Common - The Neighborhood Lyrics
[Intro: James Fauntleroy]Thousand lives agoWe were young and we didn't knowWe were trading our crowns for our soulsMade the sacrificeHeaded back to the lightBut be careful don't drown in the goldI know it glows but it's cold[Sample]I'm from the other side of townOut of boundsTo anybody who don't live aroundI never learned to share or how to careI never had no teachings about being fair[Verse 1: Common]Have you ever heard of Black Stone around Black Stones?And Four Corner Hustlers, Vice Lords, Stony Island on AcesThe concrete matrix, street organizationsThey gave violations, hood public relationsIt was the basics to get big facesStay away from cases, bad broads, good gracesThe hustles was the taste makers and trend settersThey the ones that fed us hopin' that the feds don't get usThe era of Reagan, the terror of BushCrack babies, momma's a push, we were the products of BushI'm wishin' for a Samurai Suzuki and a little GucciA bad ho to [?] do me, you heard of flukey?Stokes it was folks and coke and dopeFiends choked off of smoke, herringbones and ropeRare jewels of a generationDiamonds, blind enough so real shit we facin'Forties wasted on seats, Dion makin' the beatsWhen they air it out on at the parties we escapin' the heatI could break it down like whatever you needHe squinted his face and rolled the weed[Interlude]You know they don't see sometimesThat in the neighborhoodIt's the exact same thingIt's the same thing over and over againFeel me?[Verse 2: Lil Herb]Have you ever heard of no limit, three hundred, six hundred?Folly boy, O block, eastsideWhere it ain't no conversation they just let them heats rideCan't nobody stop the violence, why my city keep lyin'?Niggas throw up peace signs but everybody keep dyingUsed to post up on that strip, I look like a street signI've been out there three days and I got shot at three timesFelt like every bullet hit me when they flew out each nineI be happy when I wake up and I have a free mindI know haters wanna clap me up, watch the morgue grab me upBut they can catch me later, I been cool, chasin' paperWhere I come from ain't no hope if you was claimin' that was majorSmall crib, big fam, mom was workin', grammy raised usNo food in the refrigerator, I was bangin', pullin' capers, that's real shitSame niggas from day one boy, yeah I'm still withBetter watch out for that jump shot cause they will hitHungry take your shorty lunchbox, and won't feel shitI came from a place where it's basic but you won't make itFeds buildin' cases, judges who racist and full of hatred I meanYou ain't never seen the shit that I seen[Outro]Coming inboundForty six minutes from 3:55Jim Bryant's twenty eight out, thirty two inLake Shore Drive's heavy southNorth Avenue to Chicago, jammed north through Grant ParkTri State heavy south [?] to the Bensenville Bridge and St. Charles to the Stevenson RampGet traffic and weather together on the 8's every ten minutes on News Radio, 780 and 105.9 FM
