Da ha
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Da ha ha ha ha ha
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Da ha ha ha
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Da ha ha ha ha ha
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[Verse 1]
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It was '87
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Crack money was "Ghetto Heaven"
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Niggaz gettin' it
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Every block rise to perfection
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Green tops, boulders and bottles
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Soldiers who follow leaders
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You owed 'em dollars
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Know that tommorrow you might not see it
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Packs got knocked off by sprinklers that never worked
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All the way to the monkey bars, cross that line you got murked
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That's other niggaz territory had fiends in the cheese line
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They told them fiends calm down, ten dollars each dime
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They never scared of Po-Po, was only one patrol car
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They wasn't up for crack and I was up on the chin of Pa
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Watching hustlers with tinted cars, money makin'
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But one kid was into takin'
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Had dreadlocks wasn't Jamaican
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Fort green he laid
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First nigga I ever saw rockin' dreads with a fade
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Lead he sprayed on the corners in my hood
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Dodgin' and runnin'
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The glare in his eyes told you somethin' was commin'
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They went to war, Godbless Rita, got shot by mistake
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Niggaz got knocked by them Jakes
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Homicide suit and tie cops, Mayor Koch, screams in rage
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Niggaz so thugs got pits rocking thick chains
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Stick-up niggaz so thug they got pits with sick names
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Clicks got bigger, extortion cats wasn't hearin' it
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But he was regulatin'
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A ghetto king, now he levatatin'
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They say he smiled in his casket
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This ends the first chapter of another Nas classic
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[Chorus: x2]
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Tales from the hood, trails of blood
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But it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should
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[Verse 2]
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Yeah I'ma help you nigga, cause I see evil's callin' you
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Sick thoughts make you wanna take Ki's from other ballin' crews
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Top of the world's all he views
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A puff of weed, nothing but greed don't live by the rules
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Fuckin' wit' me here's what I do
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Try to sell your freedom I'm accustomed to
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You could ball wit' me or get arrested too
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It's easy to land where they dwell with the greasy hands
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Twenty to L' what's your plan take your grams
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You bought you a Lexus, BBS spendin' Abrahams
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Never learned your lesson, choose the right direction
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Thin line from life and death and my man checked in
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A motel, same one as a young G he know well
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Crossed 'em on a coke sell then went on a run
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But shorty got his old folks killed, yo he got 'em done
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Nobody to run to, what succumb to
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My nigga just wanted to eat, now he hunted on the street
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[Chorus]
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Tales from the hood, trails of blood
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Yeah it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should
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Tales from the hood, trails of blood
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Though it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should
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[Verse 3]
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Little Gotti got down for his, let off seven rounds
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The kid he hit is heaven bound if he's on the good list
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Shorty who shot 'em ran knowing niggaz would snitch
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Five years passed he ain't been in the hood since
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Shot this nigga over a hundred dollars, money, had borrowed
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Time passed, on his birthday he couldn't afford a bottle
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Least expected to see 'em, then he asked for his
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Nigga said he don't got it, so he blast the kid
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Escapes the scene, but he couldn't escape the dream
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Or how the kid fell when bullets made it too late to scream
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Seeing money's face starin' at him
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In black space feelin' hands touchin' him
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Wake up it got too much for him
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Once liked to be alone
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Until he started hearin' groans and seein' things
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Now it's time to go home
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Niggaz shocked to see him
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Gave him respect what he was missin'
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All the way from VA his aunt yell "He hate to listen"
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So he popped up, they gave him hugs, showed him love
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Then he was reminded of that night when he sprayed all them slugs
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He hangin' like nuttin' happened, police grabbed him up
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Now he seein' ghosts in the cell, they got him strapped up
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Psycho ward, rest of his life injected thorazine
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Haunted memories in his mind of the murder scene
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[Chorus]
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Tales from the hood, trails of blood
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The book of the dead, translated in thug language, understood?
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Tales from the hood, trails of blood
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The book of the dead, translated in thug language, you understood
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-----------------
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Tales From The Hood
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| Nas |
