duckworth.

it was always me vs the world

until i found it's me vs me

why

why

why

why?

why

why

why

why?

just remember

what happens on earth stays on earth

we gon' put it in reverse

darling

i told you many times

and i am telling you once again

just to remind you

sweetheart

that my. oh lamar

hail mary and marijuana

times is hard

pray with the hooligans

shadows all in the dark

fellowship with demons and relatives

i'm a star

life is one funny mothafucka

a true comedian

you gotta love him

you gotta trust him

i might be buggin'

infomercials and no sleep

introverted by my thoughts; children

listen

it gets deep

see

once upon a time inside the nickerson garden projects

the object was to process and digest poverty's dialect

adaptation inevitable: gun violence

crack spot

federal policies raid buildings and drug professionals

anthony was the oldest of seven

well-respected

calm and collected

laughin' and jokin' made life easier; hard times

momma on crack

a four-year-old tellin' his nanny he needed her

his family history: pimpin' and bangin'

he was meant to be dangerous

clocked him a grip and start slangin'

fifteen

scrapin' up his jeans with quarter pieces

even got some head from a smoker last weekend

dodged a policeman

workin' for his big homie

small-time hustler

graduated to a brick on him

10

000 dollars out of a project housing

that's on the daily

seen his first mil twenty years old

had a couple of babies

had a couple of shooters

caught a murder case

fingerprints on the gun they assumin'

but witnesses couldn't prove it

that was back when he turned his back and they killed his cousin

he beat the case and went back to hustlin'

bird-shufflin'

anthony rang

the first in the projects with the two-tone mustang

that 5.0 thing

they say 5-0 came

circlin' parking lots and parking spots

and hoppin' out while harrassin' the corner blocks

crooked cops told anthony he should kick it

he brushed 'em off and walked back to the kentucky fried chicken

see

at this chicken spot

there was a light-skinned nigga that talked a lot

with a curly top and a gap in his teeth

he worked the window

his name was ducky

he came from the streets

the robert taylor homes

southside projects

chiraq

the terror dome

drove to california with a woman on him and 500 dollars

they had a son

hopin' that he'd see college

hustlin' on the side with a nine-to-five to freak it

cadillac seville

he'd ride his son around on weekends

three-piece special with his name on the shirt pocket

'cross the street from the projects

anthony planned to rob it

stuck up the place before

back in '84

that's when affiliation was really eight gears of war

so many relatives tellin' us

sellin' us devilish works

killin' us

crime

intelligent

felonious

prevalent proposition with 9's

ducky was well-aware

they robbed the manager and shot a customer last year

he figured he'd get on these niggas' good sides

free chicken every time anthony posted in line

two extra biscuits

anthony liked him and then let him slide

they didn't kill him; in fact

it look like they're the last to survive

pay attention

that one decision changed both of they lives

one curse at a time

reverse the manifest and good karma

and i'll tell you why

you take two strangers and put 'em in random predicaments

give 'em a soul so they can make their own choices and live with it

twenty years later

them same strangers

you make 'em meet again

inside recording studios where they reapin' their benefits

then you start remindin' them about that chicken incident

whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence?

because if anthony killed ducky

top dawg could be servin' life

while i grew up without a father and die in a gunfight

so

i was takin' a walk the other day.