Sticks & Stones

And in the third grade, I saw my first grenade
The homie kept it in the drawer with his sportin' waves
And then we walked to the Compton swap meet
Across the street from where the cops had shot Keith
First option in these streets was not peace
'Cause everybody with a heartbeat got beef
It gave me thick skin, and with my Bic pen
I tried to keep my nose clean in this pig pen
And by the tenth grade, I had a razor blade
Tucked in underneath my tongue like it was tailor made
And then I graduated and got my first piece
I remember my first date and my first beef
And on both occasions, I was shootin' blanks
Never caught a baby or a body, don't know who to thank
I was addicted to aggression and adrenaline
Wet dreams smellin' like gun oil and cinnamon

On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block

We used to wake up early for Saturday cartoons
And watch the kung fu flicks on a Sunday afternoon
But in the fall it was football, learned to take a hit
'Cause half time we outside, tryin' to tackle all the neighbor kids
In between the wicked wild, wild west
And the war movies, had me stickin' out my chest
I report for duty, I'ma kill all the bad men
Too young to understand that I was being programmed
And when they mix a gang culture with the pop culture
You can't stop the profit, a lot of rocket science
How much of the military's budget be gettin' sucked
Into production of commercials and plugs
Since the dawn of time we got hit with stones
If the arrow sticks, it could split your bones
When the pistol clicks, boy, give up the throne
Kill your whole squad, joysticks and drones

On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block with the
On your block