Pawns In the Game

We party and bullshit, gunshots ringout
Pop crys, hypno, smoke weed, hangout
Diss tracks, cadillacs, iced out, woodgrain
Spinning wheels, big bang, big budget, blood stains

If we can only put our paper together and make a change
Destroying the real, one break at a time, re-arrange
The way that we think, we killin' ourselves it's a shame
We gotta wake up and realize... That we're all pawns in the game
It's kinda funny how we get in this game thinkin' we got it made
Somehow the person we used to be just up and got away
All you hear is "Keepin' it Gangsta" and "Keep it real"
And everybody is thugin' and totin' a piece of steel How stupid did i feel when i found it wasn't about skill
But about the label you're reppin, how you market your deal
If I woulda of known from the beginning then i woulda been winning
I woulda been grinnin', wheels woulda been spinnin'
We never stop to look at ourselves
We blame our problems on other people
But look at us, we crooked ourselves
We can't even get invited to nuthin', without the fightin' and fussin'
Police come with pepper spray, cussin' and hand-cuffin'
Our little pride won't allow us to step aside, or let it slide
And we forgot the meaning of let it ride
And they don't even care, they just let us die
Just another dead rappers CD that you steady-buy...
I've fallen victim to my demon's myself, I'm being honest
I needed guidance, i used to turn to the weed and chronic,
A Product of my environment, my gun i would polish
Instead of knowledge or opting for college i chose violence
But times change, they think I'm going soft, i guess...
...My stress got-at-me-the-goodie-mob's thought process
And it was like Jerome standing infront of me with a mirror
I didn't like what i saw, but now i see things clearer
And we're flirtin' with the wages of sin, and mentally
We're all locked up, and physically they're cagin' us in
Cause we dyin' over a block, dyin' over a street
People in the gulf coast is dyin' for something to eat
I ain't here to preach about rap beef, it's not that deep
Fuck your hot-16's, shit's not that sweet
Everybody say they grown-ass men, ready to fight the power
But we can't even fight our problems lurkin' within
Look at the neighbourhood you grew up in, and tell me the truth
Think it's worse about a year, everybodies ready to shoot
We can't disguise the fact, we're dropping like flies
And that's the reason it hurts to look in my nephew's eyes
That bullet that hit his back, left his legs without feelin'
So hopefully he gon' walk again, if it's god's willin'
...It's killin' a piece of my soul, he's only 17 years old
So late night I'm up, letting the tears roll
It' so ironic, cause the place i played as a child
Was the same place he caught a bullet, and laid on the ground
Now tell me, who is it to blame for that?
The little guy who pulled the trigger, or the older cats who gave him the gat?
The cycle continues from day to day, i pray the lord
Will make a way to take the hate away from us breaking-away-er's
Our common-sense and intellect, we respect disrespect
We our biggest threat and we don't even get it yet... (It's a shame)