[Intro]
Woo! Uhh, uhh
It's The Gift and the Curse
Uhh, uhh, yeah
First they love me then they hate me then they love me again
They love me again (Uhh)
Let's take a trip down
I gotcha

[Verse]
Let's take a trip down memory lane at the cemetery
Rain, grey skies, seems at the end of every
Young black life is this line, "Damn, him already?
Such a good kid," got us pourin' Henn' already
Liquor to the curb for my n***as up above
When it cracks through the pavement, that's my way of sendin' love
So give BIG a hug, tell Aaliyah I said, "Hi"
'Til the next time I see her, on the other side
He was just some thug that caught some slugs
And we loved him 'cause, in him, we saw some of us
He walked like us, talked like us
His back against the wall, n***a fought like us, damn
Poor Isis, that's his mama name
Mama ain't strong enough to raise no boy, what's his father name?
Shorty never knew him, though he had his blood in him
Hot temper, mama said he act just like her husband
Daddy never fucked with him, so the streets raised him
Isis blamin' herself, she wish she could've saved him
Damn near impossible, only men can raise men
He was his own man, not even him can save him
He put his faith in a .38 in his waist
But when you live by the gun, you die by the same fate
End up dead before 38 and umm
That's the life of us raised by winter, it's a cold world
Ol' girl turned to coke, tried to smoke her pain away
Isis' life just ended on that rainy day
When she got the news her boy body could be viewed
Down at the city morgue, opened the drawer, saw him n***
Her addiction grew, prescription drugs, sippin' brew
Angel dust dipped in woo!
She slipped into her own fantasy world
Had herself pregnant by a different dude
But reality bites and this is her life
He wasn't really her husband, though he called her wife
It was just this night when moon was full
And the stars were just right, and the dress was real tight
Had her soundin' like Lisa Lisa
I wonder if I take you home, will you still love me after this night?
Mike was the hard head from around the way
That she wanted all her life, shit, she wanted all the hype
Used to hold on tight when he wheelied on the bike
He was a Willie all her life, he wasn't really the one to like
It was a dude named Sha who would really treat her right
He wanted to run to the country to escape the city life
But Isis liked this Broadway life
She loved the Gucci sneakers, the red, green and whites
Hangin' out the window when she first seen him fight
She was so turned on that she had to shower twice
How ironic it would be some fight that
Turned into a homicide that'll alter their life
See Mike at 32 was still on the scene
Had a son, 15, that he never saw twice
Sure he saw him as an infant, but he disowned him like
"If that was my son, he would look much different
See I'm light-skinned and that baby there's dark"
So it's mama's baby, papa's maybe
Mike was still crazy out there runnin' the streets (Fuck n***as want?)
Had his old reliable .38 gun in his reach
It's been fourteen years, him and Isis ain't speak
He runnin' around like life's a peach
'Til one day, he approached this thug that had a mean mug
And it looked so familiar that he called him "Young Cuz"
Told him get off the strip but the boy ain't budge (Fuck you)
Instead he pulled out a newer .38 snub
He clearly had the drop but the boy just paused (Hold up)
There was somethin' in this man's face he knew he seen before
It's like lookin' in the mirror, seein' his self more mature
And he took it as a sign from the Almighty Lord
You know what they say about he who hesitates in war
(What's that?) He who hesitates is lost
He can't explain what he saw before his picture went blank
The old man didn't think, he just followed his instinct
Six shots into his kin out of the gun
N***as be a father, you're killin' your son
Six shots into his kin out of the gun
N***as, be a father, you killin' your sons
[Outro]
Meet the parents (The parents, the parents, the parents)
(The parents, the parents, the parents, the parents)
(The parents, the parents, the parents, the parents)
(The parents, the parents, the parents, the parents, the parents)