Before I Was Gone

I never was the type to exaggerate the taste
My life turned so sour so I spat it in your face
My life's purpose was to eradicate the fakes
Coz most of these rappers talking shit ain't got the pace
Now I don't know shit about a lifestyle like Drake's
But I know a lot about a life on the estate
Some things will make you shake
Even test your resolve and break your spirit
Make you a beast until you can't take or hear it
So we kept in near home
A couple B, couple phone
Couple dank bars
So they ain't leaving me alone
And Mum used to moan
But she never knew what really happened
That I was living everything that I was really rapping
Around here my skin was a real problem
A couple racist breddas thought a knife could probably solve them
Am I really different Mum coz that is what they say
She promised I was normal
She said "You're special ok"
Yeah

That's what Mum said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
Yeah Momma
That's what Mum said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
Momma
That's what Mum said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
She said she loved me
But I've gone wrong
That's what she said

There was a geeky photo of me up on our wall
My friends took the piss
They see it one day when we bunked off school
Yep
And kids can be cruel and make you feel like a fool
Haha
I asked my Mum to take it down
She said they're hatin' coz I look cool
Damn
I said I hate that picture
They're calling me a dick Ma
She just cracked jokes and laughed it off with my sister
Haha
I ran to my pal's with a head full of whispers
Yep
So sick of running
Shoes full of blisters
Damn
I got high that night and snuck in through the window
Word
My Mum was waiting up
She was in the corner, I thought I missed her
Nope
She could tell I was high
She saw the red in my eye
Damn
She said she'll send me back to my Dad's
And get rid of me twice
No
She pointed to the picture and said that boy was nice
Yeah?
Where is my son
Would you look at your life
She said use your head
But don't live to regret
So I took the picture, smashed it on the floor
And said that boy was dead

That's what I said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
Yeah Momma
That's what I said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
Momma
I said I love her but she don't know where I'm from
Before I was gone
You know where I'm from?
I said I love her but she don't know what I'm on
But she knew what I'm on

Educate myself, and street knowledge is strength
Yep
Lengthen my sentence
Sentenced to a life in the trench
In my defence
I needed every pound and pence
I gotta go hard body
Banging out the cracks and dents
On my ends, there's enemies but no friends
People want you to stay in the gutter with them
So I'm living on my own
You're back at Momma's yard again
Saying you will sort it
But I'm thinking when

If I didn't have dope
I'd have no money to spend
You've got a job
But can't cope
Asking for money to lend
But this is real out here
You can't fucking pretend
Nope
South London, the Lion's Den
You can get your head kicked in
For trying to sit on the fence
Be consumed by the filth or the stench
Where homeless people sleep on a bench
I love my street
But our problems are hench
Yeah

That's what I said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
That's what I said before I was gone
Before I was gone
Before I was gone
I said I love her but she don't know where I'm from
Where I'm from
You know where I'm from
I said I love her but she don't know what I'm on
Nope
But she knew what I'm on

Yeah she knows that I'm strong
She can't save me from myself
I told her that I'm out to see the world
They're gonna see me Momma
Gonna get you out the gutter
Yeah
And that's what I said