Jay-Z - Meet The Parents* Lyrics
It's the gift and the curseFirst they love me then they hate meThen they love me againThey love me againLet's take a trip downI gotchaLet's take a trip down memory lane at the cemeteryRain gray skies, seems at the end of everyYoung black life is this line, "Damn, him already?Such a good kid," got us pourin' Henn' alreadyLiquor to the curb for my niggaz up aboveWhen it cracks through the pavement that's my way of sendin' loveSo, give Big a hug, tell Aaliyah I said"Hi 'til the next time I see her, on the other side"He was just some thug that caught some slugsAnd we loved him 'cause in him we saw some of usHe walked like us, talked like usHis back against the wall, nigga fought like us, damnPoor Isis, that's his momma nameMomma ain't strong enough to raise no boy, what's his father name?Shorty never knew him though he had his blood in himHot temper, momma said he act just like her husbandDaddy never *****ed with him, so the streets raised himIsis blamin' herself, she wish she coulda saved himDamn near impossible, only men can raise menHe was his own man, not even him can save himHe put his faith in her, thirty eight in his waistBut when you live by the gun you die by the same fateEnd up dead before thirty eight and ummThat's the life of us raised by winter, it's a cold worldOld girl turned to coke, tried to smoke her pain awayIsis, life just ended on that rainy dayWhen she got the news her boy body could be viewedDown at the City Morgue, opened the drawer, saw him *****Her addiction grew, prescription drugs, shift and brewAngel dust, dipped in wooShe slipped into her own fantasy worldHad herself pregnant by a different dudeBut reality bites and this is her lifeHe wasn't really her husband though he called her wifeIt was just this night when, moon was fullAnd the stars were just right, and the dress was real tightHad her soundin' like "Lisa Lisa, I wonder if I take you homeWill you still love me after this night?"Mike was the hard head from the around the wayThat she wanted all her life, shit she wanted all the hypeUsed to hold on tight when he wheeled on the bikeHe was a Willie all her life, he wasn't really the one to likeIt was a, dude named Shy who would really treat her rightHe wanted to run to the country to escape the city lifeBut Isis like this Broadway lifeShe loved the Gucci sneakers, the red green and whitesHangin' out the window when she first seen him fightShe was so turned on that she had to shower twiceHow ironic it would, be some fight thatTurned into a homicide that'll alter their lifeSee Mike at thirty two was still on the sceneHad a son fifteen that he never saw twiceSure he saw him as an infant, but he dissed on him like"If that was my son, he would look much different.See I'm light skinned and that baby, it is darkSo it's, momma's baby, poppa's maybe."Mike was still crazy out there runnin' the streetsHad an older but light with thirty eight gun in his reachIt's been fourteen years, him and Isis ain't speakHe runnin' around like life's a peach 'til one dayHe approached this thug that, had a mean mugAnd it looked so familiar that he called him Young CuzTold him, get off the strip but the boy ain't budgeInstead he pulled out a newer thirty eight snubHe clearly had the drop but the boy just pausedThere was somethin' in this man's face he knew he seen beforeIt's like, lookin' in the mirror seein' his self more matureAnd he took it as a sign from the Almighty LordYou know what they say about he who hesitates in warHe who hesitates is lostHe can't explain what he saw before his picture went blankThe old man didn't think he just followed his instinctSix shots into his kid, out of the gunNiggaz be a father, you're killin' your sonSix shots into his kid, out of the gunNiggaz be a father, you killin' your sonsMeet the parents