[Verse 1]
Youngin, I remember hide and seek after lights out, tell the homies pipe down
Y'all gon wake the house up, then we gon' have to fight now
Batman, Batman, who gon' hit my left hand?
'Cause once they slap the palm it's on and poppin', finna scrap dance
That was back when the crack had fractured the Black collective
We was fragments of this establishment, disconnected
Roc vernacular dope, in fact, 'cause that shit's infested
With them dirty streets, festering rotten drеams, disinfectant
'Member rocking camouflagе, cutting through them back woods? Steady tryna camouflage red eye from them Backwoods
Every exhale similar to status of them Black hoods
In other words, they up in smoke, no Cheech to lighten that mood
Fought like alley cats, streets like Alcatraz, this the Alamo
Hate our native tongues, them boys preyed on the tribe like Navajo
Don't know how in the hell we survived the daily violence, though. This is just a memory of every ghetto child I know, mercy

[Chorus]
Hands up in the air, but only if you feel like
You ain't gotta think about it if it feel right
See the home that made me came with bitter and the sweet
Like my heart tryna imitate real life
That's okay, I came out fine
Found my greatness in all that grind
Kept that faith and ain't stop trying
To make my mark in every space that I find
Oh Lord, I
[Verse 2]
I can still remember high school, that was when the homie died
Killed before his nineteenth, seem like those were passage rites
We was tryna fight the world, nature rather Cassius-like
A gamble tryna beat the odds, tell 'em, "Hold up, pass the dice"
Corner store, liquor store, Michelob, church
Dope boys go missing when the pigeons go chirp
Those boys fingers itching to pull a trigger on a perp
Of course, if he tinted, no judicial courts work
I remember summers on MLK Ave was like a shark tank
They circling feminine assets like it's shark bait
When us young women would pass, it'd raise their heart rate
The denim had us looking like we copping squats, park bench
They popping wheelies on Yamahas feeling kamikaze
That's how young Mike ended up between the sheets, Ronald Isley
But we keep playing with life and death like a childish hobby
Caught between a rock and the hardest place in the valley, mercy

[Chorus]
Hands up in the air, but only if you feel like
You ain't gotta think about it if it feel right
See the home that made me came with bitter and the sweet
Like my heart tryna imitate real life
That's okay, I came out fine
Found my greatness in all that grind
Kept that faith and ain't stop trying
To make my mark in every space that I find
Oh Lord, I
[Verse 3]
I know you keep mentioning that I dwell in the past
But I'm known for long memory like an elephant has
Been prone to hold grudges like a devilish ex
Betrothed to Black excellence like I'm Betty Shabazz
My dude, I came up with Hueys and Ninas in class
You ain't rocking with the familia, we'll immediately clash
They'll market us 'til we popular then retreat with the cash
And stock us with guns and roses for the people we slash
My Lord, this love deep and complicated
Split in half every time I sit and contemplate it
They made us a mark just 'cause the darkest continent made us
This ain't regular, shit has to stop, constipated
But I was made from the concrete, raised on them front stoops
Praised by them aunties, 10K on their front tooth
Aged from them rough edges, saved by their blunt truth
Engraved with the scars and stripes if you want proof, have mercy

[Chorus]
Hands up in the air, but only if you feel like
You ain't gotta think about it if it feel right
See the home that made me came with bitter and the sweet
Like my heart tryna imitate real life
That's okay, I came out fine
Found my greatness in all that grind
Kept that faith and ain't stop trying
To make my mark in every space that I find
Oh Lord, I
[Outro]
Mercy, mercy, mercy
Have mercy