Growing Up In These Streets

[Intro: Raekwon]
Growing up in these streets
Word to mama, man, damn (All I seen was)
Tryna get the fuck up outta there, huh? (It's real life, man)
Just gotta keep your head in the right direction, pa
Growing up in these streets
Don't play with these niggas out here (You gotta be strong though)
All I seen was
Only the strong survive, you heard? (Real rap)
The Chef (Yeah), ayo

[Verse 1: Raekwon]
From blazin' chandeliers on throats, we gangstas with hope
With trappers in traffic, there's land on the coast
Pipelines be pumpin' nighttime with kilos dispersed
A bulletproof hearse in back of the church, see they grind
The timeline won't even last, they twenty-fives, quick to spaz
Yeah, then flip on that ass
The block's burnin', narcs and sharks, thugs and drugs
Clarks and knots and rocks and parks
Hold your slime, I need money, but hate bein' the stickup kid
'Cause what I did could have cost me a whole lifetime
And everybody knowin' everybody
Niggas in front of the lobbies until bodies drop, how he got lined?
Keep it movin', keep your loved ones movin'
See, we started a movement, I guess we grand groovin', y'all
Checks the shines, until then we fine
Cash rule everything around mine in the mind
Now rewind, yo, what is it?

[Interlude: AZ & Raekwon]
Growing up in these streets
Real life
All I seen was (Huh, traumatizing)
Word up
Growing up in these streets (Concrete jungle)
All I seen was
The real question is, what I didn't see, haha, uh

[Verse 2: AZ]
Days to decades, the drugs raids to sex craze
From Froot Loops and leche made it to head jefe
Fiends on check day, murder scenes when the TEC spray
The segue, you gotta have sight beyond the X-ray
Pump shotties, slump bodies in front lobbies
Young hotties gettin' drunk, hoppin' in Masis
Blunt robberies, niggas owin', tip toein', it's sick
Been in the mix since Slick Rick flowin', legit
Lost for words when they offed the homie Surge on the jooks
My whole outlook on life was blurred
Them corner curves just bein' there ain't even fair
And as far as leavin' there, if you do, they don't even care
Seen it all from Sutter Ave to Seton Hall
East Elmhurst to Eaton wall, we grieve 'em all
Same song just sets changin', rep claimin'
From sellin' crack to rap, I kept aimin'

[Interlude: Ghostface Killah]
Growing up in these streets
All I seen was
Growing up in these streets
All I seen was
Yeah, Kay Slay shit, baby, let's go in

[Verse 3: Ghostface Killah]
Shootouts, unexplainable murders where shit runs deep
Late-night commotions, the neighbors can't sleep
That's why I pose in the flicks with my heat, one-deep
I got burners all over the place like a song leak
My man open arms for a hug, I'm reachin'
I gotta tell myself, "Take your hand off the grip, they greetin'" (Get off the gun, man)
Automatic spit like a dumb bitch with a tongue ring
It's classic like them DAT machines up in Chung King (Woo)
Death before dishonor, we pray for your mama
She don't never have to pick a killer's face in a lineup (Nah)
His criminal lawyer, his face resembles a young Oscar De La Hoya
This kid's attorney is torture (Fuck)
In these streets, dust heads, big bags of leak
Like a skeleton sucked in, they bones is weak
Miss ya, ATF come through swingin' that big shit
No Popeyes, they here to put two in your biscuit

[Outro]
Growing up in these streets
All I seen was
Growing up in these streets
All I seen was