25

[Intro] They felt like they were laying tracks, for the generation to come. I think my mother knew that freedom wouldn't come in her lifetime, just like I know it won't come in mine. It's a matter of, either we stay like this or somebody sacrifice, somebody laying tracks, so we can stay in a 360 degree. Deadly circle, somebody used to break out and risk, you know losing everything and being poor and getting deep down. Cause someone has to do something, had I had a father, had I had some of these opportunities. I would be able to handle my mother more [Verse 1: Punch] I was taught never trust a nigga, far as you can see him Teach a nigga how to fish, as apposed to try'na feed him Look a man in the eyes, that's the best way to read him Cause faces they change, but point of views remain I got a strange feeling, that I'm a lil bit different Beyond the customs and tradition of a project living My Korean war vet, grandfather's affliction Was stress and I inherited his heart condition And Van Arthur's addiction, was heroin needles Petty hustling, d'evils, that street men lust So I'm mixed with that lethal combination but trust I've only scratched the surface, what's underneath this verse is The feeling of a young boy lost, without a purpose Still waters run deep in the street we were submerged in Police lurking, try'na catch a nigga serving He ain't going back to jail, so he bust a verse [Hook: Kendrick Lamar] This is for my everyday young nigga It don't really matter where you from niggas Before you leave the house, kiss your moms nigga Cause you don't know when that day'll come nigga Cause only Lord knows that I know how you feel What we gotta do just to live Is try not to get our cap peeled, try not to get your cap peeled [Verse 2: Punch] It's hard to get to know me, unless you hear between bars Tortured soul self contained on my childhood scars I was involved from a far, affected by the street laws Concrete walls, not even earthquakes could shake them brick walls Nickerson garden projects this is me y'all Where Dope dealers have it all and then freefall Caine numbs the pain up and down the ghetto seesaw The voice of the youth, they hear me and they see y'all They don't see a diamond in the rough, they see flaws They should see how we was raised and they would be in awe Against all it gets hard not to kill niggas It's like a full-time job not to grab the semi-auti And go kamikaze on somebody who plotting Probably on my body laying lifeless, ungodly sacrifices To the streets, this is the trinity Money malice and murder the hood's deity [Hook] [Verse 3] They say the average black man only lives to 25 Well I made it past that and a nigga still alive Which means I'm in the red, I'm indebted to death That's the wages that sin pay, I'm still tracing my steps Leaving my footprints in the sand, the concrete rose That grew on infertile land and blossomed to a grown man My only fear is pops holding moms hand Dripping tears on my casket, I refuse to let it happen By any means avoiding the city traffic Shooters got the green light, they blocking your right of passage A young kid turned savage, city madness A picture painted on the street's canvas, excuse my brashness I'm trying to live to see past this Staring at the world and my rear view past tense In no particular fashion, I'm on borrowed time I'mma grind with a passion [Hook] [Outro] Generation to generation to come They won't come in mind Sacrifices, sacrifices, sacrifices Deadly circle, deadly circle