Hope

Hip-hop's forever
Kept my radio on 98 or BLS
Had a pre-pubescent lyric gift but niggaz never hear me spit

My little brother tried to warn 'em, I was a tornado comin'
He knew from inside, like the eye of a storm
And told my pops about it
He gave us tickets to that Wild Style flick

Double Trouble, retarded, we was the proudest
I never had a summer job
Sweepin' leaves, socks to my knees
Homemade

Dreams and Queens broke
Mack-10's, you can smell the PCP smoke
Mele Mel told it real in the music he wrote
Those were the days I remember

We used to be close, then I was nine, coldest winter I remember
Was slippin' in December, two feet of snow
Yeah, that's the East Coast, that black ice
Symbolized the rap life

It was slick and smooth
I understood I had to come from the hood
Doin' the Pee Wee Herman, the Smurf
Before them phones chirped

The block's drugs flowin', didn't have your own work
You had to have somebody else's, a small chrome on your pelvis
Starter Jacket, Blue Georgetown or Green Celtic
Your girl's too expen