410 Days In The Life

When you look at me and my brothers
What’s your first impression?
Does the sight of us leave you guessin’?
Or do you understand the stressin’?
The aggression?
The look of no hope on me and my niggas faces
Like the Lord overlooked us when he handed down his graces
You see embraces fall short on the numb tips of street entrepreneur fingers
Still stuck in the walls of the project halls where the coke smell still lingers
External blingers is all we can be
Because on the inside we’ve been given nothing to shine on
And a record deal is harder to get than coke
So my niggas get they grind on ‘cause the TV tells us
“Aim high, nigga. Make all goals lateral.”
But see that takes paper that we don’t have
So niggas put they souls up as collateral
Now some niggas reclaim ‘em
Some blame ‘em
Make an excuse to sell ‘em
But when a nigga goes from not doing to doing
What can you tell ‘em?
Not to be a nigga?
Shit I gotsta be a nigga
That’s how I pay the bills
And I’ma do that whether I got to sling this coke or exploit these rhyme skills
See, America makes you an opportunist
And at the same time they institutionalize you
So the fact that niggas get big record deals, big money, and then go to jail shouldn’t suprise you
That’s what lies do
And see, most of these guys do have raw talent
Just an infantile education
So the business feeds you all the weed and the ecstasy
And a little bit of paper to provide some pacification from all the bullshit frustration they serve you
Meanwhile they corrupt your perception of what the real is
And they’ve taken all our businessmen and given them the mindsets of drug dealers
Took all our messengers
Made ‘em rappers
Flappin’ they jaws afraid to admit their treason
Took all our soldiers for the cause and made them kill us for no reason
And being fucked up
Well that’s in this season
So if you’re negative
You’re positive
But if you’re positive you’re called a hater
But I maintain control of my soul ‘cause I know it gets greater later
And I told you y’all at the last show
“Shit. Nigga no hater. I just know where the truth is.”
Been intertwined in this puttin’ forth for at least a year now
So I know where the proof is
See, in lies me is midtown Manhattan skyscrapers
Where former hustlers like myself sign papers
And pull off fucked up capers
Like sixteen infamous stars at a time
They got us choppin’ and baggin’ and servin’ that shit to niggas sixteen bars at a time
Now the crime is undetectable by the Feds
Cause in the heads of our kids is where the track is
And music is potent
It’s straight to the soul
So it’s much more addictive than crack is
Now the high is just an allusion
All lies and confusion
But to feel that rush just once
My young bucks are go through it
So in essence they still floodin’ the streets
With the thugs, drugs, and killin’
They just use these record labels to do it
Takin’ our heartfelt demos
Puttin’ us in limos
Trying to fuck up divine direction
But young black men have been trained to chase money and pussy
So we fall victim to our own erection
And begin to convince ourselves
That we’re on our way to somewhere we’re not goin’
But ignorance is bliss
And niggas love this
So niggas take pride not knowing
We not growin’
Nigga, I give a fuck how slick you flowin’ if you ain’t showin’ nothing to these kids
Adding nothing positive to the earth
Black Ice been destined to touch the earth ever since
I was born to be real
Fuck a record deal
God gives me what I’m worth