Nas - Tales From the Hood lyrics

Da ha Da ha ha ha ha ha Da ha ha ha Da ha ha ha ha ha [Verse 1] It was '87 Crack money was "Ghetto Heaven" n***as gettin' it Every block rise to perfection Green tops, boulders and bottles Soldiers who follow leaders You owed 'em dollars Know that tommorrow you might not see it Packs got knocked off by sprinklers that never worked All the way to the monkey bars, cross that line you got murked That's other n***as territory had fiends in the cheese line They told them fiends calm down, ten dollars each dime They never scared of Po-Po, was only one patrol car They wasn't up for crack and I was up on the chin of Pa Watching hustlers with tinted cars, money makin' But one kid was into takin' Had dreadlocks wasn't Jamaican Fort green he laid First n***a I ever saw rockin' dreads with a fade Lead he sprayed on the corners in my hood Dodgin' and runnin' The glare in his eyes told you somethin' was commin' They went to war, Godbless Rita, got shot by mistake n***as got knocked by them Jakes Homicide suit and tie cops, Mayor Koch, screams in rage n***as so thugs got pits rocking thick chains Stick-up n***as so thug they got pits with sick names Clicks got bigger, extortion cats wasn't hearin' it But he was regulatin' A ghetto king, now he levatatin' They say he smiled in his casket This ends the first chapter of another Nas cla**ic [Hook: repeat 2X] Tales from the hood, trails of blood But it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should [Verse 2] Yeah I'mma help you n***a, cause I see evil's callin' you Sick thoughts make you wanna take Ki's from other ballin' crews Top of the world's all he views A puff of weed, nothing but greed don't live by the rules f**in' wit' me here's what I do Try to sell your freedom I'm accustomed to You could ball wit' me or get arrested too It's easy to land where they dwell with the greasy hands Twenty to L' what's your plan take your grams You bought you a Lexus, BBS spendin' Abrahams Never learned your lesson, choose the right direction Thin line from life and d**h and my man checked in A motel, same one as a young G he know well Crossed 'em on a coke sell then went on a run But shorty got his old folks k**ed, yo he got 'em done Nobody to run to, what succumb to My n***a just wanted to eat, now he hunted on the street [Hook] Tales from the hood, trails of blood Yeah it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should Tales from the hood, trails of blood Though it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should [Verse 3] Little Gotti got down for his, let off seven rounds The kid he hit is heaven bound if he's on the good list Shorty who shot 'em ran knowing n***as would snitch Five years pa**ed he ain't been in the hood since Shot this n***a over a hundred dollars, money, had borrowed Time pa**ed, on his birthday he couldn't afford a bottle Least expected to see 'em, then he asked for his n***a said he don't got it, so he blast the kid Escapes the scene, but he couldn't escape the dream Or how the kid fell when bullets made it too late to scream Seeing money's face starin' at him In black space feelin' hands touchin' him Wake up it got too much for him Once liked to be alone Until he started hearin' groans and seein' things Now it's time to go home n***as shocked to see him Gave him respect what he was missin' All the way from VA his aunt yell "He hate to listen" So he popped up, they gave him hugs, showed him love Then he was reminded of that night when he sprayed all them slugs He hangin' like nuttin' happened, police grabbed him up Now he seein' ghosts in the cell, they got him strapped up Psycho ward, rest of his life injected thorazine Haunted memories in his mind of the murder scene [Hook] Tales from the hood, trails of blood The book of the dead, translated in thug language, understood? Tales from the hood, trails of blood The book of the dead, translated in thug language, you understood