I come from the bricks, mud & the sticks,
From marking our territory with red flags & a Blick,
Streets lights on knowing mama’Dukes waiting with a switch,
Her attention span shorter than ever, now she wondering where in Hell did I get the revenue to purchase this fit,
I’m fairly new to the block so I had the job of jumping them in,
Heading to football practice excited telling my friends,
They heart wasn’t in it, like mines, some had to pretend,
If sword must be drawn, we remain as one, it’s always us at the end,
Let me rewind, take a step back, my composure I’ll try & maintain,
Shelter to shelter we lived, loneliness was feel,
Tears was a regular but Tylenol couldn’t help mama heal this abandonment pain,
Just a toddler,
Being asked to be strong for your new born brother & your mama,
With age comes maturity,
Candles for light, the oven for heat, is what influenced me,
Lion hearted, didn’t speak much but when did spoke fluently,
Pure intentions,
With a cleared vision,
Stuck in prison,
With a 60 year sentence,
You haven’t guessed?
They say I move way too different to be the age that I’m at,
I was brought up around great minds,
That taught me to turn a negative into a great time,
But sometime,
Just sometimes I do indulge,
& I’m far from ashamed to explore,
Cause the only person that can give it to you raw & uncut is the individual walking that road,
I dare you to take a walk in my shoes,
It’ll take a toll on your body & mind,
Incapacitating your soul, then next your hustle & grind,
Let’s make history, press play, record me,
If you look at my potna with any aggression I’ma swing cause I was big on loyalty,
& that same potna had me jumped & stabbed for greed left me traumatized,
But that’s just half my life story, I’ma give you the brighter side,
Graduate high school with a 3.0,
Full athletic scholarship to TSU, but I was still on go,
Fell in love with a sweet thang, I’m talking body like a Coca-Cola bottle,
But even she changed,
Than he changed,
Then they changed,
Now my fate hangs,
On a thin strand,
Guilty,
Maintaining my strong stance,
Can’t shit penetrate my shell, not even your strong hand,
It’s difficult starting over but that’s better than going backward, anything better,
Than going backwards,
That’s just a quote from my fav. rapper Starlito,
Social Security checks & food stamps was our neighborhood hero,
So tell me what you see,
When you look at me,
Tattoos & dreads make me a thug right, wrong,
I’ma a soldier,
That rare flower that blossom out the concert, despite the judgement,
That’s consistent with chasing his dreams,
A great human being, going be even better husband,
LYF3 is unpredictable, LYF3