"My Story" lyrics

I see it
But sometimes I be feelin' like I'm lookin' too deep
I don't know, I can only-
You don't see it from my perspective
What I've been through
Not sayin' I been through, you know, the worst shit ever
But, you know

I mean, I seen some shit
In my growin' up times, been throwin' up signs
Since elementary lunch lines
First confined, then convinced that every nigga's a potential threat
Before you're twenty-one, you face potential death
That's why we got these little niggas thinkin' that they been wrong
'Cause negativity is all they ever been shown
From the TV, to the people they live with
Family, you know the story goes: blood is thicker than that H2-and-O
Based on the love thing, but my father rarely came to show up at all
I remember playin' catch with my momma every fall
All I got to repay my debt is this dream
Twenty years old and I ain't seen child support yet
See, pops broke out to the "all hood" smoke out
I guess that was better than him bein' there
So she could get slapped up and choked out
You wonder why niggas is so loc'd out
They just don't give a fuck 'cause the only person that gave a fuck about them
Got her ass beat by him
Back then what you supposed to do?
Wait 'til you get older and protect everyone that is close to you?
That means your family and your hood, at any cost
No limit to extremes one will go to, once that innocence is lost
You gotta be the man now
Or that's what they tellin' you, released to the streets
You unleash the hell in you, you gotta do, what you gotta do
The issue, respect, one point in life you receive a reality check
And listen or not, it will be twistin' your plot
Until you wind up shot, on lock, or worse, just like your pops