They Say

Lyrics

[Verse 1: Jay Rock] Growin' up, I was a knucklehead "Boy, you never listen to me," that's what my mama said I'm from the projects, I ain't never had shit Me and my older brother, we had to share a mattress No heat, no lights, had to keep them candles lit My daddy left me at eight, in and out my life and shit Gangbangers, dope dealers replaced my father Neighborhood hustlers taught me to get them dollars That's when I became a problem, product of my environment It's hard to grow up be a doctor or a fireman When you constantly seein' that G ride tires screechin' And them shots firin' all the time, it happens frequently The hood inspired him to be a G I bled for the game, did it all for the letter B The big homie gave me the name Jay Rock This ain't no rap gimmick, this a real live story of Watts livin', nigga [Chorus: Kendrick Lamar] You can take me out the hood, but you can't take the hood out me And that's the way that it will forever be And I can't help it, I'm gutter Why should I change now When all my life I been gangbanged out? That project shit run deep in my veins now And I can't help it Oh, my Lord knows that I can't help it [Verse 2: Jay Rock] Let me take you on a detour, Eastside Watts Niggas'd go in projects, follow me home to my black-and-white apartments Police roll through with caution, scared to death The homies got tats across them, capital BH over they necks Since birth, bangin' the set Even hoes bangin' the set Some ain't, but most is hood rats They lookin' for the buck Them trash cans lay in the street Ghetto techniques for drive-bys For the low, them five dollars'll get you high Dice games, YGs, fist fights Six-fours, El Cos, G rides, and minibikes Might see a couple of zombies late night Off what? Off pipe, membrane dead, right, no lie Something in the bushes, either the AK or the four-five, no lie Raised in the ghetto with rats and roaches Smokers on porches gettin' high off yola It's colder north, but my city's the coldest Where we ain't promised to see the mornin', nigga [Chorus: Kendrick Lamar] You can take me out the hood, but you can't take the hood out me And that's the way that it will forever be And I can't help it, I'm gutter Why should I change now When all my life I been gangbanged out? That project shit run deep in my veins now And I can't help it Oh, my Lord knows that I can't help it [Verse 3: Jay Rock] You could take me out the hood, but the hood will never leave me I'm still bangin', I'm still hangin' The only difference is I'm not slangin' Nickel and dimes, more like slangin' these rap lines Verses of truth when I step in the booth Niggas know I pour my soul for the strugglin' youth For that fatherless son who needed love, so he ran with a crew Grew up before his older brother did, gin and juice Replaced the pain I knew, carryin' thangs to school Them niggas was trippin', I wasn't bangin' the blue But they had to respect me, I never ran from who? Nobody, put my faith in God It's amazin' how I overcame them odds On my mama, this past year, my life has slightly been revised But notice I said slightly 'Cause me bein' absent from where I came from, that's unlikely, nigga [Chorus: Kendrick Lamar] You can take me out the hood, but you can't take the hood out me And that's the way that it will forever be And I can't help it, I'm gutter Why should I change now When all my life I been gangbanged out? That project shit run deep in my veins now And I can't help it Oh, my Lord knows that I can't help it