It's hard to breathe and hard to run when your lungs blacken
Coughin' up blood like, "What the fuck happened?"
Raisin' my risk cancer is the answer, homie
But after drinkin' somethin' there's nothin' like puffin' a bogie
Now I could blame the same product placement in movies
Or the commercials, or Scarface in a jacuzzi
But now I'm livin' it
Damn I should've never took that first cigarette
I fucked up like your girl was ridin' on top of me
I should've took her to trial and never copped a plea
But this ain't a Christian nation, motherfucker please
America never taught me to turn the other cheek
"˜Cause I'm from Harlem, the north of Manhattan
We knock niggas out and make "˜em bounce like Ricky Hatton
But wilin' on the corner got me turned back from the Canadian border
I knew she was virgin when I first met her
Rockin' stockings and poppin' out of the Catholic school sweater
Mom told me she could do better than a criminal
Seventeen-year old psychotic, tryin' to be lyrical
I never meant to break her heart or fuck up her life
But I was careless instead of treatin' her right
I seen at her again at some club strippin'
And wondered if I could've made her life different
I joined the army lookin' for money to go to college
But they ain't paid me a quarter of what they fuckin' promised
Extendin' my tour, treatin' me like a sucker
That's the reason officers get fragged, motherfucker
Don't give me speeches on how you respect and you love me
With no body armor in a lightly-armored Humvee
My family's lonely, and you want me to re-enlist for thirty grand, homie?
No
When I was young I got signed to a record label
The deal looked so good when it was on the table
It paid for my cable, cribs, cars and jewelry
The studios, the women, there's nothin' they wouldn't do for me
Except stop screwin' me for publishing and royalties
How the fuck are you my dog when there's no loyalty?
Word to the street, I should've gone independent like Immortal Technique
Some people learn from mistakes and don't repeat them
Others try to block the memories and just delete them
But I keep "˜em as a reminder, they not killin' me
And I thank God for teachin' me humility
Son, remember when you fight to be free
To see things how they are and not how you like "˜em to be
"˜Cause even when the world is fallin' on top of me