South Central, home of the warzone where the great thugs roam Where we ain't promised nothing but shell-bullet wounds and tombstones Every man for himself in this concrete jungle, jungle Only the strong survive and the weak perish and crumble Yeah, n***as' pockets hurting, work day and night in them dope spots In the kitchen with them razors where the water boiling hot Blood plus crip plus wrong sign equals a shoot-out Then the Glock's pop then the block's smoking like a motherf**ing Luau In the projects, watched a lot of n***as, seen a lot of n***as moved out Then mom said ''back dreaming of big a**, new house'' Then it's back to reality, smokers out back getting so high Watching n***as k** for a salary, watched a lot of great n***as die Colder the streets, never ever talk to the motherf**ing police If you do better have a bullet-proof vest, better guard your mouth piece Yeah, I don't really care about what a n***a may say about me I'mma let you speak dollars into my pockets, watch them increase Look at you - came from ground zero to the top Made something from nothing on that project block Switch your hustle, no more working that dope spot Middle finger to cops, tell 'em that we're legal now Yes, we legal now, do it for our people now Finally we eating now, make sure our belly's stay full We made nothing out of something, man You know, all the way to the top Make sure our belly's stay full Make sure our belly's stay full Yeah, I got some, but I'm still on the block like a n***a never left Still on the grind all the time, gotta get mine doing what's best Yeah, I came up, but I never changed up on my n***as, no sir Let bygones be bygones, let it burn like Usher No chauffeur, I'm wheeling myself in a big '64 Rims poking, three wheel motion, my lungs full of that herb My n***as still on the curb posted up like junkies at a liquor store For all my n***as that died in the war, yeah dawg, let the liquor pour Just Ciroc's, baby, hood sh** is all I know Live life to the fullest, never know when a n***a gotta go That's how it is out here, dawg, really can't show no feel I've never seen a man cry 'til a man dies, then you see them tears Rest in peace, Nini, your grandson still looking handsome Still gotta keep canons cause them haters out there still can't stand us You said I got power, all I gotta do is grab hold to my pen Yeah, I loved you to my last breath, grandma, 'til we meet again Look at you - came from ground zero to the top Made something from nothing on that project block Switch your hustle, no more working that dope spot Middle finger to cops, tell 'em that we're legal now Yes, we legal now, do it for our people now Finally we eating now, make sure our belly's stay full We're like a train with no breaks Who gon' stop us? Make sure our belly's stay full Make sure our belly's stay full Kendrick Lamar: Yo, Rock - let me get it, let me breathe on it for a minute Speak for a minute, put my 2 cent in it for a second Let them get a view of my mind, backpack tucked with a nine Went to school with it, didn't play with it Didn't tell nobody it was mine It was my weapon, had it for my protection I didn't blink, not for a second Didn't pour my heart and soul to a reverend They're hypocrite anyway, rather put my full faith in God Had to stay on my grind something like when I was sumping Had to maintain my function back against the wall, they fronting Played the background like a movie extra Extra activities, no remedy for the crime going on, same old song Bet ya couldn't make it out here if you wasn't wasn't that strong Not mentally, but physically, had to get my psychology on Mama said I gotta come home, but I didn't, stayed out real late My excuse was ''how we gon' eat if it's no food on the plate?'' Now wait - think back, yeah yeah n***a, far far back Came from the bottom to the-the top, now tell me how you love that? Look at you - came from ground zero to the top Made something from nothing on that project block Switch your hustle, no more working that dope spot Middle finger to cops, tell 'em that we're legal now Yes, we legal now, do it for our people now Finally we eating now, make sure our belly's stay full We're like a train with no breaks Who gon' stop us? Make sure our belly's stay full Make sure our belly's stay full