The hammer hit the table leaving me with 7 years
My history was shit so I could'nt shed a tear
My future was a wall, surrounded by a cage
Them laws got me locked down damn at an early age
The only thing I got is a lust for the streets, the shit I gotta learn
And the shit I gotta teach
I'm living for the minute, muthafuck a whole hour
And I ain't pickin shit up when It falls in the shower
My lady sends me pictures with her pussy in the air
But she ain't really there
So I don't really care
The only thing I got is a muthafuckin dinner
So fuck what I had, cuz where I'm at I'm a beginner
I gots to be a winner in this muthafuckin mix up
Get my shit together, scope it out and try to fix up
Some confidence to keep a real nigga going strong
The system is my house, the system is my home
The system was designed to keep a brotha on his back
The system crackers caught me that's exactly where I'm at
My lawyer was a snitch, got me framed started buggin
My muthafuckin phone and the judge was his cousin
It's hard thinkin positive with negative around me
So I had to relate to the grounds that surrounded thee
House and The Mound where I chill
With the niggas who respected a real nigga
Cuz MJG respect them too
So I had to survive living my life with the street rule "stay cool"
Disregard school and make my money fool, check it
It's hard to understand where I'm comin from if you on the outside talkin shit
Lookin in, then again if you was on the inside lookin out, 9 times outta 10
You would probably be my friend
Nigga how you figure, the system's gonna help ya
The ghetto's where they put ya, the ghetto's where they kept ya
See deep down in my heart I had this urge to go astray
And knock out all my problems in one ordinary day
The system got me thinkin cuz I'm locked down in a tank
They saw a brotha strokin, so they had to make his ship sank
So I can't get mixed up with them devils or no other
With Ani.....mosity I hate when It's a brother, none other
Than a buck, duck, hoodle up, shootin up thangs in the wind
I'm in the Pen, you outside lookin in