DJ Premier - Dirty Game lyrics

Yeah Know what I'm sayin' Premo' Tell these n***as about my life know what I mean It's been a crazy, crazy journey for me, know what I mean [Verse 1] I spend my days in a steel cage where brothers feel rage And get real with razor blades in ill ways So when my cell close, my brain cells expose And my pen excels to a part of hell froze Inside of me, was looking for a way out Reality was tellin' me that if I find a way out I had to stay out, plans I had to lay out In order to elevate from my identity, mentally accelerate I seen a lot of men break down being an inmate Now I realize I couldn't make the same mistakes It was real being concealed in steel gates Where brothers who feel hate against an another race Which only indicates a snake mentality These are my days of reality [Hook - DJ Premier (scratching)] The streets is a dirty game My heart's still home in the streets It's a damn shame The streets is a dirty game But n***as stay strapped in the hood x2 [Verse 2] Often I think of my people the board denied they freedom, a mirage Disappearing before our eyes We were born to strife Now living in courts decide Missing their children we can feel it when our mommas cry We was hustlin' but would the jury find me guilty? They seen us strugglin' Doing what we have to do to ease the sufferin' We know its wrong but so was havin' us freezin' Left the stove on wearing our sneakers until the soles are gone We constantly holdin' on, being broke And hopin our phone is our only escape And when our favorite TV shows is on shots ringin' echo in the ear before the cops came kids was everywhere And women cryin n***as going to jail A mothers eyes fill with tears as she nears Realizing he's surviving she exhales like Angela Ba**ett I'm a poet amongst slums, crimes, and crack addicts [Hook] [Verse 3] I live a lonely existence Lately I've become a mathematician As I divide my friends with phony n***as I confide in God As for sins may he forgive 'em If you have dreams they can be achieved never give up Look at me once a convicted felon Once addicted to sellin' The substance which corrupted many men in my era I stood in awe at the dope fiends Drove by those caught in the coke game Some proper some locked up some sold claim The main team wanted the shine Streets so alive I felt the air breathe Not only did I misplace time I could remember as an inmate At midstate I stayed in the law library Some chose to lift weight, fine As if they content with they time They strip us at the visit Limit our education Ridicule us n***as Modern enslavement Even though I'm out of the cages I'm the voice of the soldier in the yard with the banger [Hook]