Once upon time in hip hop land
There was a itty bitty boy holdin' mommas hand
She told 'em don't let go, scared of gangs
So she told the little boy not to talk to strangers
Look both ways 'fore you cross the street
And when you wanna walk, you gotta walk with me
Of course he agree'd even though at 4 feet
The world ain't the same as it is for you and me
.. Later that day he was sittin' alone
And he saw a couple guys from across the road
He never really had too many buddies
Momma worked hard so she had a little money
But he saw these guys had all the honey's
Cars and shiney chains that looked funny
He always wanted that popularity
Used to listen to barney but now it's Ice T
Used to say dude but now he says n***
Told mom that his clothes need to be bigger
Summertime lookin' like a circus clown
And all throughout winter looked like a stick figure
Years pass by and he's now teen
Bought his first chain, costume jewerly
In his mind thought it was so attractive
But the kids at school just pointed laughin'
This was a turnin' point in his life
Only had 2 choices, had to think twice
He could stop posin' try to keep it real
Or become someone else start grippin' on the steal
But he had no access to guns
And he never met someone who really had one
Hum.. Now he really had to start thinkin'
And that's when he remembered some song he was singin'
Somethin' 'bout shoot 'em up, shoot bang bang
And he sorta thought about joinin' a gang
But why join the gang when he could just claim it
Thought about ways he could change what his name is
Turned 18 and moved away
Half of his school never knew his name
So I guess this meant he could start off fresh
Started rockin' some color quote from his set
Unquote.. Got real famous with rhymes
And is now is big deal to the public eye
He talks about his time around thugs
And the blast of a gun when he was sellin' drugs
Bein' dead broke but hustlin'
Getting girls, fightin' a bunch of men
It's funny coz I don't remember that part
But then again.. Well who am I to talk?
Classic story of before and after
And the story that I tell is prolly 'bout your favorite rapper
.. But it's no big deal
Just when I tell my stories man I try to keep it real