Verse 1: The Hood Got Respect For The Convict Green Ain't No Jobs For Us We Just Trying To Succeed I Proceed Dog To Do The Deed Ese Any Kind Of Crime We Got Children To Feed I'm High Off The Weed The White Got Me Numb And A Number In The System Is What I Become I Watch Slums But I Ain't No Bum So I Ain't Gonna Settle Til I Get Me Some Thats Real These Fools Want My Soul If They Could Have It Their Way They'd Put Me Back In The Hole They Say I Stole Or Didn't Pay a Toll Ese Any Little sh** So They Could Raid My Home Its Called A Set-Up Ain't No Way To Prove It They Still In The Crowd So I Keep On Movin' Trouble Brewin' They Want Me Back In Them Blues Like Tonight On The News For Unloadin' That Uz.. Chorus: This A Portrait Of a Convict That Wanna Live Right But Everything Against Me Including My Life I Got a Wife And 3 Starving Kids That Want Me By Their Side And Not In The Pen This A Portrait Of a Convict That Wanna Do Good But Everything Against Me All I Know Is The Hood I Gotta Fight For The Little I Have If Not Lose It All Thats Why I Roam With The Gang Verse 2: Ese A General Relief And Welfare Checks From All The Fiends That Get Served Thats To Pay The Rent The Rest Spent Ima Guard My b**h My Lady Is What I Meant And Thats In Any Event I'm A Threat Anywhere That I Hang And The Mayor Of The City Got a Problem With Gangs They Want Us Out But Still They Can't No Degree, Real Estate And No Money In Banks I'm Tryin To Last But They Figure It Fast Ese Tryin To Give Me Cases For Some sh** In The Past It Gets Cold They Start Tapping My Phones But The Ice That They Found
Ain't In Pads I Own Its Unknown How I Live My Life One Day At A Time Gotta Live With The Slime I'm At Bar After A Night Of Whippin' Release The Stress A Naked b**h I'm Tippin' Chorus: This A Portrait Of a Convict That Wanna Live Right But Everything Against Me Including My Life I Got a Wife And 3 Starving Kids That Want Me By Their Side And Not In The Pen This A Portrait Of a Convict That Wanna Do Good But Everything Against Me All I Know Is The Hood I Gotta Fight For The Little I Have If Not Lose It All Thats Why I Roam With The Gang Verse 3: Its Been This Way I Don't Think It'll Change Gotta Deal With It Ain't No One To Blame Its Kinda Strange That The City Deranged Ese Pull Up On A Victim And The Shots Exchanged There He Laid He Became The Prey The Vato Went Astray He was Slippin Away All Day G's Go To The Bay The Sky Turns Grey All Us Going To Play Thats How We Livin I'm Just Trying To Provide A Couple Condos For The Fam So They Ain't Hungry At Night And We Have It's Cold Turkey In Jail Ese Direct From My Cell I'm Lifting The Veil No Yale Program To Fail So I Had To Get With It If I Wanna Prevail No Bail Thats Why I'm Cutting This Record A Portrait Of A Convict That's Under Pressure Chorus: This A Portrait Of a Convict That Wanna Live Right But Everything Against Me Including My Life I Got a Wife And 3 Starving Kids That Want Me By Their Side And Not In The Pen This A Portrait Of a Convict That Wanna Do Good But Everything Against Me All I Know Is The Hood I Gotta Fight For The Little I Have If Not Lose It All Thats Why I Roam With The Gang