Nas - Tales From The Hood Lyrics
Da haDa ha ha ha ha haDa ha ha haDa ha ha ha ha ha[Verse 1]It was '87Crack money was "Ghetto Heaven"Niggaz gettin' itEvery block rise to perfectionGreen tops, boulders and bottlesSoldiers who follow leadersYou owed 'em dollarsKnow that tommorrow you might not see itPacks got knocked off by sprinklers that never workedAll the way to the monkey bars, cross that line you got murkedThat's other niggaz territory had fiends in the cheese lineThey told them fiends calm down, ten dollars each dimeThey never scared of Po-Po, was only one patrol carThey wasn't up for crack and I was up on the chin of PaWatching hustlers with tinted cars, money makin'But one kid was into takin'Had dreadlocks wasn't JamaicanFort green he laidFirst nigga I ever saw rockin' dreads with a fadeLead he sprayed on the corners in my hoodDodgin' and runnin'The glare in his eyes told you somethin' was commin'They went to war, Godbless Rita, got shot by mistakeNiggaz got knocked by them JakesHomicide suit and tie cops, Mayor Koch, screams in rageNiggaz so thugs got pits rocking thick chainsStick-up niggaz so thug they got pits with sick namesClicks got bigger, extortion cats wasn't hearin' itBut he was regulatin'A ghetto king, now he levatatin'They say he smiled in his casketThis ends the first chapter of another Nas classic[Chorus: x2]Tales from the hood, trails of bloodBut it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should[Verse 2]Yeah I'ma help you nigga, cause I see evil's callin' youSick thoughts make you wanna take Ki's from other ballin' crewsTop of the world's all he viewsA puff of weed, nothing but greed don't live by the rules*****in' wit' me here's what I doTry to sell your freedom I'm accustomed toYou could ball wit' me or get arrested tooIt's easy to land where they dwell with the greasy handsTwenty to L' what's your plan take your gramsYou bought you a Lexus, BBS spendin' AbrahamsNever learned your lesson, choose the right directionThin line from life and death and my man checked inA motel, same one as a young G he know wellCrossed 'em on a coke sell then went on a runBut shorty got his old folks killed, yo he got 'em doneNobody to run to, what succumb toMy nigga just wanted to eat, now he hunted on the street[Chorus]Tales from the hood, trails of bloodYeah it's all good, try to stay alive like we all shouldTales from the hood, trails of bloodThough it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should[Verse 3]Little Gotti got down for his, let off seven roundsThe kid he hit is heaven bound if he's on the good listShorty who shot 'em ran knowing niggaz would snitchFive years passed he ain't been in the hood sinceShot this nigga over a hundred dollars, money, had borrowedTime passed, on his birthday he couldn't afford a bottleLeast expected to see 'em, then he asked for hisNigga said he don't got it, so he blast the kidEscapes the scene, but he couldn't escape the dreamOr how the kid fell when bullets made it too late to screamSeeing money's face starin' at himIn black space feelin' hands touchin' himWake up it got too much for himOnce liked to be aloneUntil he started hearin' groans and seein' thingsNow it's time to go homeNiggaz shocked to see himGave 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 loveThen he was reminded of that night when he sprayed all them slugsHe hangin' like nuttin' happened, police grabbed him upNow he seein' ghosts in the cell, they got him strapped upPsycho ward, rest of his life injected thorazineHaunted memories in his mind of the murder scene[Chorus]Tales from the hood, trails of bloodThe book of the dead, translated in thug language, understood?Tales from the hood, trails of bloodThe book of the dead, translated in thug language, you understood
