Street niggas caught in a trap Guns that both sell crack and rap Be like kings or be like pawns They called us coons, now they call us cons Street niggas be packin' pistols Terrorists be blastin' missiles Crips and bloods and retail thugs CIA planes bring Colombian drugs in Don't push me, cause I'm close to hell The teachers in my neighborhood got Harley Spell And compared to them, prison guards get paid well Ten years, no bails, four years a year So forget about the statue of General Lee Because the status of blacks are generally Gonna end up in some penitentiary Systematically, that's how they made it to be They derailed the Soul Train And put a nightmare in every Martin Luther King And privatized prisons are owned by the same Slave masters that own the slave trade game And racists no longer have to be racist Cause niggas kill more niggas than the KKK did Now every time I hear a new death jam Niggas killin' niggas like they Ku Klux Klan I understand what's a nigga to choose Be the killer or be the dead dude in the news I get it, what's a nigga to do No education in the hood, got a nigga confused Street living, tough conditions Brainwashed by the television We lost in the world we live in Double-crossed love lost no religion Street living, oh my gosh Another brother got shot by the sergeant Another cop got off with no charge If you're black in the hood, you at large You're guilty until you prove it innocent If you're ivory, they treat you different If you're ebony, they assume your temperament We'll be vigilant and they call you militant And you'll get shot and they'll save the incident It's cause you're belligerent, what a coincidence Mourning prayer but you're still an immigrant And if you ain't dead, you gon' see imprisonment There's more niggas in the prison than there ever was Slaves cotton pickin' There's more niggas ass-rottin' in the prison than there ever was Slaves cotton pickin' So how we gonna get about the trap? Guns or books, sell crack or rap? Street living, hustler hoops Guns or books, get shot or shoot Street living, ain't no rules Break the law, make the breaking news The life you choose could be the life you lose Niggas getting sucked for them Nike shoes Street living, ain't no joke It's a cold world, better bring your coat Revoke cause the streets are broke And now they wanna take away our dreams and hopes Street living, no economics No way out of the Reaganomics Affected by the black plague, new bubonic No comprehending, we speak Ebonics Street living, what's your position? You could take action or take a dick, listen You could get *** by the system Or you could say, *** the system