From hood to hood, city to project, the project Nigga what's the motherfuckin' dialect? Gangstas, caught in a shuffle Niggaz tryin' to turn a constant struggle to the positive hustle Whether it's the yay or the 9-to-5 The pills or the chronic, we hustle to stay alive And if you ain't Reggie Bush runnin' a rock You better be good as Kobe slangin' a jumpshot Cause round here the odds of success is nimble It's like Russian Roulet with five bullets in the barrel I'm located on the map, with latinos and black American dream is pistol and a dope sack Where they process, strip us down to scan us Lock us up and ban us, the city of bandanas Where we, grind steadily and move to the 12-gauge melody Just livin' in the hood is a felony And if you guilty by affiliation And you're subject to humiliation And you're facin' incarceration Probation or under investigation Throw your hands up to the sky Oh Lord please tell me why My own people gon' testify I'm in the hood and I don't have a alibi I'm lookin' at my TV The commercials keep tellin' me, nigga 'Be All You Can Be' But if ain't BET or in the backseat Of the LAPD I'd barely see me It's a trip, the whole world finna rap But when it's time to shine, where all the real niggaz at? Do a nigga gotta be rich, just to get over? Do a gotta be a bitch to sit next to Oprah? It must be the walk but I'ma keep it O.G. I'm a nigga that like soul food and to smoke weed And stay breaded, hit the corner on the hog With my middle finger twisted, index and pinky spreaded A sellout nigga, I'm the wrong type West Coast nigga, take flight on site I know they hate to see me comin' But, I gots to put the blue Chuck's on the pedal And rep it for the ghetto And if you guilty by affiliation And you're subject to humiliation And you're facin' incarceration Probation or under investigation Throw your hands up to the sky Oh Lord please tell me why My own people gon' testify I'm in the hood and I don't have a alibi Fo-fo' up under my zipper Cause bein' black ain't a job it's a motherfuckin' adventure Look, the gun shots won't cease And rollin' by, if it ain't my enemies then it's the police I'm askin', which one will kill me faster? Is it that drive-by, or the cigarette causin' cancer? God made a promise that we all gon' die Along the ride nigga might as well ball and get high So I'm sittin' back with the zig-zag, grabbin' and snappin' The gank back for action just in case I gotta get to clappin' Cause niggaz is playin' elimination And where I'm from every nigga's guilty by affiliation That's why we ride and the young die And you lucky if you live to pass 25 That's why they hate to see me comin' But, I gots to put the blue Chuck's on the pedal And rep it for the ghetto And if you guilty by affiliation And you're subject to humiliation And you're facin' incarceration Probation or under investigation Throw your hands up to the sky Oh Lord please tell me why My own people gon' testify I'm in the hood and I don't have a alibi I gotta rep where I'm from (Where you from?) South Central where the good die young (Where you at?) Western & Imperial It's the pure West Coast, comin' out your stereo I gotta rep where I'm from (Where you from?) South Central where the good die young (Where you at?) Western & Imperial It's the pure West Coast, comin' out your stereo