Sheesh

[swung drum break enters, deep electric bass]
(Hey)
[vocal sample: high-pitched soul melody]
(Hey)
(Hey)

[Verse 1]
[male rap vocals]
Back to these dirty streets (Woo!)
Where the shells lay down by a dead body
And the papers make you cheap
Where the fiends be soaking sheets
Where we singing like Temptations with no David Ruffin in sight
Where we get the kind of stuff we dream
We grab a bag of work with the sleeves
Moving like doors when you move through the streets
Back to the point where you see the world where they moving for cheap
Young nigga never been sweet
We pay the cost so you know that this life ain't cheap
You can't live this life without action
She a pretty thing with some macks and some back-ins
I'm what they call a triple threat
The gang back, we never left (Sheesh!)
(Yeah, yeah)

[Verse 2]
[record scratch]
I'm back in the mix with the plot skin thick
And the clock just ticks 'til the whole thing clicks
They watching my move trying to study the script
But this ain't a movie you slipping and hosing gets clipped
We move in the silence avoiding the sirens
A different kind of signs building designs
They selling you dreams to the low and compliance
Me, I'm a giant standing on the shoulders of the finest
Check the portfolio, it's looking glorious
The story of us from the mud is notorious
They want the fame but the process is laborious
We wanted to win, now the victory is calling us
From cold nights with no heat on the stove
To a new chapter of story that's gotta be told
They fold under pressure, we breaking the mold
Every line is pure gold, every truth is sold separately
She say you've changed, I said growth is the mission
Can't stay the same, that's a losing position
Listen, we used to fish for a pot to piss in
Now the vision is global with different addition
They talking that talk, but their walk is a whisper
I'm the big dipper, stirring up the whole system
Triple threat, remember the mind, the muscle, the hustle
It's a beautiful struggle, we came up from the rubble (Sheesh!)

[Verse 3]
[brass stabs enter]
Uh, we painting these murals on walls of the city
A testament to the ones who ain't make it with me, it's gritty
The truth ain't always pretty but we standing tall
Ten toes down, that's the nitty gritty
They selling you fiction, a life with no friction
My jurisdiction is truth, that's my only addiction
A walking contradiction, a saint with conviction
To rise from the ashes, a lyrical benediction