Tales From the Hood

Da ha da ha ha ha ha ha
Da ha ha ha da ha ha ha ha ha

It was '87 crack money was "Ghetto Heaven"
Niggas gettin' it
Every block rise to perfection
Green tops, boulders and bottles
Soldiers who follow leaders
You owed 'em dollars
Know that tommorrow you might not see it
Packs got knocked off by
Sprinklers that never worked
All the way to the monkey bars
Cross that line you got murked
That's other niggas territory had fiends
In the cheese line
They told them fiends calm down
Ten dollars each dime
They never scared of Po-Po
Was only one patrol car
They wasn't up for crack and I was
Up on the chin of Pa
Watching hustlers with tinted cars
Money makin' but one kid was into takin'
Had dreadlocks wasn't Jamaican
Fort green he laid
First nigga I ever saw rockin'
Dreads with a fade
Lead he sprayed on the corners in my hood
Dodgin' and runnin'
The glare in his eyes told
You somethin' was commin'
They went to war, Godbless Rita
Got shot by mistake
Niggas got knocked by them Jakes
Homicide suit and tie cops, Mayor Koch
Screams in rage niggas so thugs got pit's
Rocking thick chains
Stick-up niggas so thug they got
Pit's with sick names clicks got bigger
Extortion cats wasn't hearin' it
But he was regulatin'
A ghetto king, now he levatatin'
They say he smiled in his casket
This ends the first chapter
Of another Nas classic
Tales from the hood, trails of blood
But it's all good
Try to stay alive like we all should

Yeah I'mma help you nigga
Cause I see evil's callin' you
Sick thoughts make you wanna take
Ki's from other ballin' crews
Top of the world's all he views
A puff of weed
Nothing but greed don't live by the rules
Fuckin' wit' me here's what I do
Try to sell your freedom I'm accustomed to
You could ball wit' me or get arrested too
It's easy to land where they
Dwell with the greasy hands
Twenty to L' what's your plan take your grams
You bought you a Lexus, BBS spendin' Abrahams
Never learned your lesson
Choose the right direction
Thin line from life and death
And my man checked in
A motel, same one as a young G he know well
Crossed 'em on a coke sell then went on a run
But shorty got his old folks killed
Yo he got 'em done
Nobody to run to, what succumb to
My nigga just wanted to eat
Now he hunted on the street

Tales from the hood, trails of blood
Yeah it's all good
Try to stay alive like we all should
Tales from the hood, trails of blood
Though it's all good
Try to stay alive like we all should

Little Gotti got down for his
Let off seven rounds
The kid he hit is heaven bound
If he's on the good list
Shorty who shot 'em ran
Knowing niggas would snitch
Five years passed he ain't been
In the hood since shot this nigga over a
Hundred dollars, money, had borrowed
Time passed
On his birthday he couldn't afford a bottle
Least expected to see 'em
Then he asked for his
Nigga said he don't got it
So he blast the kid escapes the scene
But he couldn't escape the dream
Or how the kid fell when bullets
Made it too late to scream
Seeing money's face starin' at him
In black space feelin' hands touchin' him
Wake up it got too much for him
Once liked to be alone
Until he started hearin' groans
And seein' things now it's time to go home
Niggas shocked to see him
Gave him respect what he was missin'
All the way from VA his aunt
Yell "He hate to listen"
So he popped up, they gave him hugs
Showed him love
Then he was reminded of that night
When he sprayed all them slugs
He hangin' like nuttin' happened
Police grabbed him up
Now he seein' ghosts in the cell
They got him strapped up psycho ward
Rest of his life injected thorazine
Haunted memories in his mind
Of the murder scene

Tales from the hood, trails of blood
The book of the dead
Translated in thug language, understood?
Tales from the hood, trails of blood
The book of the dead
Translated in thug language, you understood