E.C. Illa - What You Be About? lyrics

For about as long, as I can remember From January on, through to december Motherf**ers in chi town been bangin They had they little blocks and you could find 'em all hangin The year was eighty-one, del plains and broadway Vicelords and eagles, strappin in broad day I heard this braud say call the cops They swingin bats and chains, and they throwin rocks And that was as bad as it got back then Noone was servin blows pullin Glocks or mack tens So I kept to myself amongst the pimpin, and hoein Gang population consistantly growin Years went by and that sh** got tight Half my homies went left and the other half right Despite all the past, they heads got swoll And with the increasin age came the loss of control We all knew better, but some didn't care Like 'f** the next man ima get my fair share' And with that came the shootin and sellin And in the grade school hallways you could always hear 'em yellin [Chorus:] What you be about, What you be about Some choose the people, some choose the folks What you be about, What you be about Some choose the people, some choose the folks Now age 16 came and everyone had dropped out And as far as beef goes, getting knocked out Was cool, cuz you coulda got shanked, or blasted In Chi town the g**nin art had been mastered At last it was just too far gone The year was eighty-nine and it wouldn't be long Till sh** got as bad as it could get Cuz wit no conscience, theres no regret False flaggin techniques, were bein perfected And fist to fist combat had long been neglected Infected by the plague, of crazy a** shortys Doin more dirt than men in their 30's and 40's The more these kids did, the more they wanted to do And if you got to catch a slug hope that its a twenty-two Cuz survivin nowadays is a task So you best know what to tell them when they ask [Chorus] Now the present day is in effect and I can't walk down the street Without some type of sh** to put walks in retreat Cuz these sets got the addicts acting dramatic And in the summer time its even more sparatic Cuz heat makes marks straight tameless And all things considered, sh**s gettin outrageous New sets poppin up like everyother day Motherf**ers claimin sh** cuz they know no other way Sayin either flip this sighn, or hear a poppin sound Im like I can't throw it up let alone throw it down I done lost track on whos who and whats what So to simplify sh** I be layin in the cut While my homies out there raisin hell cappin sh** Im creatin it my best wit this rappin sh** But if you think that you can hide then you dreamin Cuz just chillin in my crib I can still hear 'em screamin [Chorus]