Refer to me as Ishmael, spurned old kid of Israel
Sodom and Gomorrah’s where I’m living, bitch, I piss in hell
Moved at the age of 3, from a land that’s from this and well
I’ve got a lucky uncle, stays somewhere I think’s called Iredell
Still living in Metropolis, {not dreaming of a} scholarship
My school’s {library ain’t exactly} Neapolitan with honors just
A {stack of old pamphlets} saying AIDS comes from {frolicking}
In niggas {asses}, or that it’s from {swallowing}
And college isn’t something that I’m thinking of now but
I’m applying just to sweep around the school I dropped out of
Because I had to work {pops was gone} and mama {was down on}
Her luck and every {buck} I brought in went off to housing
Well my brother, {he’s a different story} niggas name is {Cory}
He’s a {citizen} was born before my father was {deported}
After {sneaking cross the border} just so we’d {avoid the war} and
It’s {unfortunate} cuz here the risk you’re taking is enormous
But I never hung on corners, prayed at church for a master’s
Difference is {I grew up well before my mother went batshit}
Yeah fuck it she went batshit, {no point with the masking}
And glossing over words, tryna polish up a turd
Little brother wants to hoop, he’s got a body like a nerd
Was getting bullied, then met Damien and Ramel from off of 3rd
Say he’ll never be {LeBron James}, fine he’ll be the {John Wayne}
Unloading half its holding, stroking 3 all day from long range

Heard bursts from Smith and Wesson, traverse the intersection
We learnt it that we’re urchins won’t no person give a second chance
Or a second glance approach us with discretion
Niggers kill because they’re animals, heard when I was seven
The curb’s my only weapon the birds best get to stepping
“FREEZE! POLICE!” Fuck, this is worse than catching death
Assuredly, I look exactly like the person they’ve been sketching
Dark skin, big lips, must be me, suck my teeth
Mad popular, trouble free, this life’s a luxury
Trying not to catch a Casey Kasem, dog it wasn’t me
No evidence, released, “you’ll be back,” they said to me
Even when I left the station, man I knew I wasn’t free

Came home pissed off, afternoon, missed the shift
And then to augment it I started hearing rumors and shit
Of how my brother’s got the juice, they’re all like who is this kid
He caught a rep in three years for jooksting Ruben for tits
Then he popped off ensuring that old Ruben was dead
His idiot friend called him by name he put the tool to his head
Now from what I’m hearing, seems like Ruben has an older brother
Who did a piece in state max security for twenty summers
Made parole said he changed, hear that Lucifer is under
His skin and he’s an actor, plotting ruthless in the cover
My only chance now is to find this nigga
But do it stealthily, he’s menacing, alive, I figure
I’ll cop a Ruger P series with a license never
Been charged with a crime, nah I’ll just buy from Trevor
I’m asking what’s his name, some say Fred, some Malik
Easy to ask where he’s staying, got a bed on up the street
In a shelter like the man was really scrounging to eat
I saw the ruse; I also heard that he hung out round the three
That’s the worst block, already he’s right back in game
Tryna find a working Glock to kill my blood, what a shame
So I circled up the block, “Allah u Akbar” he exclaimed
First time in life I’d ever cracked a shot or I aimed
Now the block is all stained, it’s just his thoughts that remain
Still in limbo, beads in palm, Quran dropped on his dame