I Can Still Remember...

Sometimes I wanna escape the hood, every day somethin' crazy happenin'
Wanna hop in a fast car like Tracy Chapman
I'm trapped in this ghetto encampment
Where people hate me mainly 'cause God gave me black skin

Everybody struggle to be unique
Sixteen, see my friend layin' bloody under his sheet
Cops shot him everywhere except for under his feet
Then they wonder and think, "Why we singin' 'Fuck the Police', my nigga?"

We used to spend food stamps, diamond-back bike hoppin' on some new ramps
Stealin' from the mall, try a pair of shoes on and run out
Yeah, that's how we used to do champs

Then we holla at a few yamps
Breakin' into car, sellin' niggas used amps
But we never hurt nobody, so why did you have to shoot 'em?
Now I'm trainin' with pistols like I'm in boot camp

Yeah, lava lamps in my mama room
We used to walk by, smell the marijuana fumes
Lil' niggas, young boys, we knew all the goons
Until puberty changed, our voice like autotune

My nigga, why they have to kill my nigga?
Kill my nigga, I know your energy is with me above
I feel it when your mama give me a hug
This is in loving memory of my nigga

I miss him every day
From the time I get up to the time I go to bed
Tell him I love him
I miss him so much

I grew up on the rough side
The boys in the hood snow on the bluff side
The menace to society, the tough side
The irony in being down, there's an upside

They gave me character, made me cherish the simple things
Like sharing my little means, take care of my siblings
Be there by any means, live our dreams from bus fare to limousines
You kidding me, huh? Nah, I wouldn't change for nothing
Begging for change was nothing, new better days was coming
I'm in the game, they love it, the way I keep it so real
They can reach out to every word I say and touch it

Yeah, 'cause they feel it in the heart
Fuck the charts, nothin' realer than the art
Nothin' realer than reminiscin' and sittin' in the dark
Thinkin' 'bout my day ones that was with me from the start
My niggas

He was the light that light up the room
They stole so much
He was a fun-lovin' person
And when you met him, he always had a smile on his face
And he was always joking
They don't know what a gaping hole they done put it in this world
And you can't fill it, 'cause there's no way you can fill it
She won't be able to see her son first day of kindergarten
And graduate, get married
Somebody took all of that away
I feel like I lost a piece of me, like you see me everywhere together
She would go out at night until you see the brightest star and she'd say, "Where's my daddy?"
She knows that he's up in heaven

I can still remember
And we'll remember
I can still remember
And sometimes right now in my solitude I'm wondering
If you can remember, oh, if you can remember