Da ha

Da ha ha ha ha ha

Da ha ha ha

Da ha ha ha ha ha



[Verse 1]

It was '87

Crack money was "Ghetto Heaven"

Niggaz gettin' it

Every block rise to perfection

Green tops, boulders and bottles

Soldiers who follow leaders

You owed 'em dollars

Know that tommorrow you might not see it

Packs got knocked off by sprinklers that never worked

All the way to the monkey bars, cross that line you got murked

That's other niggaz territory had fiends in the cheese line

They told them fiends calm down, ten dollars each dime

They never scared of Po-Po, was only one patrol car

They wasn't  up for crack and I was up on the chin of Pa

Watching hustlers with tinted cars, money makin'

But one kid was into takin'

Had dreadlocks wasn't Jamaican

Fort green he laid

First nigga I ever saw rockin' dreads with a fade

Lead he sprayed on the corners in my hood

Dodgin' and runnin'

The glare in his eyes told you somethin' was commin'

They went to war, Godbless Rita, got shot by mistake

Niggaz got knocked by them Jakes

Homicide suit and tie cops, Mayor Koch, screams in rage

Niggaz so thugs got pits rocking thick chains

Stick-up niggaz so thug they got pits with sick names

Clicks got bigger, extortion cats wasn't hearin' it

But he was regulatin'

A ghetto king, now he levatatin'

They say he smiled in his casket

This ends the first chapter of another Nas classic



[Chorus: x2]

Tales from the hood, trails of blood

But it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should



[Verse 2]

Yeah I'ma help you nigga, cause I see evil's callin' you

Sick thoughts make you wanna take Ki's from other ballin' crews

Top of the world's all he views

A puff of weed, nothing but greed don't live by the rules

Fuckin' wit' me here's what I do

Try to sell your freedom I'm accustomed to

You could ball wit' me or get arrested too

It's easy to land where they dwell with the greasy hands

Twenty to L' what's your plan take your grams

You bought you a Lexus, BBS spendin' Abrahams

Never learned your lesson, choose the right direction

Thin line from life and death and my man checked in

A motel, same one as a young G he know well

Crossed 'em on a coke sell then went on a run

But shorty got his old folks killed, yo he got 'em done

Nobody to run to, what succumb to

My nigga just wanted to eat, now he hunted on the street



[Chorus]

Tales from the hood, trails of blood

Yeah it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should

Tales from the hood, trails of blood

Though it's all good, try to stay alive like we all should



[Verse 3]

Little Gotti got down for his, let off seven rounds

The kid he hit is heaven bound if he's on the good list

Shorty who shot 'em ran knowing niggaz would snitch

Five years passed he ain't been in the hood since

Shot this nigga over a hundred dollars, money, had borrowed

Time passed, on his birthday he couldn't afford a bottle

Least expected to see 'em, then he asked for his

Nigga said he don't got it, so he blast the kid

Escapes the scene, but he couldn't escape the dream

Or how the kid fell when bullets made it too late to scream

Seeing money's face starin' at him

In black space feelin' hands touchin' him

Wake up it got too much for him

Once liked to be alone

Until he started hearin' groans and seein' things

Now it's time to go home

Niggaz shocked to see him

Gave him respect what he was missin'

All the way from VA his aunt yell "He hate to listen"

So he popped up, they gave him hugs, showed him love

Then he was reminded of that night when he sprayed all them slugs

He hangin' like nuttin' happened, police grabbed him up

Now he seein' ghosts in the cell, they got him strapped up

Psycho ward, rest of his life injected thorazine

Haunted memories in his mind of the murder scene



[Chorus]

Tales from the hood, trails of blood

The book of the dead, translated in thug language, understood?

Tales from the hood, trails of blood

The book of the dead, translated in thug language, you understood