Back home Everybody's searching for somethin' But all they can find is a whole lot of nothin' Back home Ain't nobody hoping and praying 'Cause they feel like nothing can save 'em And they try to hold out but they can't fight the fact that Life goes black when those lights go out But I guess you gotta just watch out for your own 'Cause ain't a damn thing free Back home [Common:] Back home they holler "disciple" and "blackstone" Same block they freebase yo we trapped on Where our grandmothers marched The guns clap on There's liquor stores, beauty supplies, and rap songs I travel the world just to come back to it The crib got a lot of soul like black music I'm attached to it In many ways the city raised me and gave me The drama, honor, and bravery The streets seem hollow when I go to Chicago It's cheap wine and sorrow Times is hard to swallow In search of God's tomorrow I borrow words from the Bible and use them for survival gangs rival Signs painted on walls like hieroglyphics I tell 'em that this is all tribal Used to do dirt shorty's goin' through the same cycle And trials like Michael tryin' not to stay idle [Ryu:] Back home it's not Compton but close The same problems exist and the pain throbbin' And folks are so common It don't really bother us much we just swallow it uh Crack the bottle and smoke hope tomorrow something Magical happens that'll put me back in the biz But the chances of it actually happening's kinda slim Back home we get the good life at a glimpse In the form of a rap star, drug dealers, and pimps I'm back home [Tak:] Back home I try my best to keep it together it's cold Like the Windy City streets of December I pace back and forth looking for the courage to shine But can't tap the source need something to nourish my mind I know we all lose quite a bit in life Only to gain some Life of the dark winding roads we came from But I move with the night so I'm used to the shade And never lose sight bringing truth back to the game [Mike:] Back home we've got a lot of shit on our minds We're always behind on something cause there's not enough time And we're non-stop bottom line doing what we gotta do to get some food in the fridge and stay out of the hosptial Back home there's people calling us hopeless People trying to tell us all we need is some focus But focus Focus is overrated Cause you see every blemish and mistake and can't change it Back home is Alvarado K-Town and J-Town Or Little Tokyo for those that don't know Where figures shiver living right inside the LA river On the concrete a symbol of our everyday way Its that color and concentration over the heavy and grey And by the time the ink dries on this page I'll be half a day away from the place where I stay