Joe Budden
"Still My Hood"

[Intro]
Ya see like... some people can't relate to it
Don't understand it.
'Cause they ain't ever been there
They ain't from there.
I understand it

[Verse 1]
Even though they hate 'em
Even though when a nigga try ta' make a come up
It's anotha' nigga waitin' jus' ta' run up
Though they sellin' rocks for shorts
And ay' night around 12 you hear them shots go off (talk to 'em!)
And know niggas is rats, some boys is wired
And the food in the supermarket's all expired (whoa!)
Ay' blocks a liquor store and abandon buildin'
Drunk parents at the liquor store abandon they children (let's go)
Know the sky seem Gray, we'll get through the weather
An' even though they fill our grade schools with metal detectors
Some cops are crooked and police indecent
An' you can catch a body up the street from the prescient
Though we got a lotta' shit wrong, a lotta' shit goin' on
Gotta' love it, this the place I was born
So I sit here dedicatin' this song, this is still my hood!

[Hook]
Now everywhere I roam
Though they keep the chrome
It's no place like home
This is still my hood!
An' it's far from fine
I may like other places, but they far from mine
Gotta' love my hood!
An' I only know one place it be like that
If I ever leave, trust I'll be right back
It's my hood, it may not be good
May not be like it should
But let me get one thing understood
This is still my hood!

[Verse 2]
Still got the Macs out until ya time's-up [??]
An' the barbers'll fuck ya line-up
This is still my hood!
Hol' up! 'Cause even though;
You can't meet a girl ain't fucked a nigga you know
Gotta' love my hood!
This the same place you can't getta' job
They look at'chu like, you young an' you black
Get the fuck outta' dodge (fuck outta' here)
Get a gun, get some crack, feel like that's our only op.
Tell ourself we'll fallback as soon as that money stop (oh!) [??]
Yet heat still on ya wat [??] (and...)
Dudes stand on the corner like if life passes us by at least we wanna watch (talk to 'em)
Clowns get extorted, gangstas get recorded (whoa)
Mami don't know if she should keep it or abort it (get rid of it)
Cops you'll never will catch me, I'm aware all my warrants
An' I'm not goin' down, naw, that's not goin' down (naw)
Car jackin's, shootouts is imperial here
An' I dare you find a ratchet with a serial here
Though you might have to raise ya gun, just to raise ya sums
This ain't the place you wanna raise ya son (never that)
A few dudes'll argue 'bout they favorite rapper
Other dudes sit an' think of different ways to get yac up
Don't take it personal, it's just the pace that they after
So I keep mine on me, jus' incase I might have ta'
It's still no other place that I'd rather, gotta' love my hood!

[Hook]
Now everywhere I roam
Though they keep the chrome
It's no place like home
This is still my hood!
An' it's far from fine
I may like other places, but they far from mine
Gotta' love my hood!
An' I only know one place it be like that
If I ever leave, trust I'll be right back
It's my hood, it may not be good
May not be like it should
But let me get one thing understood
This is still my hood!

[Verse 3]
If you never been you can't really know about it (naw)
System's fucked up, the jails is overcrowded (whoa)
Murder rates is up an' as a matter of fact...
A couple of close friends of mine have added ta' that
An' I rank nothin' above it
I know it seems odd, but I hate it an' I love it (naw)
Naw, I hate that I love it (yep!)
The same things that seem to get me always pissed
As soon as I leave, I always miss, it's always like this.
So small, ay' body knows ay' body
It's body after body, it's robbery after robbery
Hookers on the strip, some girls'll be a ho
We gotta' few local legends I guess the World'll never know
From Jers. to Little Rock, the hood'll never die down
B. More, DC, Compton, Chi. Town, New York to VA ya town's like my town!
Let's go!

[Hook x2]
Now everywhere I roam
Though they keep the chrome
It's no place like home
This is still my hood!
An' it's far from fine
I may like other places, but they far from mine
Gotta' love my hood!
An' I only know one place it be like that
If I ever leave, trust I'll be right back
It's my hood, it may not be good
May not be like it should
But let me get one thing understood
This is still my hood!

[Outro]
Whoa!
This goes out to everybody in every hood man.
No matter where ya at, where ya from.
New Orleans, Mississippi
Vancouver, London, T. Dot
Wherever you at, I don't even care man.
We all got the same struggle, the same pain
We all keep fightin' baby!
You can't hold us down
Uh, uh, uh...
Love my hood