Shiloh’s Intro - Cordae

Alright, look, I said, I said

When I was nine, that's my first time I held a 9

Put it on God, man, that must've been a sign

'Cause my mother, she was strippin', she was always on his mind

While her boyfriend, he was pimpin', he ain't have a lot of time

So he showed me where it was and showed me how to work it

Just in case a nigga run up in this bitch, gotta murk him

Thirteen, I was servin', nigga, fifteen persons

Nigga, tryna be a cocaine cowboy, Michael Irvin

Nigga, sixteen, I was deep up in the trenches, hoppin' fences

'Round that time they gave my boy a life sentence

But I still ain't learn, nigga, I was tryna burn niggas

Tryna put somebody in the grave or a urn, nigga

Seventeen, police whooped my ass just for bein' Black

No charges filed against me, but where's the free in at?

Seen my uncle in the prison, shit, now it's me and that

Couldn't break the cycle, like recycle, they wan' see us back

Eighteen, lions, tigers, bears, I was livin' with 'em (Mm)

Went to prison with 'em, doin' business with 'em

I'm twenty-one, my cellmate been down for thirty-five

He just tryna see the sun before he gotta die

So why would I go and cry? Got another passion (Bitch)

You don't know the struggle, so you wouldn't understand

'Cause in my book, my mama raised a man

'Cause I could've snitched on the beat to get me out the can

But I could tell you what I seen or what I lived, it's up to you

Or let my brother tell the story from a bird's-eye view