healthy son born

And now I bring him home to the ghetto,

Only to make a stronger fellow

Maybe do some good for the neighborhood

It's hard playing hero livin' less than a zero

Raging Bull like DeNiro, the modern day pharoah

A concentration camp with the Section 8

Welfare checks given at a monthly rate

Apply for the get high, or just plain lazy

Many steady collect right around the fifth baby

The hawk is out but the niggaz never pack it

A hundred dollar sneakers with the skimpy-ass jacket

When people are deaf, dumb, and blind they get left behind

Imagine in the ghettos of the mind