Tell me this ain't real
A brother can't deal with life so he's sellin' dope
He ain't trippin', just doin' what he gotta do
To pay the damn rent or get thrown on the avenue
Check it out
He's comin' up the police are in an uprange
Should he quit it and settle for minimum wage
He sells it to his neighbor and his best friend
And might even sell it to his girlfriend
He sells it to anyone who wants some
Just so he got a place to stay next month
It's illegal but, punk, will you pay the bills?
And when he needs money will you make the deals?
It's a damn shame goin' through unemployment
And you just sell dope and be flamboyant
And this is how the government thanks you
For hundreds of years of slavery
This is the life of a gansta
This is the life of a gansta
Tell me this ain't real
A brother joins a gang in the projects
Cause his family is broke and he respects the sick
So you know he'd do anything to help out
From jacking to robbing to just lettin' out a blast from the double barrel shotgun
As for opposing gang members, he'll mug one
The day is over so he goes home to hear the fussing and the feuding and the fighting
Cause his family ain't united
Bring your stolen money home to put food on the table
Cause everybody else ain't able
Mom's a sick and complying to the pill
Pop's all fed up, put the knife to his own head
And little brother too young to know
Big sister always sittin' on the bu*t, glazing ho
The more the bills are the more you gotta gank it
But y'all don't understand the circumstance
This is the life of a gansta
This is the life of a gansta
Alright, tell me this ain't real
A brother got this girl pregnant OK
And if both of them be to school the day of the next day
He no job hon, he even been to top of bail
Cause it's clear that he don't sell but
A some of that doped up white stuff
But as times get hard and times get rough
He's movin' the stuff for anything that's paying
His best friend comes around and he's selling
Then maybe the two of them can hit a lick
Then he'd come back with studio equipment
Then when he licks seven days a week
And in the daytime all they do is that cheese
While away his wife and his baby would shriek
But on the front is silk leather, snakeskin goin' asway
You might hate him and call him a prankster
But y'all don't understand the circumstance
This is the life of a gansta
This is the life of a gansta
This is the life of a gansta
This is the life of a gansta
This is the life of a gansta
You know what I mean