The Invitation (feat. Q Tip & Fatman Scoop)

Check, check, check

Ain't nothin' stoppin' this murder in this Metropolis
I represent the poor and profitless corner monopolists
The pessimist outnumber the optimist on the block and it's
Coppers that got binoculars 'cause I can feel them watchin' us
(Feel 'em watchin' us) if only they knew what we had a pocket of
They probably swarm in without a warning pointin' Glocks at us

(Get down) but this is gettin' us paid
So at a very tender age we learned the tricks of the trade
Copping coke to cooking it to chipping it with the blade
To baggin' and pitchin' to gettin' rid of it in a raid
Most of us would never get to the stage, when it's lawyers and bail
Hell we're happy to get sticked in the cage

And it's crazy we be out here for days upon days
Makin just enough to get some licks, some kicks, and some haze
It's a damn shame we're placed in a no win situation
The party is in the pen and the blow is the invitation

Fishkill, Rikers Island you don't stop
Greenhaven all day you don't stop
Hold it down in Rahway you don't stop
You gotta strive in Elmira you don't stop
Sullivan, Coxsackie you don't stop
All my peoples Auburn, you don't stop
And last but not least for the sure shot
It's the abandoned nation

Theresa baby daddy got a bad habit of smoking money up
She gettin' some stripper paper but saving up for a tummy tuck
Little man hungry as fuck, he only one-years-old
But knows he's unlucky and such
As he grows, he gets bitter, now he acts up in class
He curses his teachers out tellin' them they can kiss his ass
Soon as he didn't pass, his mama whoopin' his ass
His pops is not around, the boy is block bound

(Block bound) Not even 12-months later
He sucking on 40-ounces and pissing in elevators
Idolizin' the guys with big rides that's gettin' the quick paper
And now he despises the shit-taker
He 13 goin' on 26 and a half
His only dream was to have bricks and a stash

Poppin' the clutch and hittin' the gas, so then he start dabblin'
In the coke game pitchin' for halves
Now he sittin' in a cell with an unpeculiar bail
He happened to make a sale to an unfamiliar male
Who was an undercover cop, his photo is at the station
The party is in the pen and the blow is the invitation

Bayview, San Quentin you don't stop
North Branch, Connally you don't stop
Huntsville, Buckingham, and you don't stop
Greenville, James River you don't stop

The party is in the pen and the government is promotin' it
That's the reason I don't be believin' in all this votin' shit
They bring the coke in this bitch, ain't no poppy seeds
In the p's please, there's nothing but a whole lot of hopelessness
That's where all the focus is, makin' sure the blacks
Stay in the back the same place that uh, Scoliosis is
How can they lie with such compulsiveness, we just sit around
Acting like as if this is how we supposed to live

Fuck outta here, I can swear in 'bout a year
I'll have these suckas explainin' why the hell they still got us here
Still being treated like shit, still gettin' beat
With nightsticks, still attractin' heat in my six
That's why we ride, still drink Barcardi and the Gin
'Cause whitey trying to invite me to the party in the pen

A body will get your ass up in VIP
And the burner will get you in without showing your ID
The coke that'll get you in especially if you cook it up
You RSVP to the party in the P
-enitentiary Saigiddy, I am the truth
I ain't one of these kids that lie to the youth, I'm living proof

Comstock in the house, it don't stop
Sing Sing, uh you don't stop
Attica, come on, you don't stop
And Attica, come on, you don't stop
Out in Greenhaven, you don't stop
And what it do Rahway, you don't stop
Out west in Lompoc, you don't stop
Is San Quentin in the house, and you don't stop
Over in Ironwood, you don't stop
What about Arrendale, you don't stop
North Branch, do it up, you don't stop
Over in Connelly, you don't stop
Saigon the Yardfather, you don't stop
Just Blaze on the beat, he keeps it hot
And last but not least for the sure shot
It's the abandoned nation

Comstock's in the house, hands up (hands up)
Sing Sing's in the house, hands up (hands up)
Attica's in the house, hands up (hands high)
Greenhaven's in the house, hands up (to the sky)
Rahway's in the house, hands up (put 'em up)
Lompoc's in the house, hands up (keep 'em up)
Elmira's in the house hands up (hands high)
Sullivan's in the house hands up (put 'em up, put 'em up)