(Intro - Beat starts with a hazy, soulful sample; a woman's voice hums over a funky bassline. Sounds of a car door shutting, then an engine starting) Yeah... Port Arthur to the world. They said you can't leave the block. But the East Cleveland finest been mobbin' for decades. This ain't just a story, this a warning... and a testimony. Let this beat breathe. (Verse 1 - The Grind) Mama workin' double shifts, daddy long gone Rent past due, lights off, gotta hold my own Learned the game early, corners was my classroom Watchin' big homies slang rocks, meet a fast doom Eight years old, pocket full of stones Not the kind you skip on water, but the kind that break bones If you was me... you'd understand the pressure Straight As in school, but the streets was the investor Grabbed a pack, double back, that's the only way I knew Saw the dope boys whip, wanted that life too First mistake thinkin' the glock was a tool Thank God I ain't body nobody, just played the fool High school hallways, duckin' the truancy Mind on the paper, fuck a future guarantee Senior year, graduation cap, same ol' fitted Celebrated that night by a deal I committed. (Chorus - Slow, sung-sung melody over that church organ) Gotta get Hood Free... before the streets take me Gotta get Hood Free... Lord, before my soul they break me Mama prayin' for me, can't you see the signs? But I'm grindin' for that day I can leave it all behind... leave it all behind. (Verse 2 - The Come Up & The Mistake) Now I'm grown, twenty-two, got a little bankroll Own spot, own car, but my spirit's hangin' low Dipped my toes in the game, now I'm sinkin' in the quick Got a taste of the money, couldn't quit it, that's the trick Met a good girl, college bound, she saw the real me But she smelled the loud and the Gucci, she could feel me slippin' slowly I'm in the trap house, thinkin' 'bout the future But every time I try to pivot, hear the 808s recruiter "One more flip, man, one more summer, that's the quota" Built a dream on a prayer and a brick of baking soda Then the wolves came knockin'... envy in their eyes Caught me sleepin' at the wheel, that's when I realized The game don't love you, it just love your production Took an L so hard, felt the whole city's suction Sat in that cell, cold floor, no bail in sight Swore to God if I got out, I'm livin' for the light. (Chorus - Beat gets heavier, more desperate) Gotta get Hood Free... before the streets take me (I gotta get out) Gotta get Hood Free... Lord, before my soul they break me (They almost had me) Mama prayin' for me, can't you see the signs? But I'm grindin' for that day I can leave it all behind... leave it all behind. (Bridge - Stripped back, just the bassline and a sad piano) You see, gettin' out the hood ain't just movin' addresses It's shakin' the ghosts and the deep-rooted stresses It's droppin' the old ways, the friends who resent you It's every day fightin' the demons that sent you To a dark place, tryna find your own grace With the same two hands that used to move the work, now they gotta move with grace... (Verse 3 - The Redemption) Fast forward, now I'm movin' through a different section Legit check, business suit, but the same direction Took the hustle from the block, put it into a contract Turned them street dreams into a legitimate contact Passin' through the old hood, see the youngins on the block Same look in they eyes, same hunger in they walk I don't judge 'em, I was 'em, that's a haunted mirror Just tip my hat and pray they make it out the smear I made mistakes, yes, Lord, I bear the scars But every scar's a lesson learned countin' different stars From the outhouse to the boardroom, that's a long walk From slangin' white rocks to ownin' stock, just a hard talk Now the only thing I'm whippin' is a pen and a dream Tryna show the lost boys you more than what you seem The hood raised me, it's my bone and my blood But I found the door... and I ran through the mud. (Outro - Beat fades out, leaving just the soul sample and crickets) It's levels to this. You ain't free just 'cause you left the projects. You free when you leave the mentality. I'm a product of my environment, but I ain't a prisoner to it no more. This for everybody tryna get they own Hood Free. Yeah. Trill. (Beat ends with a final, distant 808 thud and the sound of a car driving off into the night)
