I had to hustle, my back to the wall, ashy knuckles
Pockets filled with a lot of lint, not a cent
Gotta vent, lot of innocent of lives lost on the project bench
Whatchu hollerin? Gotta pay rent, bring dollars in
Being broke is not fun, I can personally attest to that. Seeing you family and friends suffering is not fun.
There were times my account was so overdrafted I just had to give up the account. I couldn’t even open a checking account for years. I still have nightmares when I hear the phrase “Check Systems”. When your kid wants a toy and you can’t afford it, but it is your kid, so you get it and just eat chips and soda for your lunch at work, it gets pretty depressing.
I had to pawn my PS3 just to have gas in my car to get to work. So, you do what you have to do to survive, my hustle just happened to be these posts.
By the bodega, iron under my coat, feelin braver
Doo-rag wrappin my waves up, pockets full of hope
Do not step to me – I’m awkward, I box lefty
I never felt the need to rob someone, but the awkwardness I get, because I am counterculture. But, I was raised to never aspire to be #2, but to be unique and not afraid to show it.
My pops left me an orphan, my momma wasn’t home
Could not stress to me I wasn’t grown; ‘specially on nights
I brought somethin home to quiet the stomach rumblings
My demeanor – thirty years my senior
My childhood didn’t mean much, only raising green up
Raisin my fingers to critics; raising my head to the sky
Big I did it – multi before I die (nigga)
No lie, just know I chose my own fate
I drove by the fork in the road and went straight
My dad lived in a different city, my mom love her to death but we didn’t have a lot of common. I am an only child, who had to learn to be an adult quicker than most because of my lack of guidance. Not a lack of love, but a lack of basic skills like understanding credit cards work and the birds and the bees.
I love my critics, because so many people said I would fail, so many told me I could never succeed with a site with “BLACK” in the URL. I’d never crossover to the mainstream. I’d never be much of anything.
But, look at me now, not doing too bad for myself and that is what happens when you ignore people trying to tell you to stay in your lane and you aren’t even on their highway.